As part of efforts to provide an inclusive travel experience for all passengers, Virgin Atlantic announced that it now offers a British Sign Language (BSL) trained cabin crew, making it the first British airline to offer this service.

The airline said it was influenced by the fact that research shows that 82% of the people surveyed, who are deaf or have hearing loss, are planning at least one holiday in the next year, but more than half (58%) worry about communicating with crew.

To test its services, the airline also teamed up with deaf Gladiators star, Jodie Ounsley, and deaf twin content creators, Hermon and Heroda Berhane, to help better understand the needs of its deaf and hard of hearing customers.

The trio flew from London Heathrow to Washington with a BSL crew and the experience was captured on film, with the crew providing the airline’s signature warm welcome in BSL, assisting with onboard navigation, alerting passengers to onboard announcements and offering assistance with accessible in-flight entertainment.

Ounsley was born deaf and wears a cochlear implant whilst the Berhane twins communicate in BSL. The trio shared their feedback with Virgin Atlantic’s newly created Accessibility Advisory Board, which was developed to help enhance the airline’s accessibility offering.

The board includes leaders from across the industry each with their own personal experiences of accessible travel and they will also review processes and products and help shape the development of new offerings to ensure Virgin Atlantic continues to empower customers to travel the world.

According to the airline, its team of BSL trained crew has more than doubled since the start of 2023 and is available to request on all flights.

Commenting on this, Ounsley said that until recently, she didn’t feel confident enough to fly on her own, but knowing that airlines like Virgin Atlantic can provide specially trained crew with the awareness and understanding to make her feel comfortable onboard is really empowering.

“It’s amazing to see the feedback myself, Hermon and Heroda provided is going to help make the experience of flying even better for deaf travellers in the future.

“I can’t hear without my cochlear implant, so things like increasing the availability of accessible movies and TV will mean I can enjoy even more entertainment onboard,” she said.

The twins added that they found it “surreal” to feel understood and said that being able to communicate their requirements and needs made a world of difference.

Emma Flanagan, Virgin Atlantic BSL trained cabin crew, commented that her goddaughter was born deaf, so she started learning BSL so she could communicate with her.

“I also have Tinnitus, so understand what the experience of flying can be like for someone with hearing loss. Making all passengers feel included and empowered at every stage of the flight is a key part of our role as cabin crew.

“Being able to go that one step further and do this in BSL for passengers is hugely rewarding, from ensuring everyone feels welcome, to assisting with announcements, to helping them to experience the full warmth and joy of a Virgin Atlantic journey,” said Flanagan.

In addition to ongoing BSL training, Virgin Atlantic has also committed to increase the subtitled options available on in-flight entertainment from the current 80% of movies and 40% of TV, increase clarity of services and links to special assistance contact within Virgin Atlantic’s My Booking platform and the introduction of Sign Live; an on-demand BSL interpreter for customer service teams ensuring support at all points along the journey.

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