Information on the
"NEW LOOK"

Archive

January 13th Issue

You've Got the Look!

Earlier this week, the New Look Committee met and held to different sessions designed to obtain more employee feedback on the company's new uniform project. The morning session consisted of fleet serve and maintenance; in the afternoon, inflight and customer service reviewed options and talked further about elements important to both groups. On hand were representatives from fleet services, maintenance, customer service, and inflight. (See names in sidebar.)

Pilots did not attend as their session was held about one month ago. The pilots committee has indicated they would like to go to the color of black because the prior navy uniforms have many renditions of navy. Going to one color would provide more consistency going forward for the new look.

The basic parameters for the new uniforms have been established by the Marketing Team in conjunction with the new livery and logo. These include:

Business Casual
No, this doesn't mean shorts and tennis shoes; it probably means a tie-less option for men on the domestic side and yes, ties would remain part of the flight attendant and ground uniform on the international side.

Blue and Grey
Blue and gray will be the predominant colors with classic red as the accent/jazz it up color. If you look at the new logo, these are the new colors that make up the new paint scheme; the old US Airways blue, which was very dark and almost black, is lighter now, but blue and gray are still the primary colors. The red will be a classic, timeless red (think Jackie O.) and not the prior more trendy color scheme (like AWA's original maroon red).

Highlights from the Meeting:

Fleet and Maintenance Recommendations

• Desire to have distinctive uniforms between the groups so each group is easily distinguishable.
• Maintenance is more apt to go with gray as their dominant color while fleet services indicated light or navy blue would work for them.
• Climates are a big issue as our system covers areas that are hot, humid, cold and wet? options are necessary for all areas: long-sleeve and short-sleeve tees as well as shorts and pants.
• Reflectivity devices should be apart of the shirts rather than having a separate belt or vest to wear. But also keep in mind reflective emblems on shirts can cause too much heat attraction.
• Shirts and sweatshirts should have pockets on the arms as well as tab for radios and IDs.

• Desire to have distinctive uniforms between the groups so each group is easily distinguishable.
• Both groups expressed a need for stylish uniforms with versatility and adaptability for 
  seasonal differences; flight attendants, in particular, have a strong need for breathable fabrics and layers as they could very well start their trip in the tropics and end up in a northeasterly blizzard at the end of the day.
• Uniforms need to look flattering on a wide variety of body types. Because jobs require a lot of movement (reaching and squatting) uniforms should be long enough to cover stomachs when arms are raised overhead and should cover enough when squatting.
• Because of the nature of a flight attendant's job, cleaning and care of uniforms should be
  simple and fast drying for quick layovers. Uniforms for all parties should hold up well in
  multiple washes.
• Customer service likes the option of the polo as they are often running around helping customers and doing other physical activities.

Next Steps
Toward the end of January as the array of options are more narrowed down, actual samples of fabrics, colors, etc., will be in breakrooms and photos will be posted on both Compass the Hub for employees to check out. Wear testing will also be an important part of this process and will run concurrent to the posted photos and samples.

Feedback
Keep the feedback coming! Thus far, we've received close to 100 e-mail notes from many employees providing excellent guidance for the New Look Committee. Comments include:

• As a pilot based in CLT, I think it is important for us to project a professional image to the 
  flying public. Part of that professional image is a uniform, worn the same by everyone. That
  means we either ALL wear caps or none of us wear caps. That means we ALL wear leather
  jackets or we all wear the dress coat. Uniform is just that, all looking the same. Set the
  uniform standards, high and professional. And for heavens sake, once you establish the new policy, don't' be afraid to enforce it.
• On domestic flights, the tie should be optional. We shouldn't look like prison guards or
  NASA engineers in our uniforms.
• Several options should be available to mix it up a bit and so as not to wear "the same old
  thing", day after day.
• Also, for polo shirts, PLEASE keep them! (Only for ground staff, no one working on an
  aircraft should be wearing one.) We may be an LCC but we have been having more of the look of Greyhound or Wendy's rather than an airline.
• Good luck uniform people. Don't blow your chance to turn us into the coolest looking
  airline out there. Cant' wait to turn over my old suit to the Smithsonian so the people of
  American can look back and say, "Did they REALLY wear stuff like that to WORK?"