Flying with Pride – how Finnair celebrates all colours of the rainbow

Who we love or which gender we identify with are big building blocks of each of our lives. Imagine having to hide such important parts of yourself at work or feeling uncomfortable sharing them with your colleagues? 

Your workplace should be a safe space where you can flourish exactly as you are, which is why we are committed to promoting an organisation culture that supports diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) . 

“According to our employee engagement survey, one of our strengths is that everyone can be themselves,” says Kaisa Aalto-Luoto, Finnair’s Chief People Officer. “But there is still so much more we can do to be even better. This is a learning opportunity for all of us.” 

To put words into action also outside our organisation, we are one of the official Working with Pride partners of Helsinki Pride in 2024. Helsinki Pride is Finland's largest and most influential human rights and culture event, which brings people together and makes room for all shades of the rainbow. 

“We are a proud supporter of Helsinki Pride for the second time in a row, as their work is truly important for so many. Our participation in Helsinki Pride and raising awareness of the importance of DEI supports us as we continue our work in building an inclusive workplace,” Aalto-Luoto says.

Dancer Atte Kilpinen designed a special Pride pin for Finnair

This year, our employees can show their support for the LHBTQIA+ community by wearing a pin designed by ballet dancer Atte Kilpinen.

For Atte, Pride is a way of life and lifestyle - not just something celebrated once a year.

"It's important for me to promote the message through my own existence that everyone can love who they love. And also show it - no one should be afraid to walk hand in hand with their loved one on the street," Atte says.

Atte believes it's important that big companies are involved in showing that everyone can be who they are. For example, everyone is welcome on Finnair flights regardless of sexual orientation or gender, and employees can be exactly who they are.

By wearing the pin designed by Atte, our employees can outwardly show their solidarity with sexual and gender minorities.

"The pin features the colors of the so-called progressive Pride flag, so everyone can find themselves in it. The heart symbolizes love, and Finnair's logo crowns the whole design," Atte says.

As Pride month approaches, Atte wants to encourage everyone to find their own way to promote the Pride ideology. He believes that Pride is not just a celebration for minorities, but a celebration for everyone.

"Everyone should be able to live life as they see fit. You can celebrate Pride even if you don't know all the right terms - I don't know them all either. But you need to be ready to learn and broaden the way you view this world.”

Building an inclusive working environment 

Within Finnair we continue raising awareness and implement initiatives to support inclusion. This year, we have assembled our first internal DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) employee group, which aims to propel the matter forward in Finnair.

Previously we have introduced our gender-neutral language guidelines and launched a training on DEI matters to all of our employees. We have also further developed our recruitment guidelines to support DEI and avoid unconscious bias in people selection.

“Promoting diversity and inclusion is the right thing to do, but we believe that it also supports our business success. We strive to build work community of people with different backgrounds and experiences to bring together different views and improve our decision-making and overall performance,” Aalto-Luoto says. 

We also want our customers to feel welcome on our flights and when using our services. For a long time, our pilots and pursers have been greeting our passengers with a simple hello instead of referring to ladies and gentlemen. But building an inclusive customer experience also extends to our website and booking service, which we aim to develop to be more inclusive and gender neutral. For example, it is currently not possible to choose other than male or female as gender option when booking a flight on our website, but our aim is to change this. 

Building an inclusive working environment and customer experience is a journey that we are travelling bit by bit and learning along the way. If you have an idea on how Finnair could pay more attention to all the colors of the rainbow, feel free to share your suggestions, for instance, through our social media channels.