SINGAPORE - Singapore Airlines flight attendants will no longer be let go after becoming pregnant, the carrier said Tuesday as it ditched the long-criticized practice.

Previously, cabin crew were terminated after they became pregnant and company doctors declared them medically unfit to fly, the company said.

Those who wanted to return to flying after giving birth had to re-apply for the job.

But Singapore Airlines told AFP in a statement Tuesday that pregnant cabin crew can now apply to work in a temporary ground position for three to nine months after declaring their pregnancy.

"All eligible pregnant cabin crew will enjoy paid maternity leave, and can resume their flying duties at the end of their maternity leave," the statement read.

"The temporary ground position is subject to availability, and whether the individual has the relevant skills for the position available," it said, adding that those who have applied for the ground jobs so far have been allocated positions.

The previous practice had come under fire from women's rights groups for more than a decade.

"It was discriminatory and sexist," Corinna Lim, executive director of the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE), an advocacy group in Singapore, told AFP on Tuesday.

"We are surprised that SIA (Singapore Airlines) continued the practice for as long as it did, especially since it had been publicly questioned, by AWARE and others, when it first came to our attention in 2010."

She called the recent changes "a major step forward", but added that employees should be given the option to do ground work without having to apply for positions.

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