Alaska Airlines has announced plans to introduce new gender neutral uniforms for employees including flight attendants and airport lounge staff.
The US-based airline is working with designer Luly Yang and asking for input from staff to create the outfits, although it's not yet confirmed when these will be rolled out.
In the meantime, the company has given its general uniform policy a major update, including the introduction of 'personal pronoun pins' which employees can choose to wear with their uniform.
Other updates include changes on rules to allow airline staff to wear nail polish, make-up, multiple earrings and single stud nose piercings.
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The airline has also updated its policies around tattoos and hairstyles to offer employees a wider range of options, while uniform kit names are being adjusted to focus on their fit rather than gender identifications.
The company said that it is making the changes to offer "more freedom and flexibility in individual and gender expression".
Monique 'Mo', a flight attendant for Alaska Airlines, said: "I love who I am and refuse to make myself smaller in order to be accepted. This is one thing that I can’t compromise over. We all want to look professional, and we all want to be ourselves at the same time—your gender shouldn’t define what you wear or how you look."
Meanwhile Jason, an Alaska flight attendant by day and drag star by night, added that they appreciate the positive changes, and look forward to the company's support if they face adversity from peers or customers, for example while wearing nail polish.
They added: "Me wearing something that makes me happy and expresses my fashion sense should have no bearing on how you treat me as an individual. We are all human beings and should treat each other with kindness."
In recent years, airlines have been looking to update their often rigid uniform policies.
For example back in 2019, Virgin scrapped its rule requiring female cabin crew staff to wear make-up. Staff are still encouraged to wear it if they wish, but must stick to the airline's colour pattern.
At the time, the brand said that women would be given trousers as part of their standard uniform as well as their traditional red pencil skirts, rather than having to specifically request them.
