Passengers on Virgin Atlantic will soon see changes to the uniforms worn by the airline's staff.
As part of its “Be Yourself” agenda, Virgin Atlantic has changed its gender identity policy which will allow - among other things - pilots, cabin crew and ground staff to have the option of wearing a burgundy or red uniform.
Until now, all male staff wore burgundy and their female colleagues - the famous - bright red uniforms. Now they have choice as to which colour they prefer. Also, skirts can be replaced by gender-neutral trouser suits. Male pilots will be allowed to wear skirts. The new uniforms were designed by fashion-guru Vivienne Westwood.
Virgin Atlantic says that it wants to “champion the individuality” of its staff - and that by enabling them to wear clothing that “expresses how they identify or present themselves” it helps do that.
The airline is also introducing an option to include pronouns on workers' name badges.
Virgin Atlantic previously lifted a ban on visible tattoos for all cabin crew and a requirement for female cabin crew to wear make-up.
The airline has also updated its ticketing system to allow passport holders with gender neutral markers to use title Mx and select gender codes U or X on flight bookings. Selected passengers from the US, India and Pakistan can hold these passports, but this does not include UK customers.
All Virgin staff will undego special training to ensure “all our customers feel welcomes despite barriers to LGBTQ+ equality”.
The company was founded by entrepreneur Richard Branson in 1984. It flies to 27 destinations over four continents and recently announced it was joining the SkyTeam Alliance which includes Delta Air Lines and Air France-KLM.
Read the First-Class.com review of the Business Class experience on Virgin Atlantic
