Virgin Atlantic Ditches the ‘Uniformity’ in Their Uniform Policy

Following the online backlash against its proposed new uniform policy, Virgin Atlantic has announced it will no longer implement new dress codes that would have prevented female employees from wearing hijabs, turbans, and other religious garments. We are delighted to confirm that we will continue to allow our female colleagues to wear their own individual items of religious dress, said Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson in an official statement released on Monday afternoon. The corporate decision follows an online petition launched by the Muslim Women’s Network UK, which expressed shock at the new guidelines and requested that Virgin Atlantic reverse its decision.

Virgin Atlantic is working to become more inclusive by making a number of adjustments that will take into account the gender representation of its personnel and customers. One of the changes relates to the airline’s uniform policy, which will now permit employees to dress whichever they believe most appropriately expresses their gender identification.
The uniforms feature variations for slacks, skirts, blazers, and ties and were created by Vivienne Westwood. The new policy also allows crew workers and front-line employees to have optional make-up and visible tattoos.

The policy was developed in response to studies showing that enabling employees to embrace their uniqueness at work improves mental health by 49%, happiness by 65%, and the experience of both employees and customers by 24%.

Juha Jarvinen, chief commercial officer of Virgin Atlantic, said, “At Virgin Atlantic, we believe that everyone can take on the globe, no matter who they are.” “For this reason, it’s crucial that we give our employees the freedom to celebrate their uniqueness and be themselves at work. Because of this, we want to let our employees wear the uniforms that best represent them and how they identify themselves, and we want to make sure that our customers are addressed using the pronouns of their choice.

The airline’s ticketing system will identify customers whose passports contain gender-neutral gender markers, and crew members can opt to wear pronoun badges.