Virgin Atlantic has today updated its uniform policy to remove gendered clothing requirements in a move which has seen passengers criticise the airline for not focusing on passenger prices and experience instead.
Staff including plane crew and pilots will be able to choose which uniform they wear: the company’s ‘red’ option, previously most commonly worn by female flight attendants, or the ‘burgundy’ option, previously worn by male flight attendants.
This includes allowing men to wear skirts and women to wear trousers, as well as increasing the uniform options available to non-binary staff members.
They are also introducing pronoun badges in a bid to allow staff to ‘wear uniforms that express their true identity’.
The airline has teamed up with RuPaul’s Drag Race star Michelle Visage in a bid to ‘reflect the diversity of its workforce’ and ‘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 company said the change makes it ‘the most inclusive airline in the skies’ and its employees are among those who have praised the changes on social media.
But reaction to the new policies has been mixed online, with some praising the company’s diverse attitude while others claim it is a waste of time. Others have questioned why the company doesn’t give its staff a pay rise instead or lower ticket prices.
One social media user said: ‘I would bet that the majority of Virgin Atlantic staff would rather have a pay rise than this.’
