Delta Air Lines' New 'Passport Plum' Uniforms Take Flight May 29

ATLANTA, GA — More than 60,000 uniformed Delta Air Lines employees will soon be wave "bye-bye" to their iconic midnight blue uniform and upgrade to a high-fashion look by New York red-carpet haute couture designer Zac Posen named "Passport Plum" by the airline. The new uniforms, unveiled one year ago, will take flight May 29.

For some, it would be like Atlanta's other icon, Coca-Cola, changing the color of their iconic, Santa-red soda can. Unlike their Coca-Cola counterpart, however, Delta has not always worn the midnight blue color. It's only been since 2006 that Delta employees have worn the uniform, designed by Richard Tyler, with bold red pops against midnight blue pieces.

Delta says the regal hue is the ideal balance of historic inspiration yet innovative design to carry Delta into the future.

"Whether it's the plum, the design or the attention to detail [designer] Zac [Posen] brought forward, the idea isn't to remain in the current or the past," Delta Chief Marketing Officer Tim Mapes said. "It's really about the future of Delta and making a much bolder, fashion-forward statement that all of our people can be proud of for years to come."

Since 2008, flight attendants have also worn a pink version of the iconic red dress during the month of October, promoting Delta's partnership with Breast Cancer Research Foundation to raise money for breast cancer research. Pink uniforms are also worn on Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. But don't worry, the beloved pink dress isn't going away.

Customer service agents and flight attendants will have pink options each October like Posen's V-Neck Dress, female scarf, male and female pocket squares, and men's ties; below-wing employees, like technicians and ramp agents, will sport pink hats.

Since the announcement of the uniform change, there has been more than three months of wear testing the designs and fabrics on 1,000 Delta employees, leading to more than 165 changes. Among the changes were darkening the groundspeed graphite color of the men's suit and re-examining the women's blouse design and restructuring the cargo pockets.

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"When we started this journey almost three years ago, we committed to leveraging employee feedback in every aspect of the new uniform program," said Ekrem Dimbiloglu, Director – Uniforms. "And, when the Zac Posen team came on board, they were excited for the chance to create something that transforms the brand and incorporates thoughtful touches and changes from the very people who wear the uniforms every day."

Posen designs for upscale stores, outfits celebrities for award shows and is a part of the judging panel in recent seasons of "Project Runway," a reality competition TV show for budding fashion designers.

The start of 2018 meant kicking off Delta’s uniform fitting tour in 14 Delta cities, including two international locations. The first fitting experience started in Orlando with other events underway in Atlanta, Cincinnati and Salt Lake City.

The creative fitting experience was designed with the help of Savannah College of Art and Design students to introduce the airline’s 60,000 customer-facing employees to their new uniforms in the most thoughtful way possible. Employees were matched with a personal stylist from fashion and alteration backgrounds to pull sizes and offer consultations. And each fitting concludes with a moment for every newly uniformed person to strut and shine on a platform runway.

“We wanted to create an experience where employees could come in and not just try on the uniform, but also have various different activities they could be a part of,” said Dimbiloglu.

The fittings are a symbolic experience for employees, after a three year process where their voices have been the driving force on the new designs. Seeing pieces tailor made for each division is the first opportunity for most employees to touch and try on the garments. The interaction with the fabrics, colors and designs before their own uniform arrives in the mail makes this fitting process unique, and reflective of true Delta culture, said Ed Brown, Project Leader for New Uniform Program - TechOps.

The Delta uniform fitting team sees roughly 600 employees every day. The fitting tour will continue in Detroit, Minneapolis, New York, Boston, Miami, Seattle, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Amsterdam and Tokyo through the month of April. Delta employees can be found adorned in Passport Plum, Cruising Cardinal and Groundspeed Graphite on the concourse May 29.

Photos courtesy Delta Air Lines