Virgin reviews future of onboard treatments

Richard Branson’s airline Virgin Atlantic has confirmed it is to review the future of its onboard beauty therapy services and consult with its staff and their union.

According to a report in The Times, 280 therapists working for Virgin were called into a meeting last week to discuss the future of their in-flight services.

A spokesperson for Virgin confirmed that the group was reviewing the future of its services both onboard, and in its Clubhouse at Heathrow in London, UK, as recent passenger surveys had shown that the inflight therapy service had declined in its importance.

Virgin has proposed to boost the number of beauty therapists in the Heathrow Clubhouse and are also looking to offer new facilities at its other Clubhouses around the world.

Chief Operating Officer for Virgin Atlantic, Lyell Strambi, said: “All of our inflight beauty therapists will be offered a job as cabin crew or elsewhere within the airline if the review concludes that the onboard service should be withdrawn.”

The onboard service was first launched in 1990, while Virgin points to the success of the Cowshed Spa at the Heathrow Clubhouse as an indication that passengers prefer treatments on the ground rather than in the air.