--- title: Air France: Crew Can Refuse Iran Flights Over Headscarf Rule description: Air France has agreed to let female crew members who do not wish to wear headscarves upon arrival in Iran to opt out of flights to Tehran. canonical: https://time.com/4281704/air-france-iran-female-crew-headscarf-religion-islam/ author: Mark Rivett-Carnac article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-05T06:09:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T16:27:34.362Z article:section: World og:title: Air France Crew Can Refuse Iran Flights Over Headscarf Rule og:description: If they don't want to cover up in Iran, they can be assigned elsewhere og:url: https://time.com/4281704/air-france-iran-female-crew-headscarf-religion-islam/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte57429df68172a2e/69888dacf887dc3ebde9551e/ap_255541056328.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: France Iran og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Air France Crew Can Refuse Iran Flights Over Headscarf Rule twitter:description: If they don't want to cover up in Iran, they can be assigned elsewhere twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte57429df68172a2e/69888dacf887dc3ebde9551e/ap_255541056328.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Air France Is Letting Its Female Crew Members Opt Out of Flying to Iran by [Mark Rivett-Carnac](/author/mark-rivett-carnac/) ## Mark Rivett-Carnac Apr 5, 2016 6:09 AM CUT  Air France planes are parked on the tarmac of the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, in Roissy, near Paris, Sept.15, 2014 Air France planes are parked on the tarmac of the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, in Roissy, near Paris, Sept.15, 2014Christophe Ena—AP by [Mark Rivett-Carnac](/author/mark-rivett-carnac/) ## Mark Rivett-Carnac Apr 5, 2016 6:09 AM CUT Air France will let female crew members [opt out](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35962239 "undefined") of flights to Tehran, after staff and unions challenged the airline’s request that female crew wear headscarves upon arrival in Iran. “If, for personal reasons, they don’t want to wear the headscarf when they leave the plane,” said Gilles Gateau, Air France’s human-resources director, according to the BBC, “they would be reassigned to another destination.” Union leaders [said](http://time.com/4280495/air-france-headscarf-iran/ "undefined") that Air France’s rule would force its employees to wear an “ostentatious religious sign,” which can be illegal in France. Female cabin crew were also asked to wear long-sleeved jackets and pants on the upcoming flights to Iran’s capital, which begin April 17. The company said, however, that the headscarf rule is already in place for flights to Saudi Arabia. \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35962239 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4281704/air-france-iran-female-crew-headscarf-religion-islam/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4281704/air-france-iran-female-crew-headscarf-religion-islam/"},"headline":"Air France Is Letting Its Female Crew Members Opt Out of Flying to Iran","datePublished":"2016-04-05T06:09:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:27:34.362Z","description":"Many have protested the airline's request that they don headscarves when flying to the Muslim country","url":"https://time.com/4281704/air-france-iran-female-crew-headscarf-religion-islam/","keywords":["France","Iran","Tehran","flight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte57429df68172a2e/69888dacf887dc3ebde9551e/ap_255541056328.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mark Rivett-Carnac","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/mark-rivett-carnac/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte57429df68172a2e/69888dacf887dc3ebde9551e/ap_255541056328.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"France Iran","caption":"France Iran","creditText":"Christophe Ena—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4281704/air-france-iran-female-crew-headscarf-religion-islam/","name":"Air France Is Letting Its Female Crew Members Opt Out of Flying to Iran"}}]}] ```