Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Sexual harassmentBullying and harassmentEquality, diversity and inclusionLatest NewsPositive action

Allegations and resignations shine unwelcome light on RAF and Red Arrows culture

by Adam McCulloch 26 Aug 2022
by Adam McCulloch 26 Aug 2022 The Red Arrows have been beset by culture problems.
Photo: Shutterstock
The Red Arrows have been beset by culture problems.
Photo: Shutterstock

The RAF has had a bad week or two in the UK press with the usually cherished Red Arrows display team facing uncomfortable questions over toxic and misogynistic behaviour and questions being asked about diversity targets in recruitment.

The UK might be in a state of flux, but when everything else is looking distinctly rickety at least we’ll always have the Red Arrows.

Nine immaculate British Hawk jets, gleaming red white and blue, in impeccable formation, never late and demonstrating astonishing high-speed precision… they symbolise an aesthetic of perfection, discipline and dedication that most of us can only stand back and admire.

The Reds, as they are known, are probably one of the few entities that can compete with the NHS, James Bond and Her Majesty when it comes to garnering near-universal admiration within the country and outside it.

Well, James Bond is dead, the NHS is back to the 3,000-year waiting lists last seen in the embers of the John Major administration, and the Queen is rather old.

And now it seems the much-admired workplace culture of the Red Arrows is not exactly a bed of roses either. If reports are true it is as afflicted by poor behaviour and toxicity as other failing workplace cultures, but unlike with, say Brewdog, the shock is made all the greater by the myth of RAF invincibility. How the mighty have fallen.

The Reds are operating this year with seven aircraft, not because of maintenance issues but because two pilots have somewhat mysteriously left the roster. One was sacked, the other resigned. But the problems go deeper than the misbehaviour or otherwise of two pilots. The team is made up of about 130 personnel and includes many young female recruits.

Allegations of bullying, misogyny and sexual harassment in the Red Arrows are “very concerning”, the armed forces minister James Heappey has told the press, referring to chief of air staff Sir Mike Wigston’s defence of the lengthy RAF investigation into the claims.

Sex discrimination and diversity

Employers to be liable if they don’t prevent sexual harassment

Nurses leaving due to pressure and workplace culture

Nursery worker asked to show less cleavage loses sex discrimination claim

Sex discrimination

The investigation has seen more than 40 personnel, several of them young female recruits, providing 250 hours of evidence to an inquiry into “toxic pockets” of the RAF. One of the women who gave evidence to the inquiry came forward to say that women who signed up to the Red Arrows were considered “fresh meat” and were “at risk” because there had been no urgency to act on the allegations.

Misogyny and bullying

It was reported in The Times that the non-statutory inquiry has documented at least 13 instances of alleged misconduct so far, including misogyny, harassment, sexual harassment, assault, sexual assault, “misunderstanding of consent”, victimisation, bullying, intimidation, isolation and indecent exposure. None have met the threshold for criminal charges, according to service police.

Furthermore, there have been unsubstantiated allegations of excessive drinking, although anyone who has read historical biographies of RAF heroes will not be unprepared for the fact that enjoying a tipple is not exactly unknown among the boys and girls in sky blue. The suggestions that pilots have flown high performance jets while under the influence and that foreign jet display teams have witnessed a drink culture in Red Arrows circles have been rejected by the service.

Sir Mike said it was right for the RAF to take “swift action” to address concerns but asked service men and women to raise future issues with their chain of command rather than through the media. He said “unacceptable behaviours have no place in our service.” Nonetheless, women such as Army veteran Diane Allen, who campaigns for better treatment for servicewomen, said that the RAF leadership had been urged for six months to “deal fairly and swiftly with these allegations”, but had failed to do so. She added that women who made the allegations had been put “on trial and forced to tell their story repeatedly” as those accused had been “supported, promoted”.

Diversity targets

A wider cultural change is taking place within the RAF, however, one not entirely unrelated to the Red Arrows turbulence. Diversity targets have been set to increase the number of female entrants and those from ethnic minorities.

Chief of air staff Wigston has insisted the goal of having 40% women recruits and 20% from ethnic minorities will strengthen the service and would have no impact on standards or operations, but the head of recruitment, air vice-marshall Maria Byford, has said she has had to slow the recruitment process for all candidates after figures showed the diversity targets were not being reached.

Her comments followed the resignation of an unnamed female group captain, who ran the recruitment department at the main elementary training base, RAF Cranwell, apparently over concerns the fighting strength of the RAF could be undermined by “impossible” targets.

‘Positive discrimination’

This news led to former RAF pilots, MPs and journalists on one or two national newspapers to decry the service’s “ban on recruiting white men“ and that “positive discrimination” should be made illegal, seemingly unaware that it was already illegal. Some commentators called for the repeal of the Equality Act, without realising that it was the Equality Act that made positive discrimination illegal. However, the fine line between positive discrimination and positive action perhaps is not easy discern for those outside HR and recruitment circles.

The pain associated with culture change is unpleasant but absolutely necessary as Wigston implies. Just consider this comment from an RAF source, quoted in The Times, describing the Red Arrows: “The girls who join the squadron are basically considered fresh meat. All of them are married and they just don’t leave them alone. It’s a toxic environment – It’s all men in senior positions. It is run by misogynistic white male blokes.”

As with any organisation, improvements in culture and behaviour bring about a greater, unified, sense of purpose and a better performance overall. But the Red Arrows and RAF perhaps historically have not seen themselves as just “any” organisation. This reminder that they face the same challenges as all other sectors will hopefully mean they will be able to return nine gleaming jets to the skies soon enough and close this window opening on a previously unseen and unsuspected toxicity. The myth of greatness will the doubtless be restored; per ardua ad astra (through adversity to the stars) as the RAF motto goes.

Latest HR job opportunities on Personnel Today

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.


Browse more human resources jobs

 

RAF
Adam McCulloch

Adam McCulloch first worked for Personnel Today magazine in the early 1990s as a sub editor. He rejoined Personnel Today as a writer in 2017, covering all aspects of HR but with a special interest in diversity, social mobility and industrial relations. He has ventured beyond the HR realm to work as a freelance writer and production editor in sectors including travel (The Guardian), aviation (Flight International), agriculture (Farmers' Weekly), music (Jazzwise), theatre (The Stage) and social work (Community Care). He is also the author of KentWalksNearLondon. Adam first became interested in industrial relations after witnessing an exchange between Arthur Scargill and National Coal Board chairman Ian McGregor in 1984, while working as a temp in facilities at the NCB, carrying extra chairs into a conference room!

previous post
Underwriter wins sex discrimination claim after managers’ comments
next post
How will the cost of living crisis impact the ‘real’ Living Wage?

You may also like

West Yorkshire Police denies positive discrimination accusations

10 Apr 2025

Thames Valley Police ‘positive discrimination’ led to ‘divided...

4 Apr 2025

Apple urges shareholders to reject diversity rollback proposal

13 Jan 2025

EHRC opens consultation on updated code of practice

2 Oct 2024

White police officers overlooked for promotion win race...

13 Aug 2024

Want more female leaders? Ditch quotas and shake...

11 Apr 2024

Employers need more support to develop effective EDI...

20 Mar 2024

Kemi Badenoch: ‘confused HR colleagues’ misunderstand Equality Act

31 Jul 2023

Leaked emails suggest RAF disadvantaged white male applicants

31 May 2023

Government publishes ethnicity pay gap reporting guidance

17 Apr 2023

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+