Blaming toxic chemicals in their new uniforms, flight attendants are outraged Delta has not taken their complaints seriously. But the Atlanta-based carrier claims its toxicology study found no issues with the uniforms.
Delta Uniforms Spark Flight Attendant Complaints
Delta’s beautiful new uniforms may come at a price: rashes, migraines, coughing, hives, and even hair loss. That’s what a group of Delta flight attendants are claiming.
One flight attendant thought she had been bitten by bed bugs, but her dermatologist in Atlanta said her rash looked more like toxic exposure. Another complained of “migraines” and “extreme fatigue” just weeks after transitioning to the new Land’s End uniforms in 2018. Another said, “I started having respiratory issues, a runny nose, an extremely dry cough in the back of the throat.” She added, “By the end of the trip with that uniform, I was broken out in hives and ended up with a fever and a kidney infection.”
Still others reported:
- hair loss
- sinus and respiratory issues
- irregular heartbeat
- high blood pressure
- vertigo
- anxiety
- weakened immune system
- hormonal changes
- purple-tinged breast milk
These flight attendants, who anonymously shared their stories with Business Insider, argue that Delta has largely dismissed their complaints, concluding simply that their issues cannot possibly be related to the uniforms.
But Delta also made the purple dress available in a different fabric. Then in November, as complaints continued, allowed flight attendants to wear non-uniform business clothes. Flight attendants calls these “black-and-whites” and say this has solved their issues.
But these exceptions are approved on a case-by-case basis and flight attendants report that Delta has not evenly applied its exception policy.
Already, a group of New York-based Delta flight attendants has sued Land’s End over the uniforms. Is Delta next?
> Read More: Delta Flight Attendants File Lawsuit Over New Uniforms
The Root Of The Problem
Airlines want uniforms that are:
- stain-resistant
- wrinkle-free
- fire resistant
- flexibility/stretchability
Airlines also want uniforms that reflect brand identify or colors.
All of this requires chemicals. It’s likely not the fabric itself, but the chemicals or dyes the fabric is treated with which may be behind the issues flight attendants have experienced. Think formaldehyde or flame retardants.
Just Another Union Ploy?
Delta flight attendants are not unionized. The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), which has long tried to convince Delta flight attendants to unionize, have seized on the uniform issue to push unionization.
Explaining the issue, AFA President Sara Nelson laid out the problem:
“It’s very difficult to define. It doesn’t just happen overnight, and it affects the population in different ways depending on your genetic makeup, past exposure over the course of your life, and what you may have been sensitized to…
“It’s not something when you roll out the uniform on the first day, all of a sudden 20 percent of the population is having these severe reactions. It’s an issue that takes a little bit of time to fully incubate.”
The uniform issues have led to increased effort by AFA organizers to convince Delta FAs to unionize (and also pushed Delta to take the matter more seriously).
Delta: Lab Tets Show No Definitive Link
A lab test (.pdf) prepared for Delta found that “no chemicals that could have been eluted from the textile in sweat or emitted to air that could account for the rates of dermal or respiratory effects reported.”
Nevertheless, Delta is paying for alternate uniforms for flight attendants who complain.
“Our top priority has been and continues to be addressing our employees’ concerns, which is why we have been working directly with them to offer numerous alternative garment options, creating a new female gray suiting collection and providing access to the country’s top medical experts.”
CONCLUSION
Complaining about toxic uniforms is not unique to Delta. Flight attendants at Alaska Airlines complained in 2012 and at American Airlines in 2017. But the twist in this story is the tightrope Delta has to walk on. It doesn’t want to give flight attendants any incentive to unionize, yet also wants to keep its oft-lauded brand image intact in all ways, including flight attendant uniforms. It will be interesting to see how Delta handles this going forward. It seems pretty clear to me that these uniforms are causing discomfort for a subset of flight attendants.
Not sure what to make from this complaint. 20% of all Delta employees that wear uniforms are having allergic reactions? That seems wayyyyy too high. Land’s End has 65 retail stores across the US and sell their products in many other retailers. Are regular customers complaining of any of their other products or just the products made for Delta are causing this issue? I flew over 200k miles with Delta just this year and in many occasions you see passengers making comments to FA’s on how nice their uniforms are. I never heard anyone saying they had allergies caused by them. I think there is more to this story than just allergic reactions although of course some may be allergic but 20% seems very strange.
Responding to dingbats with a scientific analysis was the wrong response here. Delta should have handed out crystals and claimed they were made by a shamen to block any clothing allergies. Problem solved.
From a discussion with an out of purple uniform FA, she quoted a number of about 140o. That’s less than 2% of the workforce. It’s a small number and totally acceptable. Perhaps Land’s End should come up with alternative fabrics for those affected.
Having a toxicologist assess the problem is the wrong approach. When you bring peanuts to a toxicologist, they won’t find anything toxic with it. They will say it’s safe to consume; yet, we still have allergic reactions by a small subset of the pupulation. Proper approach should be done through a dermatologist and allergist who can authoratively make that decision..
I wouldn’t be surprised if many of the complaints are just hysterical people. However, there should be some inquiry into the complaints.
Why do the uniforms need to be fire resistant? My clothes are not. I do ok.
I wouldn’t mind if the flight attendants wore similar uniforms to those of the Australians going to Antarctica. On those flights, the flight attendants wear a green jumpsuit. That jumpsuit has patches for the person’s unit or squadron.
I agree there is a big problem with chemicals in these uniforms and Delta should solve this at once. Cabin crew should be allowed to wear their own slacks or a squirt and shirt or sweater until Delta provides them with a safe uniform.
What’s glaring to me is if the picture is accurate, wow, those really are the worst of the worst. This country is really getting bad. Just on the issue of weight alone (and that’s only one issue) that makes no sense for aircraft with narrow aisles that are already constricted.