Delta Unveils Zac Posen Uniforms With a Taste of `Passport Plum'

(Bloomberg) -- Delta Air Lines Inc.’s planes and airport operations will soon be awash in shades of purple, red, gray and pink as the company joins an industry rush to refresh employee attire.

All 60,000 uniformed workers will switch May 29 to the new outfits, which include flight-attendant clothing designed by Zac Posen and made by Lands’ End Inc., Delta said in a statement Thursday. The garments include suits and dresses in “passport plum,” “cruising cardinal” and “groundspeed graphite,” which replace the current color scheme dominated by dark blue.

Delta is undoubtedly targeting a smoother debut than at American Airlines Group Inc., which had to switch to Lands’ End uniforms for flight attendants and customer-service workers in January after employee complaints about clothing made by a Tailored Brands Inc. unit. At Delta, about 1.2 million garments have been distributed to employees including mechanics and baggage handlers.

Ground workers will be mostly decked out in red and gray. Coats for flight attendants are available in red and gray with purple lining, with shirts offered in light pink as well as white. Pilots will miss out on the new color choices: They’ll still be clad in black.

Delta is introducing the new uniforms after a three-year effort that involved employee input and wear tests. Southwest Airlines Co. employees got redesigned uniforms last year. United Continental Holdings Inc. hired design and apparel companies to create new outfits for more than 70,000 of its front-line employees.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mary Schlangenstein in Dallas at maryc.s@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Case at bcase4@bloomberg.net, Tony Robinson

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