Turkish Airlines updates grooming rules for flight crews

Turkish Airlines has updated its internal procedures regarding the appearance and grooming standards for flight crews. The new regulations, part of the fifth revision of the ‘Flight Crew Uniform Usage and Representation Procedure’, end a decades-long ban on facial hair for male pilots and cabin crew.

Under the new guidelines, crew members are permitted to wear facial hair provided it does not exceed 15 millimeters in length and remains well-groomed. Approved styles include short beards, natural-looking stubble, balanced combinations of mustaches and beards, and neatly trimmed short goatee styles.

Certain styles remain prohibited, including beards longer than 15mm, unkempt or patchy growth, overly stylized models with sharp lines, goatees without mustaches, and triangular beard forms left below the lower lip.

The airline emphasized that these standards are driven by both corporate image and flight safety. Specifically, facial hair must not interfere with the proper fit or seal of oxygen masks and other protective equipment during emergency situations.