ancman

And in this case, the view that our obsolete uniforms play a role in / reflect our superiority.

Frankly, we do ourselves a disservice by believing that NOTHING about the Delta culture should ever change, simply because we’ve been lucky enough to be at the top of the industry financially. While there are many things that Delta is doing right, there are plenty that are long overdue for a major refresh. Outdated IT and pilot uniforms are prime examples.

hockeypilot44

I like the Delta pilot uniforms. I liked Northwest uniforms too other than the leather jacket. The wings said Airmail on them until the day they switched to Delta uniforms.

NuGuy

Not sure why the angst on that, but if you are going to have a leather jacket option, they did it as well as you'd ever want. Top quality vendor, very nice, top shelf product. They produced nearly 60 jackets as size samples for the bases, and unlike every other airline, the design itself had no external junk on it so it just looked like a regular leather jacket so you could use it on a layover (one less thing to pack on the DC-9).

The "3 party" (aka cheaper, unauthorized) jackets looked like a cheap knock-off, which of course pilots being pilots, couldn't resist.

NWA flew to a lot of cold-a$$ places. That meant dragging around an overcoat, which you couldn't really use on a layover. That meant packing another heavy coat to go with it so you could survive walking aross the tundra from the Holi-dome to the Runza-hut to grab dinner. That jacket solved a lot of problems for folks trying to cram 5 days worth of stuff into that little space the DC-9 provided without completely blocking the cockpit door.

ancman

I’m not one to care what others think, but it is funny to me how widely the “Delta stereotype” permeates the industry. Ask nearly any airline pilot which pilot group they perceive as the most rigid / uptight, and the answer is almost universally Delta.

In many ways, they’re right. A little humility goes a long way.

cornbeef007

Haha, makes sense now.

2StgTurbine

Then you're not very observant. All airlines have their 1%, but the problem with Delta is that our 1% are the same which makes it seem like that personality is what Delta wants. You might not notice because you don't get the opportunity to fly with other Delta captains. When I was a commuter type interviewing for another regional job since my airline was going under, I had to jumpseat home on a Delta aircraft. The captain seemed nice, but when he found out I had to sit in the jumpseat, he wasn't sure if regional airlines were allowed in mainline jumpseats and had to look it up. Then he was nervous about what the passengers would think if a person was in the cockpit without a pilot uniform. Luckily I had a uniform in my bag, but he made me change out of my interview suit and put on my pilot uniform.

StoneQOLdCrazy

And now Delta flies to the same cold-a$$ places, right?

Tfork

No, you're anecdote is no better than his or anybody elses. Your anecdote doesn't necessarily make you right over him. We all have anecdotes you know. You know what else we all have? Biases, and some are more obvious than others.

cornbeef007

Some biases are earned, which makes them correct and relatively accurate.

Luckily, the Delta bias is changing one North Face at a time. Maybe that’s what Burns was trying to do with the single breasted jacket.

2StgTurbine

Enough anecdotes over time lead to a reputation. I'm not saying all Delta pilots fit the stereotype, but crewdawg was denying there is a stereotype at all. There are plenty of Delta pilots that fit that stereotype. It's not a myth. In indoc we spent about 20 minutes per chapter of the FOM, but when it came to the uniform chapter, we spent over an hour! Then when it was time for OE, the LCA also decided to go on about the uniform. I have never worked at an airline that talks this much about the uniform. We have pilots who oppose getting rid of the hat and double-breasted blazer. We have several cringy videos of pilots giving PAs. People can debate the level of severity of this stereotype, but it absolutely exists and is unique to Delta.