Airlines / NZ · Grooming
Air New Zealand — Appearance & Grooming
The least prescriptive grooming standard among major airlines. Air New Zealand permits visible tattoos, including ta moko, and frames its uniform and styling rules around individuality rather than a single house look.
Grooming · Air New Zealand
- Hair
- Neat, secure and safe for service, with no gendered length rule. Natural and cultural hairstyles are explicitly welcome.
- Make-up
- Optional for all crew. Air New Zealand does not require make-up and does not prescribe a look.
- Facial hair
- Air New Zealand publishes no clean-shaven rule; neatly maintained facial hair is acceptable and the standard is tidiness.
- Nails
- Clean, neat and short enough to work safely. Polish is a personal choice.
- Glasses & contacts
- Yes — spectacles are unremarkable at Air New Zealand, and the medical requirement is corrected vision to standard.
- Piercings
- Air New Zealand publishes no piercing count. The governing test is that jewellery is safe for service and not a snag hazard, which rules out large or dangling pieces rather than piercings as a category.
- Jewellery
- Discreet and safe for service; the uniform's own koru-patterned pieces are the intended statement.
- Tattoos in uniform
- This is the airline that moved the industry: since 2019 visible tattoos are permitted in uniform, with ta moko and other cultural body art explicitly welcomed, provided the content is not offensive. You do not need to cover forearms or hands.
- Headscarf
- Air New Zealand does not publish a specific headscarf piece in its uniform standard. Given how the rest of its policy is written, ask recruitment directly rather than reading the silence as a refusal.
- Uniform
- The Trelise Cooper collection rolled out from 2022 — black, teal and kowhai yellow with a koru print — with garments chosen by preference rather than by gender.
Grooming rules change more often than any other requirement. Verify them on the airline's official careers page before you buy anything or book a hair appointment.
Frequently asked questions
Can Air New Zealand cabin crew have visible tattoos?
Yes. Since 2019 visible tattoos are permitted in uniform, including ta moko and other cultural body art, as long as the content is not offensive — one of the only such policies at a major airline.
Does Air New Zealand require cabin crew to wear make-up?
No. Make-up is optional for every crew member, and the airline does not prescribe a look.
Can you wear glasses as Air New Zealand cabin crew?
Yes. Spectacles are unremarkable there, and the medical asks only for corrected vision to standard.