Virgin Atlantic isn’t offering new gender-free, inclusive crew uniform on World Cup flight

Carrier launched gender-fluid crew suits to much fanfare in September

TV personality Michelle Visage helped launch the new uniforms in October (Virgin Atlantic)

Virgin Atlantic has said that its new gender-free uniforms will not be worn by staff on the flight carrying England’s football team to the World Cup in Qatar.

A spokesperson for the airline confirmed the policy to BBC News on Tuesday afternoon, saying its much-lauded, more flexible uniforms were being rolled out in countries “more accepting of non-binary identities”.

“Initially the UK, US and Israel are the territories where the uniform policy is being rolled out for our people, as those countries are more accepting of non-binary identities allowing more self-expression,” the airline’s representatives told the BBC.

They added that implementation of the uniforms is considered “on a case by case basis to ensure the safety and security of our people and customers at all times”.

The airline announced that the England team will travel to Doha this week in its “Rain Bow” aircraft, an Airbus A350 with the name emblazoned on the side, alongside the carrier’s LGBTQ+ icon, Oscar.

“At Virgin Atlantic we believe that everyone can take on the world,” said a statement.

“Aircraft G-VPRD, also known as Rain Bow, which proudly displays our LGBTQ+ flying icon, will be flying the team to the tournament.”

Virgin Atlantic announced its new gender-fluid uniform policy at the end of September, with skirt suits available to men and trouser suits allowed to be worn by women and nonbinary employees.

It unveiled two styles of suit, one burgundy and one scarlet, both designed by Vivienne Westwood, with chief commercial officer Juha Jarvinen encouraging employees to “embrace their individuality and be their true selves at work”.

Earlier this month, CEO Shai Weiss said that job applications for cabin crew had risen by 100 per cent following the new uniform policy.

However, Virgin Atlantic did not detail the use of the new uniforms on specific, more tolerant routes only in its initial statements and press release about the inclusivity drive.

It follows years of campaigning by LGBTQ+ activists against holding this year’s World Cup in Qatar.

Same-sex relations and marriage are both illegal in Qatar; in recent weeks its World Cup ambassador Khalid Salman has said gay people “have to accept our rules here” and described homosexuality as “damage in the mind”.

Meanwhile, the UK’s foreign secretary James Cleverly has said that LGBTQ+ fans should show “a little bit of flex and compromise” when visiting Qatar for the event.

The German football team is making a similar statement this week by arriving in a Lufthansa aircraft emblazoned with the slogan “Diversity wins”.

A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said the destinations the new uniforms are being rolled out in were communicated to their employees at the time of the launch. They emphasised that Qatar is not a regular route for the airline and the decision had been made on a case-by-case basis.

“The safety and security of our people and customers is always our top priority. We’re proud our leading Gender Identity Policy allows our people to express themselves through uniform choice,” they said.

“As part of our policy, we complete a risk assessment on all countries we fly to, considering laws and attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community and expressions of identity on a case by case basis.

“Following a risk assessment, it was recommended the policy was not applied on today’s charter flight to ensure the safety of our people.”