NWA Flight Attendants Want to Wear Delta's Signature Red Dress
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
In 2004, Delta Airlines hired Richard Tyler to redesign its employee uniforms from the simple gray style to the current, silhouette-flattering red dress. The signature red dress worn by Delta Airlines flight attendants is available in all women's dress sizes up to 18, but the airline also offers several outfits in other colors for women who need a uniform up to size 28. After the NWA and Delta merger, several flight attendants from NWA were upset that they could not wear the red Delta dress because they are larger than the size 18.
Since Northwest Airlines flight attendants are represented by a union (and Delta Airlines flight attendants are not), the grievance had to be taken to the appropriate committee.
According to The Associated Press, Delta spokeswoman Gina Laughlin could not say why the red dress is not available in sizes larger than size 18, but other uniform options are. Patricia Reller, the person in charge of handling grievances for the union's committee, believes that Delta Airlines should be able to offer its stylish red dress to all flight attendants, regardless of their size. The red uniforms have been a part of the Delta brand since 2006 and Northwest Airlines flight attendants started wearing the Delta uniforms as of March 30, 2009, shortly after the merger. The new uniforms were designed not only to boost the brand in the consumer's eyes, but also to improve employee morale.
Still, there is ongoing debate on whether this is a case of weight discrimination because Delta simply may not want women who are larger than a size 18 to wear a 'sexy' dress while performing their job duties. Delta has not yet made any official statements suggesting that this is the case, but according to a quote from Gadling.com, Patricia Reller, vice chairwoman of the Northwest Airlines flight attendant's grievance committee, states that "Red is a color that attracts attention and someone, somewhere has made a decision that they don't want to attract attention to someone in a dress that's larger than a size 18…I'm very offended by it."