It’s been over two years since the merger between US Airways and American Airlines, and the airline is still working to create a single, consistent brand image. Part of the effort involved aligning the onboard soft product, as well as repainting the aircrafts with the new logo and livery.
Over the past year, we have seen several prototypes of a new uniform that is meant to refresh the brand, and offer a (ahem) uniform look between the crew from US and AA. One early iteration was designed by Ken Kaufman, but was later scrapped. In late 2015, we saw the “final design.”
Frankly, I was pretty underwhelmed by the design. It lacks colors for the most part, and it looks pretty generic. I understand uniform should be practical first and foremost, but it’s also an important of a brand image. At the same time, I can see the dilemma of the designers, since United already “took” blue, and Delta is famous for their red dresses. That leaves American with their new “slate gray, cobalt and crisp white” color scheme. (Their words)
The new uniform is manufactured by Twin Hill, and employees will also sport new accessories designed by Cole Haan. This looks to be an extension of their current partnership, since AA already offers Cole Haan-branded amenity kits in their premium cabins.
According to American, the last major refresh of their uniform was done in the 1980s, and they really are due for a change. It looks like all 70,000 American employees will be debuting the new uniform tomorrow, starting with the first shift. A few employees have already posted on Twitter that today is the last day in their old uniform.
Last day in this AMERICAN AIRLINES UNIFORM….. Out with the old, in… https://t.co/OROPEI5rXj
— Angel Bardney (@asb1224) September 19, 2016
American did a pretty fancy photoshoot to show off the new uniforms. You can check out the pictures at USA Today.
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4 comments
Would never be able to tell what airline they worked for, what a terrible waste at a chance for branding.
And don’t underestimate the extent to which ugly jewelry, pins, buttons, press-on nails, strange piercings, lanyards, tacky accessories, friendship bracelets are going to take all style and sophistication from these uniforms.
Agreeing with all of the above, but… looking at the gentlemens’ uniforms, you can see that they will be wearing suits and ties all around, which is a major step up from short sleeve shirts/polos most wear. I also like the pops of blue for women and men (though wish a matching pocket square was used as well.) The sets to the far left, I feel, are going to be used the most on domestic flights and are absolutely horrific. They convey ZERO personality, so that’s pretty much in line with the service you get on American anyway. Perhaps that’s the brand they’re aiming for?
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