FORT WORTH, Texas _ More than 80,000 American Airlines workers will have a new look about them on Tuesday.
The Fort Worth-based carrier is rolling out new uniforms for its pilots, flight attendants, customer service agents and maintenance workers after two-and-half-years of designing, testing and fitting the new clothes.
"It's their professional apparel and it needs to work for them," said Brady Byrnes, the company's director of global marketing. "It also has to complement and support and build our brand."
The modern-styled uniforms include gray suits, red-blue scarves and white shirts, similar to the carrier's redesigned logo and aircraft livery unveiled three years ago.
Prior to its merger with US Airways, American hired fashion designers KaufmanFranco in 2013 to develop new uniforms for the front-line employees. However, prototypes were considered drab and ill-fitting so the airline went back to the drawing board, working with employee groups to develop new designs that were tested last year.
American began shipping out the 1.8 million new garments over the summer and offered employees professional alteration services to make sure the new clothes fit properly.
The company paid for the new uniforms and alterations at no cost to employees, Byrnes said, but he would not disclose how much American spent on the program. Employees will have the option to purchase additional uniform items starting in October.
As part of the new look, American is also giving thousands of employees new Cole Haan handbags and Saffiano leather attache cases that typically retail for between $300 and $500. The bags were designed to hold iPads used by flight crews and other electronic devices that American workers typically use.
Although former US Airways employees got new uniforms last decade after its merger with America West, it's the first time in over 25 years since American employees have received a new uniform look.
"We currently look like the Dallas soap opera with big shoulder pads and big boxy jackets," Byrnes said. "Tomorrow, we're going to look like James Bond."
