Qantas has sparked outrage after several crew members were caught wearing Palestinian flag insignia on their uniforms, amid mounting calls for them to be fired.
A number of staff were seen wearing the badges as they attended to passengers on a flight from Melbourne to Hobart on December 20.
Robert Gregory, director of the Australian Jewish Association, branded the badges as “divisive” and said political activism “has no place on airplanes.”
“Political activism doesn't belong in sport, it doesn't belong in theatre, and it doesn't belong on planes while Australians go on holiday. All Australians should feel safe when flying,” he said in a statement.
“If employees are found to be using their roles for political activism while passengers are essentially trapped in the air, they should be fired.
“These incidents are not isolated and Qantas management must address the divisive political activism of their staff.”
Mr Gregory added that passengers were already nervous flying with incidents like this reminding them of the violent anti-Israel protests taking place in Australia.
A leading Australian Jewish Association has called for Qantas crew members who wore Palestinian flag badges on a flight to be fired (pictured)
Harrison Grafanakis was on board the flight and took photos of the cabin crew wearing the badges placed just above their name tags.
The passenger, who is not Jewish, said he felt intimidated by the badges.
“I saw a number of staff working for Qantas – they were all carrying Palestinian flags,” Mr Grafanakis said.
“They say it's not allowed, but Qantas has a history of doing this – they've done it time and time again.
“It's so disappointing to see a major Australian airline, which receives so much government funding, become so involved in politics time and time again.”
Qantas employees are not permitted to wear badges or pins that do not comply with the airline's uniform policy.
However, employees may wear a badge if they speak the national language of that country.
“On a recent flight from Melbourne to Hobart, some of our cabin crew wore a Palestinian flag badge,” a Qantas spokesperson said.
A number of staff wore the badges (pictured) as they attended to passengers on a flight from Hobart to Melbourne on December 20.
Australian Jewish Association CEO Robert Gregory has branded the badges as 'divisive' and said political activism 'has no place on planes'
'Cabin crew are not permitted to wear badges unless they are part of the approved uniform, such as a name tag.
“Every customer should feel safe and respected when flying on a Qantas aircraft.”
Qantas staff are being 'reminded' of the uniform policy rather than the controversy.
It comes after Jewish woman Karin Kalif filed a complaint with the airline following an alleged interaction with an employee at the check-in desk.
The Brisbane woman returned from Israel at the end of November last year.
“The woman looked at my passport and started asking me, 'Can you hear the bombs your government is dropping (on Gaza)?'” Ms. Kalif claimed.