Some Flight Attendants Can Bring Their Full Selves to Work—Tattoos, Sneakers, Nose Studs and All
By Katie Deighton, June 9, 2022, WSJ

Drinks ordered at 36,000 feet may now come served with a side of ink.
Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. last week announced it has eased its ban
on flight attendants showing their tattoos on duty. Uniformed employees
of the British air carrier can now display most body art when serving customers without repercussions. Face and neck tattoos must still be
covered, though a spokeswoman said that policy might be reversed.
Previously staff had to cover all tattoos. The change was made to
better reflect Virgin Atlantic’s views on inclusion and diversity,
according to the company’s chief people officer, Estelle Hollingsworth.
“At Virgin Atlantic, we want everyone to be themselves and know that
they belong,” she said. The shift follows similar changes at Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, which over the past two years began
letting flight attendants show some of their tattoos, and Virgin
Atlantic’s 2019 scrapping of its rule requiring female cabin crew to
wear makeup.

Aer Lingus and Japan Airlines have relaxed other strict appearance
directives, such as requiring female cabin crew to wear high heels
and skirts, while others have introduced new gender-neutral uniform
items designed for comfort. New uniforms in the air often reflect
the relaxation of workwear on the ground. Virgin Australia, for
example, this month added a puffer jacket and vest designed by
athleisure label P.E Nation to its cabin crew uniforms, while Mexican
carrier VivaAerobus last December introduced a new uniform range that
includes tennis shoes. Two carriers launched in the pandemic,
Iceland’s Play airline and Italy’s ITA Airways, took off with
uniforms featuring sweaters and pants for both men and women.
South Korean domestic carrier Aero K Airlines said uniforms introduced
in 2020—featuring sneakers and T-shirts—“were created with consideration and respect to better perform various duties regardless of age and gender.”

The changes in the industry come as customer expectations shift,
staff push to express their individuality, and airlines struggle to
fill gaps in their workforce created during the pandemic. Government
support helped most airlines avoid mass layoffs during the months of
lockdown and international border closures. But carriers also eased
their financial burden by encouraging thousands of staff to retire
early and take buyouts. Now airlines are trying to staff back up, &
face hurdles that other service industries don’t: lengthy background
checks and training programs, for openers. Flight attendants must also
be able to swim, lift moderate weights, cope with heights and stressful situations, and cannot be too short to reach emergency equipment or too
tall for the cabin.

Relaxing dress codes broadens the pool of candidates, & can make work
more engaging for current employees in an industry struggling to hang
on to workers, said Bryan Terry, global aviation leader at consulting
firm Deloitte. “Airlines historically relied on the nonfinancial parts
of their compensation package, such as flight benefits and other perks,
to attract talent that’s becoming less important to employees,” Terry said. “They’re now looking at how they can update and modernize their employee value proposition.”

Like Virgin Atlantic, Alaska Airlines updated its uniform guidelines
so its staff could “bring their best and authentic selves” to work.
In March, the company began permitting staff of all genders to wear
nail polish, makeup, two earrings per ear and a single nose stud. It
also stopped labeling its uniform kits as “male” or “female” in favor of a gender-neutral dress code. The change came less than a year after
the airline received a letter from the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of nonbinary flight attendant Justin Wetherell, which alleged Alaska’s regulation of flight attendants’ appearances as either “male” or “female” violated Washington state law against discrimination.
“I know firsthand what it feels like not to be seen, heard or able to
bring your authentic self to work,” wrote James Thomas, director of diversity, equity and inclusion at Alaska Airlines, in a blog post.
“When I’ve experienced this, it didn’t feel great and honestly made
it hard to come to work every day during those times, or to deliver
my best work.”

Not all airlines are relaxing their uniform or appearance standards.
Singapore Airlines ’ female cabin crew still wear the sarong kebaya
uniform that has been standard since 1968, and the company has no
plans to change it. The company describes the uniform as “the symbol
of Asian hospitality recognized the world over.” Some airlines continue
to require more traditional uniforms to accommodate the societal norms
of certain markets and expectations of certain customers, said Deloitte’s Terry. But most are likely to loosen their standards to some degree in
the coming years, no matter where they are based, he added. “The trajectory is the same,” he said. “Some are just moving faster than others.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/some-flight-attendants-can-bring-their-full-selves-to-worktattoos-sneakers-nose-studs-and-all-11654768800

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