Virgin Atlantic scraps gendered uniforms in policy overhaul, will roll out pronoun badges for customers
CRAWLEY, ENGLAND: Virgin Atlantic today updated its uniform policy and gave its crew a choice to wear uniforms "that express their true identity."
The airline scrapped its old gendered uniform policy and introduced pronoun badges for staff to express their identity. In this new policy, staff including pilots, plane crew, and ground staff now have an option to choose between Virgin's original red and burgundy uniform. Till now, the red option was mostly worn by female flight attendants while the burgundy uniform was mostly worn by male flight attendants.
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The new policy also allows male staff to wear skirts and female staff to wear pants. The company even launched a uniform option for non-binary staff members. Apart from the policy, Virgin is also introducing mandatory training for all its staff at Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Atlantic Holidays.
The carrier said the announcement was to reflect the diversity at the workplace and a part of "an ongoing drive to champion the individuality of its people and customers." Virgin has teamed up with 'RuPaul's Drag Race' star Michelle Visage in a bid to "offer its people a fluid approach to its red and burgundy uniforms, meaning LGBTQ+ colleagues will be able to choose either the red or the burgundy uniform, depending on which best reflects themselves."
The airways will also roll out optional pronoun badges for its crew and customers to ensure that people only use their preferred pronouns. The crew and passengers will be able to collect the badges from the check-in. Its ticketing systems will also allow people whose passports have gender-neutral markers – currently available in the US, India, and Pakistan – to travel using those gender codes and the title Mx.
These changes are the part of company’s “Be Yourself” Campaign which helped the airline to become the first company in the UK to allow staff to flaunt their tattoo in the working space.
Reacting to the announcement, Juha Järvinen, Virgin Atlantic’s chief commercial officer, said, “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.”
Cabin crew member Jamie Forsstrom 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.”
The company showcased this new policy with a new 'fashion-ably high' photo shoot, which captured Michelle Visage, Tanya Compas, Talulah-Eve, and Tyreece Nye striking poses for the company. Tyreece Nye, a non-binary performer and activist who also participated in the campaign, said, "This policy allows everyone to have a seat at the table. It's not taking away from anyone, it's just allowing everyone from the community to just have a voice."