Virgin Atlantic to replace pin-up girl with 'flying icons'
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Your support makes all the difference.Virgin Atlantic is to replace its Flying Lady logo with a wide range of “flying icons” on its new Airbus A350-1000 fleet.
The airline will debut its first A350 this year.
The new icons are “a diverse range of men and women representing modern Britain”, according to Sir Richard Branson’s airline.
They will adorn four new A350 aircraft this year and a further eight aircraft by 2021.
The Flying Lady artwork, which adorns the nose of Virgin’s aircraft, was based on the pin-up girl icon made famous by Peruvian painter Alberto Vargas in the 1930s and 40s.
The move follows Virgin’s pledge to have an equal number of men and women in leadership roles, as well as 12 per cent BAME representation, by 2022.
“The saying goes ‘You can’t be what you can’t see’ and that has never been truer than the aviation industry’s glamorous image in the past,” said Nikki Humphrey, SVP of people at Virgin Atlantic.
“We have been working for a number of years to tackle our gender pay gap, create an inclusive workplace and increase the diversity of our workforce, through the development of our Springboard scheme for women, as well as the launch of engineering apprenticeships.
“By introducing our new Flying Icons I hope it encourages people from all backgrounds to feel at home flying with us, but also working with us.”
In October, Virgin Atlantic announced it would run a one-off LGBT-staffed flight between London Heathrow and New York Newark in celebration of World Pride.
Last month, the airline announced that it had relaxed its mandatory make-up and styling policy for female cabin crew – a “significant change” in the industry.
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