British Airways goes gender neutral, allows male cabin crew members to wear makeup

In a one of its kind decision, the British Airways' male pilots and cabin crew will now be allowed to wear makeup and have piercings. The airlines came up with new guidelines with non-gender-specific rules. The decision came after Virgin Atlantic updated its policies incorporating gender-neutral rules. 

On Thursday, The Guardian reported that all employees can wear mascara, false eyelashes and earrings from Monday. They are also allowed to carry accessories including handbags. In an internal memo sent by the airlines to the staff, the staff were urged to use “subtle shades” of makeup and were not allowed to wear “black and neon nails”. The airline updated its guidelines intending to make the policies reflect the “diversity of the modern society.” 

The move came after Virgin Atlantic allowed cabin crew to display tattoos

With the new updates in the grooming guidelines, British Airways follows the footsteps of Virgin Atlantic which allowed their cabin crew to display tattoos in their new guidelines which were released in May. Virgin Atlantic launched the new guidelines a month after they launched the “Championing Individuality” campaign. Announcing the initiative Estelle Hollingsworth, the Chief people officer of the Virgin Atlantic, said that the new guidelines are introduced, “in line with our focus on inclusion and championing individuality”.

The Guardian reported that British Airways while announcing the initiative said, “We are proud of all of our colleagues at British Airways and we are committed to an inclusive working environment,” adding, “We have worked with our people to create updated guidelines for grooming, beauty and accessories, allowing our colleagues to bring the best, most authentic version of themselves to work every day.”

British Airways’ latest memo urges the staff to “be bold, be proud, be yourself”, adding that the guideline will be “embraced by everyone regardless of gender, gender identity, ethnicity, background, culture, sexual identity, or otherwise”.

While British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are updating their guidelines with the “modern society,” Qatar Airways which is the major shareholder in British Airways still has strict working conditions and grooming guidelines. According to The Guardian, when British Airways was asked whether the male pilots and crew will be allowed to wear makeup and accessories while working in the flight operating in and out of Doha, BA declined to comment further.