Sticky situation for TUI over ‘sexist’ badges given on Paphos-Bristol flight

By Christophe Hadjigeorgiou

The TUI Airline has been condemned for providing children with ‘deeply sexist’ stickers on one of its Paphos-Bristol flights.

According to the Bristol Post website, boys had been given stickers to wear saying: ‘Future TUI Captain’ and girls were sporting stickers saying: ‘Future TUI Cabin Crew’. The stickers were given to the children towards the end of the flight. 

A woman who had landed in Bristol airport noticed children passing through customs. She told the newspaper: “I thought it was deeply sexist. If it was random it would have been fine, but it wasn’t. They were handed out by the cabin crew, which on this flight was all-female.”

Even though the stickers themselves were aimed at being gender neutral, the female passenger said, she believes the airline’s intentions were good but misguided. “You could see what all the children had on them,” she said. “It was just clear that all the boys had ‘future pilot’ and all the girls had ‘future cabin crew’. If it was random it would have been half and half. They should have thought about handing them out in a way that doesn’t show implicit sexism. Other TUI customers also complained on social media.

According to the newspaper, a spokesman from TUI apologised for upsetting customers. “We think it has just been a simple mix-up since our future pilot and cabin crew stickers are designed for use for any child regardless of gender.”