Virgin Atlantic drops “Flying Lady” figure
Virgin Atlantic has announced their decision to drop the iconic “Flying Lady” painted on their aircraft in favor of a new, diverse range of “Flying Icons”.
Set to be launched on their upcoming fleet of Airbus A350-1000s, the new artwork will showcase the diverse society that is present in modern Britain, from varying ethnicity to sexual orientation.
The goal of the change is to target the gender pay gap and increase diversity throughout their workplace and the aviation industry as a whole.
Passengers are also targeted with this change, with the aim of making people of different ethnicities and sexual orientations feel more comfortable and safe when travelling with the airline.
Here are the designs set to be applied to their Airbus A350-1000s:
The iconic Varga Girl, based on the pin-up girls made famous in the 1930s and 1940s by Alberto Vargas, has been with the brand for 35 years.
Focusing on the company employee diversity stance, Virgin aims to have a 12% black, Asian and minority ethnic group representation across the company by 2022.
Virgin Atlantic will receive four A350-1000s this year, with eight more set to be delivered through to the end of 2021. One of the aircraft will be a previous Airbus test frame and is undergoing rework whilst their new production frame is sitting in storage.
The company released the following trailer for the A350-1000 when they ordered the type in 2016:
On the 8th of April, Virgin Atlantic will officially unveil their new Upper Class business seat, which is just three after the unveiling of British Airways’ A350-1000 Club Suites.
More details on the cabin product will come down the line when unveiled.