One of the main perks of being a pilot or cabin crew member was once the opportunity to party into the early hours in far-flung locations around the world. But Virgin Atlantic, the airline founded by flamboyant billionaire Sir Richard Branson, is now ordering staff to tone things down.
Virgin Atlantic is segregating pilots and cabin crew amid concerns that partying into the early hours risks spreading coronavirus among crew members.
Despite spending up to 12 hours working in close quarters onboard flights to the likes of Miami, Los Angeles and the Caribbean, pilots and cabin crew have been told they must not eat or socialise together or mingle with staff from other flights.
It is thought that the concern is that an outbreak of coronavirus could lead to return flights being cancelled because of a lack of staff.
But the edict contrasts sharply with other airlines such as British Airways, which have no such restrictions in force. It has been in place since Dec 21.
Martin Chalk, general secretary of pilot body Balpa, said: “The challenges faced and overcome by pilots and our cabin crew colleagues during the pandemic, particularly the overblown and oppressive requirements in some places, are illustrated by the difficulties this airline is trying to address.
“Airline crew already spend considerable time away from their family and friends. These requested restrictions should be lifted as quickly as possible to enable them to support each other as normal while away from home.”
One senior airline operations manager added: “This sounds like British Airways of the bygone era with pilots and cabin crew forced to stay at different hotels. I can only think this makes the working environment unpleasant all for the sake of no obvious health and safety benefits.”
Virgin Atlantic’s strict approach contrasts with Sir Richard’s original ethos when launching the airline in 1984.
“I thought if Virgin had an airline we could put the fun back into flying and bring glamour back to the skies,” he said at the time.
The Virgin Group founder, knighted in 2000 for services to entrepreneurship and who has an estimated net worth of £4 billion, dressed up as an air stewardess in 2013 after losing a bet with fellow Formula One owner Tony Fernandes over whose team would do better over the motor-racing season.
In October 2020 Virgin Atlantic announced it was the first UK airline to introduce pre-flight Covid testing for cabin crew.
Sir Richard, 71, was recently confined to the Caribbean island that he owns after testing positive for coronavirus earlier this month.
A spokesman for Virgin Atlantic said: “We continue to take pre-emptive measures to uphold operational and staffing resilience, always putting the health and safety of our people and our customers first.
“Alongside any local requirements, temporary measures are in place for our crews to minimise the risk of Covid-19 transmission while they are overseas. This guidance to our people means we ensure they stay healthy and well and avoid flight disruption or cancellations for customers. These measures are kept under constant review and will be maintained only as long as necessary.”
