Emirates flight attendant shares why pyjamas are part of airline uniform

An Emirates flight attendant has explained why pyjamas are a helpful part of crew uniform. Photo / 123rf

It’s common knowledge that flight attendants have set uniforms provided by their airline, making them easily recognisable in an airport and on a plane.

Some people may know this uniform often comes with grooming guidelines. These can dictate a crew member’s jewellery, hairstyle and, in some cases, the exact colour of their hair.

However, many travellers may be surprised to learn these uniform rules don’t just apply to flight attendants while they are on duty and moving around the cabin. They can also extend to times when the crew are on break and fast asleep.

Danielle Molyneux, an Emirates flights attendant from Cheshire, in the UK, recently shared a video explaining why her uniform included a pair of Emirates crew pyjamas she had to wear while sleeping.

“For those that don’t already know, these are my crew pyjamas,” Molyneux said in a recent video on Instagram and TikTok.

In the clip, which has been viewed more than 886,000 times, she holds up a red short-sleeved shirt, which has “CREW” printed on the back, and long red and tan striped pants.

“During long-haul flights, cabin crew will change into pyjamas and take their break,” Molyneux explained.

Crew typically sleep in a separate part of the cabin from passengers, but Molyneux shared why it was useful to have crew-specific pyjamas.

“If an emergency should occur while crew are on their break and they don’t have time to change into their normal uniform, they can be easily identified to customers,” she said.

Easy-to-spot pyjamas would also make them identifiable to fellow crew members.

The explanation video came after Molyneux shared a video titled “Facts about the Emirates uniform you probably didn’t know”.

In the clip, which has been viewed more than 7 million times, she included a shot of her pyjamas, which prompted viewers to ask why they were part of the uniform.

“The pyjamas blow my mind, customers aren’t going to see you in your nightwear,” wrote one person.

The British flight attendant regularly shares videos about life as a flight attendant on social media and has amassed more than 447,000 followers on TikTok and 107,000 followers on Instagram.

Videos tend to share tricks she has learned working in the travel industry as well as behind-the-scenes information about the Emirates crew.

Emirates may still maintain detailed grooming guides and gendered uniforms but around the world, many airlines are taking a more casual approach.

In 2022, Virgin Atlantic rewrote its uniform policy to remove the requirement for crew to wear “gendered uniforms”.

Air New Zealand is also looking to refresh its uniforms and revise grooming standards.

The airline said it was rethinking its whole staff uniform policy.

Air New Zealand said part of this update would be “revising our grooming standards”.