If you're planning to fly on a Virgin Atlantic plane overseas to the United Kingdom this summer, you may notice something a little different about the appearance of their flight attendants and other employees.
Virgin Atlantic announced on Tuesday, which just so happens to be International Flight Attendant Day, that they have relaxed their company tattoo policy for employees and will allow people to display their ink while working.
Estelle Hollingsworth, Chief People Officer at Virgin Atlantic, issued a statement in the news release, and explained the company's decision to relax their tattoo policy.
"At Virgin Atlantic, we want everyone to be themselves and know that they belong," Hollingsworth said. "Many people use tattoos to express their unique identities and our customer-facing and uniformed colleagues should not be excluded from doing so if they choose.
"That's why, in line with our focus on inclusion and championing individuality, we're relaxing our tattoo restrictions for all our people. We're proud to be the airline that sees the world differently and allows our people to truly be themselves."
The policy change comes as part of the airline's new "See the World Differently" campaign that launched in April. The company said the campaign "is a colourful celebration of the diversity of the world around us."
Virgin Atlantic added that the new relaxed tattoo policy "champions individuality and celebrates the uniqueness of its people and customers."
By rolling back their tattoo policy, Virgin Atlantic became the first UK airline to allow visible tattoos for employees. United Airlines loosened up their policies regarding hair, makeup, and visible tattoos last year as well, as employees have been allowed to show their tattoos since Sept. 15, 2021, according to CNN. Most other major airlines do not allow flight attendants to have visible tattoos.
Virgin Atlantic employees will still be prohibited from having visible tattoos on their face or neck, according to The Guardian. The company policy may be relaxed for now, but there are some other guidelines employees must follow.
"Tattoos with swearing, or deemed culturally inappropriate, or those that refer to nudity, violence, drugs or alcohol are off limits. Prison-style love/hate knuckle tattoos will also remain proscribed," according to The Guardian.
Staff shortages have been a challenge for many airlines over the past two plus years during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Virgin Atlantic hopes their new policy will allow more people to show an interest in working for the company. They hired 500 new crew members in January and aim at hiring another 300 as summer travel is expected to increase.
Virgin Atlantic noted in their news release that the company uniform was designed by Vivienne Westwood, who's known for making "punk" mainstream.
"So it’s only fitting that Virgin Atlantic team members can express themselves with their unique tattoos, wearing the red uniforms designed by the godmother of punk," Virgin Atlantic said.
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