Virgin Atlantic CEO Shai Weiss dismisses those who have complained about his carrier’s progressive tattoo policy. He says that “society will catch up” and Virgin made the right call two years ago in permitting cabin crew to openly display tattoos.
Virgin Atlantic CEO On Tattoos
Virgin Atlantic loosened its tattoo policy for cabin crew in 2022.
In an interview with Fortune, Weiss was asked, “You now allow flight attendants to have their tattoos exposed and to wear the uniform of the gender they wish. Are you able to do that because Virgin has a reputation for being quirky?”
“We prefer to say ‘irreverent.’ When we announced the policies, I got complaints, but I knew that we were right. We know that some of the stuff we do is not pleasing to everyone all the time, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t right. It ensures that everyone is welcome, can be their best, and perform at Virgin Atlantic. I know some people will find it too progressive, and that’s okay. Society will catch up. We’re not just running a popularity contest. It’s not a PR stunt.”
The use of the term “irreverent” is interesting. Irreverent is defined as “owing a lack of respect for people or things that are generally taken seriously,” and I’m not sure what he means. I’ve never considered tattoos disrespectful (maybe a little tacky), but would never get one because have you ever seen an old person with a tattoo that looked good?
The point here is not about whether tattoos are right or wrong, though. That is for you to decide.
Rather, it’s about cabin staff “being their genuine self” (as Virgin puts it) and whether that leads to better service onboard versus making everyone the same (i.e. “uniform”) like the Gulf carriers such that personality does not shine through predictable professionalism.
> Read More: Virgin Atlantic Embraces Tattoos On Flight Attendants
Interesting that the open display of tattoos is a way of getting away from being uniform because it is somewhat uniform for cartel and gang members to be tattooed. That is definitely not something I want to be reminded of when I’m 35,000’ above the ground.
When you see a tattoo you automatically affiliate it with gangs? Lol
They might rename the airplanes for different gangs .
Last I checked I am not in a gang or cartel, yet have tattoos. Your comment is ignorant and racist, because you assume anyone with tattoos is a criminal. Wake up and join the 21rst century. Or build a time machine and go back to 1955. Also over 40% of the US population has at least one, who knew there were so many gang members.
He forgot to mention hookers.
Why play the Race Card and thus be the one first bringing it into an unrelated conversation…? You already used the trendy “ignorant” charge.
You had me till you decided to throw out the race card. It’s the only thing more dumb than the OP.
Self-proclamation Graffiti is an own goal .
If one loves Graffiti on the sides of buildings in their neighborhood , they will double-love Graffiti all over staff .
If i see the cabin crew with tattoos I’m getting off the plane.
That’s too many bad decisions for me to trust my life to them.
Have you had any bad experiences with FAs who were tattooed while on a plane?
Awesome. More room for the rest of us.
If you get off, though please do it BEFORE we get to 35,000 feet.
Eh, tattoos are fine for the most part. It could be worse, could be a bearded man wearing a dress who gets “visibly shaken” when misgendered.
I mean, if they constantly had to deal with ignorant (to say the least) people over and over again, then I can see why they would feel that way.
There may be a kind of company Self-Abasement going on … similar to Brandon agreeing to a debate .
Until someone shows up with a MAGA tattoo, then they will be fired. But its ok to be a dude in a dress.
Not sure that VS cabin crews have many members who are that bothered about politics on a different continent.
Oh you’d be surprised
The funny thing here is that in the Victorian Era it was the norm for boys to wear dresses (and, horror of horrors, pink).
I suppose had you been alive then you’d have been railing against your modern self for destroying your culture. I’d pay to see that time travel experiment.
I’ll rather be served by s.o. with tatoos who knows how to engage ith guests and give a fantastic service and loves his job. Instead of having s.o. who looks awkward, lifeless and in great despair on being on a plane calling himself/herself flight attendant.
If you hate serving ppl. and doing your job as FA than quit or do not apply! Try being a warder or a bouncer!
I guess it’s OK to dismiss all the medical research articles relating tattoos to increase rates of hepatitis and cancer.
You know people don’t care about research!
Why, in EVERY comment section, on EVERY blog, does someone feel the need to interject politics into the discussion when it’s not about politics? It could be an article about service animals or SWA’s boarding format, but someone will, for some reason, throw in a comment about “Brandon” or the “convicted felon” when it has absolutely nothing to do with what is being discussed.
WHY!?!?
This blog definitely weighs in on a lot of the political (and culture war) side of things, so it’s natural that it will retain an audience that cares more about that than travel. I’m pretty sure Matthew openly despises Trump for example.
Welcome to America in 2024, it’s infected everything.
Why ? Because it is newsworthy when Brandon brushed his chin slightly , and that slight touch knocked himself out.
Because hateful trolls gotta troll hatefully wherever and whenever they can?
