Gregory Robinson
Virgin Atlantic has announced it will get rid of its gendered uniforms in an update to its gender identity policy.
From today, crew, pilots and ground team who identity as part of the LGBTQ+ community will be able to choose either the red or burgundy uniform, depending on which best reflects their identity. Watch the campaign video below:
Before the change, Virgin Atlantic employees were required to wear gendered uniforms. Burgundy uniforms were designed for men while red uniforms were designed for women.
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With businesses now becoming more aware of the different ways individuals identify, Virgin Atlantic has made its uniform rules less binary.
Designed by Vivienne Westwood, the new campaign for the uniforms – which are not themselves new – includes real crew members and RuPaul’s Drag Race judge Michelle Visage.
This follows previous changes as part of the ‘Be Yourself’ agenda, including optional makeup and allowing visible tattoos for crew members and its front line people. In 2019, cabin crew were given the choice to wear trousers and flat shoes.
In addition to the uniform rethink, new policy updates also include the introduction of optional pronoun badges, ticketing system amends to allow for passport holders with gender-neutral gender markers to use their gender codes and titles, mandatory inclusivity training for staff and training in destination with tourism and hotel partners.
With the new pronoun badges, customers and staff will be able to clearly communicate and be addressed by their pronouns. The badges will be available to teams and customers from today (28 September). Customers simply need to ask for their preferred badge at the check-in desk or in the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse to get one.
The new ticketing system will allow those who hold passports with gender-neutral gender markers to select ‘U’ or ‘X’ gender codes on their booking as well as the gender-neutral title ‘Mx’.
Citizens from a small number of countries including the USA, India and Pakistan are able to hold these passports and travellers must travel on the codes that match their passport.
Inclusivity training will be rolled out for staff across Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Atlantic Holidays. The press release states inclusivity learning initiatives for tourism partners and hotels within destinations such as the Caribbean will be introduced to make sure all ‘customers feel welcome despite barriers to LGBTQ+ equality’.
The announcement comes as research conducted on behalf of Virgin Atlantic found that allowing workers to be their true selves at work has lots of benefits.
The study showed that allowing staff to embrace their individuality at work increases mental wellbeing by 49 percent and happiness by 65 percent.
Juha Jarvinen, Virgin Atlantic’s chief commercial officer, says, “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.”
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