British Airways has withdrawn its controversial ban on workers wearing a visible cross, following widespread condemnation and criticism from within the UK and around the globe.
Airline chief executive Willie Walsh made the announcement five hours after the Church of England threatened to sell its £6.6 million share in BA in response to the ban, the Daily Mail reports.
Mr Walsh had led the airline in its refusal to concede the right to employee Nadia Eweida to wear a small visible cross around her neck while in uniform. The airline had defended the ban by saying the rule applied to all visible jewellery, and that Miss Eweida was free to wear the cross so long as it did not show.
Critics condemned the policy as a double standard that openly discriminated against Christian employees, as Muslim and Hindu employees were permitted to wear headscarves and turbans.
In a statement on Friday, Mr Walsh said it was clear that policy would have to change, saying the airline would look at adapting the rules to "allow symbols of faith to be worn openly".
At an appeal on 20 November, the airline again ruled against Miss Eweida, who has been on unpaid leave for the past two months. That ruling unleashed an onslaught of criticism and calls for boycotts from church leaders and politicians alike.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said the airline's anti-cross stance was "deeply offensive".
"If BA is really saying or implying that the wearing of a cross in public is a source of offence, then I regard that as deeply offensive and, in a society where religious liberty and the expression of religious commitment is free, I regard it as something really quite serious."
