British Airways upgrades cabin crew's uniform in nearly two decades, includes hijab and jumpsuit

The British Airways on Friday unveiled a new uniform to take the airline into its next chapter. The collection of garments, designed by British fashion designer and tailor Ozwald Boateng OBE, will be worn by more than 30,000 of the airline`s colleagues from Spring 2023.

Sean Doyle, British Airways` Chairman and CEO, said, "Our uniform is an iconic representation of our brand, something that will carry us into our future, representing the very best of modern Britain and helping us deliver a great British original service for our customers. From the very start this has been about our people. We wanted to create a uniform collection that our people are proud to wear and with the help of more than 1,500 colleagues, we are confident that we have delivered this."

The collection features a tailored three-piece suit for men with regular and slim fit style trousers and dress, skirt and trouser options for women, as well as a modern jumpsuit -- which is an airline first. A tunic and hijab option has also been created for the global carrier.

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As per the airline, Boateng took great care in designing a truly original collection, taking inspiration from the airline, its people of the art of flying. The airwave pattern that features across the entire uniform collection, including jackets, t-shirts, buttons and ties was inspired by the movement of air over an aircraft wing.

The airline said that Boateng has been developing the collection since 2018 with care. He shadowed a number of airport roles to understand how the uniform needed to perform for each job and ensure a modern British, stylish look with high quality, resilient fabrics that are easy to care for.

More than 1,500 colleagues across the airline took part in 50 workshops to help ensure the garments suitability, from design workshops to prototype feedback and garment trials, helping create an iconic collection that will stand the test of time.

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The airline`s engineers and ground operations agents will be the first to wear the new uniform from Spring 2023. All British Airways cabin crew, pilots and check-in agents will have a switch over date from their current uniform to the new one in Summer 2023.

As they pick up their new items of uniform, they`ll hand in their Julien MacDonald garments, which will be donated to charity or recycled to create toys, tablet holders and more, with a number of items gifted to the airline`s museum.

Horsies in jumpsuits?!?  @british_airways new uniform by Ozwald Boateng pic.twitter.com/u4qZzZJimB

— Pam Ann (@pamannairbitch) January 6, 2023