Delta Air Lines on Tuesday unveiled its first new employee uniforms in a decade.
Created by well-known designer Zac Posen, the new uniforms will be tested by 1,000 employees in coming months and will become standard among Delta’a 60,000 frontline workers in early 2018.
They feature a new color for Delta: “passport plum.”
“We wanted a color that felt distinct,” said Posen, who worked on the designs for the past 18 months. “When you put red and blue together, you get a purple color.”
Allison Ausband, Delta’s senior vice president of in-flight service, called Posen “an iconic American designer with global reach.”
Tim Mapes, Delta’s senior vices president of marketing, said employees on the Atlanta carrier’s advisory committee for the uniform design wanted to “go big.”
“If you’re going to have a change, you want it to be a change,” he said.
Mapes said the new purplish color could be added to other Delta items like in-flight napkins — though the Delta logo and plane paint scheme will remain the same.
Flight attendants and airport agents last got new designs in 2006. Ramp and maintenance workers’ current uniforms date to 2000. Pilots’ uniforms are not part of the wardrobe update.
Delta aircraft parts warehouse worker Robert Sechriest said he had heard that a new color would be used.
“I didn’t believe it… I just didn’t think of it as a Delta color,” Sechriest said. “But it works.”
CEO Ed Bastian said the uniforms demonstrate “a great global style … that’s where we’re headed.”
The airline unveiled the new uniforms to about 500 employees at its own fashion show in Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon.
Amir Reese, a Delta flight attendant, said the uniform dress she wore as a model during the fashion show is more tailored than current uniforms.
“I definitely will be strutting through the airport,” Reese said.
About the Author
