“Depending on exactly how the passenger may land, and their position,” she says, “I always questioned the fact that I could be on all fours pressing down on their chest while wearing a restrictive skirt,” says Jade, who did not want to use her last name because she still has a family member working for Virgin Atlantic.

Her CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) training took place on land, in a trouser suit. Yet in a real scenario mid-air, she would be dressed in her uniform, including the regulation red lipstick and nail varnish, plus a tight, red, pencil skirt. “It did bother me that this could make it more difficult to assist in an emergency, as well as being revealing…which becomes just another thing to worry about in an already very pressurising situation,” she adds.

For Jade, it was just one example of how the practicalities of doing her job clashed with the strict dress code requirements tied to her company’s public image. Sexism in the workplace has shot up the agenda in the wake of numerous scandals in 2017, yet it seems much of what goes on mid-air still falls under the radar. The insistence on a dress code, for instance, which perpetuates gender stereotypes, for some of the airlines’ crew seems anachronistic – and yet it persists.

In an emailed statement to BBC Capital, a spokesperson for Virgin Atlantic says the airline’s “iconic” uniform has undergone extensive testing from a comfort and safety perspective and female crew can wear trousers if they prefer.