Virgin Atlantic says it has updated its gender identity policy to give flight crew the choice of which uniforms to wear. The airline announced that its pilots, cabin crew and ground staff now have the option of wearing its red or burgundy uniforms.
The carrier said it wants to “champion the individuality” of its workers by enabling them to wear clothing that “expresses how they identify or present themselves”. Female Virgin Atlantic employees were previously required to wear a red uniform, while males wore burgundy.
It is introducing the option of including pronouns on workers’ name badges, and has updated its ticketing system to allow passport holders with gender neutral markers to use the title Mx and select gender codes U or X on their booking. Passengers from a small number of countries including the US, India and Pakistan – but not the UK – can hold these passports.
Mandatory inclusivity training will be rolled out across the workforce at the airline and Virgin Atlantic Holidays, while there will also be “inclusivity learning initiatives” for tourism partners and hotels in destinations such as the Caribbean. This is to ensure “all our customers feel welcomes despite barriers to LGBTQ+ equality”, Virgin Atlantic said.
The measures are part of the airline’s Be Yourself agenda. Previous changes include dropping a requirement for female cabin crew to wear make-up, and scrapping a ban on visible tattoos for all cabin crew.
Jaime Forsstroem, cabin crew at Virgin Atlantic, said: “The updated gender identity policy is so important to me. As a non-binary person, it allows me to be myself at work and have the choice in what uniform I wear.”
Juha Jarvinen, Virgin Atlantic’s chief commercial officer said: “At Virgin Atlantic, we believe that everyone can take on the world, no matter who they are. That’s why it’s so important that we enable our people to embrace their individuality and be their true selves at work.
"It is for that reason that we want to allow our people to wear the uniform that best suits them and how they identify and ensure our customers are addressed by their preferred pronouns.”
