Originally Posted by
saturn
This whole battle of uniform importance lives in the minds of deltoid pilots. You put way too much stock in NPS questions, as if the same questioned asked to a UA customer (How well dressed was your pilot?) would be terribly different. Passengers don't care that much about the nuance in buttons on your jacket, or your blazer color, etc.
Funny we have folks debating the dignity of our brand image, yet our corporate side has no problem outsourcing 1500+ daily flights to Skywest, Republic, EDV, (and historically several others) whose uniforms pieces include no hats, single breasted blazers, trench-coat, leather coat, sweater with epaulets, navy blue colors, different brass etc, all while being thanked for flying Delta. Guess what? Corporate not only knows most folks think they're still flying on Delta when they board that E175, they proactively try to blur the distinction. OBTW, I know our NPS on SKW is still very high, probably others too.
So yeah, If we switched buttons on our suit, or got a modern materials real coat option, etc, it would make an insignificant impact on our brand or bottom line. Most impactful in the minds of people who's identity is tied to their uniform.
Um ,Endeavor is not an “outsource” . Skywest and Republic are outsourced. Endeavor was created and is owned by DELTA. Delta pays us, owns the 9E jets, owns us as pilots and every penny of 9E existence comes from Delta. However your point is exactly the whole scam of the “regional” to begin with , especially WO “regionals”. The customers are convinced to believe that they are flying “Delta” from every possible perspective, except for the tiny “Endeavor” painted on the front of the RJ’s so small that one needs a microscope to see it. As the former Delta MEC chief, Jason Ambrosi, put it: Bring all Endeavor RJ flying and employees over to mainline certificate pronto. Then we can wear all the same costumes . Over time they can ween off of Skywest and Republic. Because of Covid they have already had to spend 500 million on retention and 60 percent pay raises and it still isn’t working . Until they end the class warfare system of the WO “regional” model and outsourced regionals , your point is absolutely spot on as far as the tackiness of it all.