Flight attendants notice a lot of things about their passengers, but sometimes we notice things about them, too.
If you fly a lot, you may have seen that while there is no one type of person that becomes a flight attendant, many of them have at least one thing in common: They don't have any tattoos, at least not where you can see while they're on duty.
Though there's generally no rule stating that you can't have discreet chest pieces and lower back tattoos, it goes against company policy at most airlines for flight attendants to have visible tattoos while they're working.
The dress codes for flight attendants are stricter than you might expect and always have been. While some regulations, like how flight attendants have to wear a watch while flying, have practical explanations, a lot of the rules are about aesthetics.
Since the 1970s, flight attendants have been fighting to get more personal freedom in terms of their appearance. While most don't have to subject themselves to humiliating weigh-ins (something they were actually expected to do in the past), many airlines still have a lot of rules about how their cabin crew should look.
Some carriers are loosening up regulations, so you may start to see more examples of interesting ink on flight attendants in the future, but for now, it's still a rare sight.
Increasingly, airlines are loosening up their policies about how flight attendants have to look. Many of the major changes involve allowing flight attendants to pick and choose uniforms that may be more comfortable and suit their personal tastes and gender expressions.
Some airlines, like Scandinavian Airlines, Alaska, United, and Virgin Atlantic, also allow their flight attendants to have some tattoos.
Air Canada has similarly been dragged into the modern age after its hiring practices were deemed discriminatory toward those with tattoos.
Many other major airlines, however, are keeping their tattoo bans, and other strict regulations involving the appearances of flight attendants, in place for now.
The airline regarded as having the best flight attendants, Singapore Airlines, reportedly conducts a skin check where they make sure employees don't have any visible tattoos or scars.
At Delta, too, visible tattoos are completely banned, along with unnatural hair colors, potent perfumes, and sparkly or multi-colored nail polish.
Others, like American Airlines, currently ban visible tattoos but have hinted that they may relax this policy in the future.
While you may not see tattoos on flight attendants, that doesn't necessarily mean that they aren't there. If you are hoping to become a flight attendant but already have tattoos, don't despair.
While you can limit your job search to airlines that will allow you to show off your tattoos while you're working, you can potentially work at stricter airlines, too.
You may be able to select uniforms which cover them, hide your ink with a bandage, or use makeup to conceal them — just make sure to check the specific regulations, since some airlines will allow you to use some methods but not others.
Even with rules in place, many airline workers secretly sport tattoos. In the Reddit group r/cabincrewcareers, flight attendant u/Defiant_Survey_3484 recounted how common tattoos actually are, even at airlines like American Airlines which don't officially allow them.
They stated: "So many of us in training had tattoos, including myself ... One of the girls in my class had tattoos on her hands, arms, ears, and I think legs as well, and she had good makeup, and they were always covered. I had no clue at all she was so covered in tats.
I didn't even know till I saw her on a day off." So, if you want to become a flight attendant, or are just curious about the seemingly tattoo-free cabin crew on your flight, know that hidden tattoos aren't so rare.
