Eurowings Discover allows tattoos for flight attendants
German airlines still have strict regulations on what their flight attendants have to look like. An exception is Eurowings Discover: tattoos are allowed – although not in every form. And for men, subtle make-up and nail polish are now tolerated.
Almost every fifth German has a tattoo
According to a YouGov survey, about one in five Germans has a tattoo. Women in particular are big fans of this art. But every needle prick should be well thought out beforehand. Our reporter Alina Quast was shown better and worse “works of art”.
UForm and a uniform appearance continue to play an important role in aviation. They are part of the corporate identity and at the same time signal to passengers who belongs to the airline. Flight attendants therefore have to comply with dress codes and detailed styling regulations. From the length of the skirt to the height of the heel and the hairstyle, everything is standardized that everyone can normally determine for themselves.
But rules don’t have to be set in stone. To date, it has mainly been foreign airlines that have adapted the uniform look of their crews to the new times and have opted for visual diversity. United Airlines made headlines more than a year ago because the company allowed male flight attendants to wear hair buns or make-up. Since then, visible but subtle tattoos have also not been frowned upon by the US airline.
Other airlines also moved with the times. At least a bit. At Virgin Atlantic, women have been allowed to work on board without make-up since 2019, at Swissair it is permitted to wear lace-up shoes with trousers – they no longer have to be the obligatory pumps. Luckily, compulsory skirts and weight controls have long since been abolished.
A visible tattoo is not an issue for Lufthansa
However, visible tattoos are still taboo for German airlines, especially the Lufthansa subsidiaries (e.g. Swissair, Austrian). Even the far more relaxed Condor is sticking to the ban on pierced skin. It goes without saying that nose rings and tongue piercings are not an issue for Germany’s leading airlines. A change in this dress code policy is not in sight. Both Lufthansa and Condor say that no changes are planned.
Eurowings Discover is the still relatively new tourist airline of the Lufthansa Group
Quelle: pa/Wolfgang Minich
But the Lufthansa start-up Eurowings Discover is only a year young. You have a style guide that is clearly different, said a Eurowings Discover spokeswoman for the Aerotelegraph flight portal. That means small tattoos on the hands, arms and neck are no problem. But full-body tattoos and tattoos on the face are not allowed for flight attendants.
As the first German airline, Eurowings Discover may deviate a little more from the uniform look, but it will probably not be alone for long. At TUIfly, the situation is being closely monitored and they do not want to shut themselves off from future changes.
Because a greater tolerance of individual looks among crew members can also be a sign of clever personnel management in times of acute staff shortages. “If we restrict people too much, they cannot perform at their best,” quotes Aerotelegraph Gilles Feith. The CEO of Luxembourg national airline Luxair also sees the toleration of small tattoos, nail polish and long hair on men as a way to increase flight attendants’ motivation, along the lines of “work as you are”. .
Eurowings Discover obviously also took this motto to heart when the airline recently gave it a shovel more freedom: Now subtle make-up and nail polish are also tolerated for men – just like the foreign competition.
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Source: WELT/Steffen Schwarzkopf