Virgin replaces Flying Lady in gender equality move
Virgin Atlantic is replacing its Flying Lady icon with a range of diverse icons on its new A350-1000 fleet.
It says the move represents the ‘changing face’ of the brand which is aiming to have a 50:50 gender balance in leadership roles, as well as 12% black, Asian and minority ethnic group representation across the company by 2022.
It has also taken steps to address a gender in-balance with regards to salaries.
The use of the Flying Lady was inspired by figureheads that have decorated ships since the 16th century and the artwork was based on the pin-up girls made famous by Alberto Vargas in the 1930s and 1940s.
They have now been replaced by five different images of both men and women.
In other moves to change its image, Virgin Atlantic became the first company to show a same sex couple in its ad imagery in India and recently changed its policy so that female crew can now work make-up free and choose whether they wear trousers or a skirt.
Nikki Humphrey, senior vice president of people at Virgin Atlantic, explained: "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."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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