Yay, it’s Pride month. Everyone loves a good party and I’m no exception. I’m also a big supporter in corporate pride and companies that have LGBT+ networks; it’s really important to engage with both employees and the C-suite in order to help improve things.
When organisations support diversity and inclusion it helps employees to feel comfortable in bringing their whole self to work, enabling them to perform better. There’s also a number of other benefits in terms of employee engagement, reduced attrition and most importantly, it’s simply the right thing to do.
Given this is a travel blog, I’d noticed that some airlines had changed their logo on Twitter to the rainbow flag to support Pride month. So I thought I’d do a little research on those airlines that openly support Pride on Twitter, and those that don’t.
It’s not an exhaustive research project and I’ve not been through each company’s annual report and dug out their Diversity and Inclusion policy. It’s simply what I can find each airline actively promoting on Twitter. Of course if I’ve missed something, let me know and I’ll update the list.
I’ve broken airlines down via continent. Here are the results:
The Americas
American Airlines – yes 
United Airlines – changed their logo!
Delta – yes
Alaska Airlines – yes
JetBlue – yes
Southwest – yes
Spirit – nothing 
Avianca – nothing
Copa Airlines – nothing
LATAM – nothing
Europe
Aer Lingus – did last year! Twice!
Air France – nothing
British Airways – nothing on Twitter did sponsor London Pride in 2011
Easyjet – nothing on Twitter did sponsor Manchester Pride in 2014
Finnair – nothing
FlyBe – nothing
Iberia – yes with a 10% discount!
KLM – nothing
Lufthansa – nothing
Norwegian – nothing
Ryanair – nothing
SAS – yes, but last time was in 2015
Virgin Atlantic – yes
Vueling – nothing
Asia Pacific
ANA – nothing (but this might be my bad Japanese!)
Cathay Pacific – nothing
JAL – nothing (but this might be my bad Japanese!)
Qantas – yes, including repainting an A330 and an out CEO!
Singapore Airlines – nothing
Virgin Australia – very surprisingly nothing
Middle East
Emirates – unsurprisingly nothing
Etihad – unsurprisingly nothing
Qatar Airways – unsurprisingly nothing
Conclusion
It’s no surprise to see the North American Airlines openly and proudly supporting the LGBT community during Pride month. Equally, it’s entirely predictable that the big three Middle Eastern carriers have entirely ignored it.
However there are three that I am surprised at:
- Virgin Australia
Given Richard Branson’s vocal support for the LGBT community and also Qantas’s strong position I’m surprised they’ve not done anything. - British Airways
Again, given the other IAG Airlines being so supportive, coupled with their previous sponsorship of London Pride, it would seem to be a curious omission. - Easyjet
For such a young and trendy brand, with the “Generation Easyjet” strap-line, I would have thought they would have been more in touch with the market.
Update 08/06/17 13:45 BST: It’s been pointed out that I forgot Southwest! Duly updated!
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