Crew life: Otis Dublin

You might not recognise his name, but you probably know his face. As part of our latest advertising campaign, Otis Dublin has been on the telly quite a bit. He’s also appeared in newspapers and magazines as well as all over the internet and on billboards all around the world. He’s even been painted, giant sized, on the side of a building in Manchester. You might also have bumped into him on one of our flights. That’s because Otis is one of our cabin crew and part of the team responsible for looking after your safety and comfort onboard. Here he talks about crew life and why he’s proud to represent diversity in our advertising and recruitment.

Over to you Otis:

Hello everyone, I’m Otis and I’m a cabin service supervisor here at Virgin Atlantic. This is my 11th year as crew for Virgin, but before seeing red I also flew for the now defunct airline BMI (British Midland).

I took my very first flight before I was even born. When my mum was pregnant with me we flew from my birth island Montserrat (in the Caribbean) to Barbados, so you could say flying is in my DNA.

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a little #avgeek. So it was no surprise that my love for all things aviation, a passion for travelling, and even some light aircraft flying hours under my Vivienne Westwood belt, all drew me towards becoming a crew member.

Virgin Atlantic welcomes people from all backgrounds and we pride ourselves on being a diverse and inclusive company to work for. But much more work needs to be done, as there’s a clear lack of people from BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnicity) within our crew community. One reason for this may be that when customers of ethnic minority backgrounds fly with us, they seldom see people that look like them working in the cabin. And this could make them feel there’s no place for them here. Representation matters.

In the past our advertising has often not been representative of who we truly are. (This wasn’t just a Virgin thing, but an industry-wide issue). However, over the last couple of years we’ve consciously improved the diversity in our marketing, including making sure more crew members like myself are seen in our billboard, online and TV commercials. In return I’ve seen more people of different ethnicities, especially black men, show more interest in the role.

Become a Virgin Atlantic cabin crew member, and you’ll gain so many new friends, new skills, and more confidence dealing with a variety of issues. If you’re shy at heart you’ll definitely come out of your shell. From sipping cocktails and relaxing on the beaches of the Caribbean while watching the sun go down, to shopping in Manhattan and cycling over the Golden Gate Bridge, there’s no shortage of excitement and opportunity in this role… for everyone!