Virgin Atlantic Becomes First British Airline to Let Cabin Crew Display Visible Tattoos

Virgin Atlantic is the first airline in the UK to allow visible tattoos at work. Until now, the airline made employees cover up arm and leg tattoos, while workers were completely barred from having tattoos on body parts that couldn't be completely covered.

The decision comes just over a month after the airline announced it would let male cabin crew wear non-discreet makeup for the first time.

At a time when the entire aviation industry is struggling to recruit enough staff, Virgin Atlantic's chief people officer said the policy shift on tattoos would help the airline attract talent.

Hollingsworth said that Virgin Atlantic wants everyone to be themselves and know that they belong.

Most employees will be allowed to have arm, wrist and leg tattoos, but the airline hasn't committed to allowing cabin crew to have neck or face tattoos. Hollingsworth says the airline might relax the restriction at a later date.

The tattoos that contain profanity, nudity or violence will not be allowed. Gang and prison-style tattoos are not allowed.

The policy shift is related to rule changes at several major international airlines. The rule book was updated as part of the commitment to introduce inclusive standards that better permit freedom of gender expression.

Air New Zealand became the first major carrier to allow visible tattoos. The change was introduced in order to not exclude workers who had traditional Moko tattooing.

Last year, a Canadian labour arbitrator ruled that Air Canada could not bar uniform wearers from showing visible tattoos if they weren't offensive and didn't cover the neck or face.

Virgin Atlantic became the first major British airline to drop mandatory makeup rules for female cabin crew in 2019.

Virgin Atlantic hasn't revealed any plans for gender-neutral uniforms and all uniform items are strictly segregating by gender.

As an international flight attendant, Maszczynski worked for the most prominent airline in the Middle East and has been flying for a well-known European airline during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Matt is an expert in passenger experience and human-centered stories. Constantly keeping an ear close to the ground, Matt's industry insights, analysis and news coverage is often relied upon by some of the biggest names in journalism.