Top Russian airline introduces major changes for staff

S7 airlines is now one of the first major Russian air carriers to update its rules for flight crews, significantly reducing limitations on how workers can look and dress. In a post published on the airline’s Telegram channel on Tuesday, it announced that S7 employees can now sport visible tattoos, have beards, and dye their hair vibrant colors.

“Standard airline rules do not always justifiably regulate the appearance of flight attendants, pilots and employees at the airport. It’s time to update them!” the airline said, adding that it supports their workers’ right to express themselves and believes that tattoos and other superficial features have no impact on an employee’s professional traits.

“If an individual style does not prevent a person from doing his job 100% and ensuring safety on board, we see no reason to keep these outdated traditions in place,” S7 wrote, going on to list certain things that will now be permitted on board.

They include tattoos on visible parts of the body – as long as they are not offensive – bright colored hair dye, ballet flats or loafers instead of heels for female flight attendants, and beards for all male employees, as opposed to just pilots or airport workers, as was the case before.

The airline notes that some restrictions – such as long nails or piercings on open parts of the body – will remain in place due to safety concerns.

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S7’s decision comes amid an industry-wide shift in which a number of airlines around the world have started relaxing appearance guidelines for crew members. Earlier this year, Virgin Atlantic became one of the first British airlines to allow flight attendants to display tattoos, which previously had to be covered up. Latvia’s AirBaltic airline also joined in on the trend earlier this month, permitting most tattoos, hairstyles, and piercings for uniformed staff.

The first major international airline to allow tattoos for staff was Air New Zealand, which in 2019 announced that its employees would be permitted to sport traditional 'ta moko' Maori, as well as non-offensive tattoos on visible parts of the body while wearing their uniform or normal business attire.