Virgin Atlantic’s easing of cabin crew tattoo policy marks industry shift

Virgin's easing of its policy on employees displaying tattoos is a significant shift in the industry, which has long had strict criteria for cabin crew and how they should look.

The sons of businessmen financed the airlines in the early days.

In 1912, the first person to look after passengers on the LZ 10 Schwaben flights from Berlin to Freidrichshafen was Heinrich Kubis. He worked as a waiter at two hotels.

The first woman was appointed 18 years later. Ellen Church, a nurse and qualified pilot, wanted to fly commercial aircraft, but women were not allowed. She asked Boeing Air Transport to hire nurses as flight stewardesses to convince passengers that flying was safe. On May 15, 1930, her first flight took off.

Other airlines followed quickly. It was one of the few jobs open to women. In December 1935, more than 2,000 people applied for 43 positions at Transcontinental and Western Airlines.

The New York Times reported in 1936 that women were selected based on their physical characteristics.

The girls must be at least 20 years old and weigh 100 to 118 pounds. The bloom that goes with perfect health is assured because each must undergo a rigid physical examination four times a year.

There were requirements that persisted. The requirements for stewardesses at Eastern Airlines were listed in a 1966 advert. Weight 105 to 135 in proportion to height and have at least 20/40 vision without glasses, is not required.

Many airlines have physical requirements. There are rules about height and weight for airlines. Most look for people between 5ft 2in and 6ft 2in with weight in proportion to height.

Women working for the airline were told that they could wear trainers while in the air but were still expected to wear high heels in airports.

In the US, United Airlines allowed all genders to wear nail polish and makeup. The cabin crew can now have long hair and tattoos if they are no bigger than the employee's work badges.

A survey in 2015 found that 20% of British adults had at least one tattoo. A 2016 US poll found that 29% of people had a tattoo, up from 21% four years before. Forty-seven per cent of people born between 1982 and 2004 said they had one.