Tattoos are trashy. It used to be that some people got one or two on a leg or back but now we are seeing more people like this. People are self hating. They like to turn everything good into everything bad. Inclusivity means accepting feces. Of course it’s not real inclusivity because they welcome degenerates but don’t welcome real Christians who tell the truth or Whites who advocate for their people when they have no problem with Jews, Indians, Blacks, and Asians who advocate for their people. Inclusivity is hypocrisy and a lie. They only include degenerates.
Increased cancer risk is real.
And you are one of the biggest and worst degenerates of all.
Well done Mr Weiss for allowing your staff to express themselves, but it would be even better if you could get on with the business of starting some new routes not involving the USA or Canada. South America in particular is woefully lacking in flights from the UK as BA send most traffic via MAD.
I collect a fair few miles from their co-branded MasterCard and end up mostly using them for short haul redemptions on the rest of SkyTeam, and they even give out upgrade vouchers which I am unable to use as I don’t visit the USA with any regularity and, outside of some random Caribbean islands, they have very few flights elsewhere.
As young GenXer with multiple tattoos from my time in the service and my multiple deployments, and some that represent aspects of me and my experiences and my personality, I applaud this. Tattoos are only taboo culturally anymore to the Japanese (and even that’s lessening) and to people looking to complain about anything. It seems this article has pulled a lot of Boomers out of the woodwork. The pearl-clutching in this comment thread is comical. Don’t like tattoos? Don’t get one. Easy as that. Don’t like them on other people? Get over it; it’s not your body. And if you don’t want to fly VS, cool. You’ll not be missed. And no, my tattoos have not prevented me from getting a job at any time. Are some tacky? Yeah. But so are huge, fake tits. Where’s all the gasping about those?
It’s probably a fair assumption that the folks trashing anyone with a tattoo also would have been against integrated schools and mixed-race marriages if this were 70-ish years ago. Get a life.
Well said! I also have a lot of tattoos that I display proudly, as they are beautiful. There are a lot of really old people chiming in with their outdated and antiquated views. (Plus some crazy racists and extreme religious right.) Those folks need to take their hatred, bury it in the ground, and start looking at the world in a kinder way.
“Society will catch up.”
ROFL!!!
I love how the secular, western society sees itself as the for-runner for the whole world. As if all Asians and Africans need “catching up” to do. And of course religious people…
Someone needs to tell them that secular westerners make up probably less that 5% of the world…
The issue isn’t tattoos, it’s this cultural narcissism that elevates self expression above everything else. Professionalism, courtesy, and generosity all must die on the alter of self identity. This is leading to a continual breakdown of civil society as it turns people into entitled, selfish brats looking for the next grevience.
Professionalism, courtesy, and generosity can just as easily be found with people with tattoos as people without.
On UA DCA IAH, last week, purser looked as if she had ‘sleeves’ on both forearms. Her uniform sleeves were slightly pushed up. No big deal for me.
“because have you ever seen an old person with a tattoo that looked good?”
Old, schmold. Have you ever seen anyone, of any age, gender or other variable, with a tattoo who wouldn’t look much better without it? I haven’t.
Tattoos are just gross, disgusting and an abomination. On anyone. Ewwww.
I’ll be skipping the “Tattooed Virgin” flights.
How incredibly unprofessional.
I will refuse to fly Virgin for this reason alone
Love the hypocrisy of some of these ppl. here.! They rather fly an airline which has bad service and appalling FAs because they look like Barbie and Ken. Give me an airline with stellar service in all aspects but have simple FAs with normal features and with or without tattoos..anytime.
Seriously. Good service is good service, regardless.
Tattoos on a beautiful woman are like bumper stickers on a Ferrari. But I guess if all you got is a Pinto, you gotta dress it up somehow.
Good lord, I see some really narrow-minded and biggoted POVs here. I used to work for the communications department of a state government agency. Tattoos were everywhere, including on me. I worked with the governor on occasion. Then again, I worked in the marketing department of a very large bank (non-customer-facing), and tattoos were frowned upon. Society needs to stop clutching its pearls about what other people are doing and lighten up.
And, to Mr. Klint’s comment about tattos on older folk: I’m 61, have a full sleeve, and I get compliments from younger folks all the time. It all depends on location, talent and skill of the artist, and the time it takes to build the piece. There are some tattoos that are definite pieces of art, no matter who is wearing it.
>Sponsoring societal decay in a white country
>Shai Weiss
Surprise, surprise.
IIRC, the military has rules about tattoos.
Must be below a certain vertebra, above the knee, and above the elbow.
I could live with that.
Therefore, someone in an uniform (FA) on a plane could follow the same guidelines.
Comment sections are often overly spicy, but man, there are some curmudgeons hanging around this one. I don’t have any tattoos and I dislike them more often than not on other people, but I’m not going to gasp at the crumbling of society if someone who’s providing service for me has one. The “tattoos are for gangsters, servicemen and loose women” stereotype hasn’t lined up with cultural expectations for decades. Are you sure this comment section isn’t connected to the 1950s via some time wormhole?
If someone else’s appearance is distressing to you, perhaps the issue isn’t someone else’s appearance.
So many tats are not fun to look at….they need to be covered up!!!