A flight attendant operating a regional flight on behalf of American Airlines has stirred controversy over her Palestinian flag pin.

Flight Attendant Wears Palestinian Flag Pin On American Airlines Flight

On August 25, 2025, a flight attendant on American Eagle flight 4907 from Aspen (ASE) to Dallas (DFW), operated by SkyWest, was photographed wearing a Palestinian flag pin in violation of uniform policy. The image quickly spread online, reigniting the debate over political expression in the cabin.

American Airlines’ uniform rules are clear: crew may only display company-issued pins such as anniversary awards, union logos, or approved affinity group insignia, not personal or political symbols. SkyWest’s own standards reinforce this, allowing only up to three pins, all of which must be company-issued or approved.

This is not the first time the issue has come up. Earlier this year a passenger confronted a flight attendant in Miami over her “watermelon” pin, a now-common stand-in for the Palestinian flag. Police ultimately intervened, and American confirmed the pin was not approved under company policy. I also wrote about a United Airlines flight attendant who wore a Palestinian flag pin.

Other airlines have taken different approaches. Delta responded to similar issues by banning all flag pins except the U.S. flag. JetBlue also moved to tighten its rules. United previously permitted Palestinian pins under a “language pin” program and later as part of an affinity group allowance, but now bans such pins.

As View From The Wing notes, “It is possible to wear a Palestinian flag and believe you’re advocating for two states. That isn’t usually what it means. Spain recognizes a Palestinian State. The Catalan independence movement would like a word…Hamas, though, doesn’t want a ‘two-state solution’ they want a single state from the river to the sea that destroys Israel. They are an existential threat if allowed to remain in power and rebuild, so Israel has a right and ethical justification for taking out that threat. ”

Well-said…

Pragmatically, It Is Appropriate To Ban These Pins

As I’ve argued before, it makes sense to ban such controversial pins while in uniform, even if it reflects an unfortunate reality of incivility; a time in which we cannot tolerate opposing views on highly controversial issues. The pins become a distraction and undermine the primary mission of an airline to provide safe, reliable, and quality air transport. The ban is therefore appropriate because of the passions that an Israeli or, particularly a Palestinian flag pin, inflame. Russian versus Ukrainian flag pins may evoke the same reaction.

I do love it when flight attendants wear flag pins to designate what language(s) they speak. I also loved it when Emirates once had flag pins to show where its diverse crews came from and what languages they spoke.

Take Arabic, for example. There is no “Arabic” flag. Rather, there are dozens of nations in which Arabic is spoken and many have distinct dialects or nuances. If a flight attendant is from Gaza or the West Bank and speaks Arabic, I think a Palestinian flag pin is quite appropriate.

But unless the flight attendant above spoke Arabic with a Palestinian dialect, she had no business wearing that pin in uniform and even if she did, per SkyWest uniform policies, she was not authorized to wear that flag pin.

CONCLUSION

Once again, the cabin has become a flashpoint for political expression. Such divisive symbols can distract from service and inflame tensions among passengers. As I have argued before, airlines must keep the cabin neutral. Crewmembers are free to express themselves off duty, but uniform compliance ensures the focus remains on safety and service, not politics.