In the 1970s, airlines became even more blatant about using sex to sell seats. National Airlines introduced a series of ads with the tag line “I’m Cheryl. Fly Me” in 1971. It may have outraged feminists but the airline insisted to TIME that it pulled in 23% more passengers, double the increase of the industry as a whole. National expanded the campaign with ads featuring flight attendants cooing, “I’m going to fly you as you’ve never been flown before.” Continental, meanwhile, introduced spots featuring flight attendants singing “We really move our tail for you,” and a TV spot featuring an undiscovered Farrah Fawcett as a stewardess purring, “at the end of the day, if I’ve done my job right, I’ve had it. And I love it.” When the campaign was introduced to employees, irate stewardesses walked out. One union member wrote to TIME in 1974, “We’re in the business of saving tails, not serving them.”
Virgin America’s New Uniforms: A 75-Year History of Fashion In Flight
Virgin America, a brand that prides itself on being on the cutting edge, is taking a gamble with a new line of uniforms that project a more casually stylish look
National Airlines, 1971
Full List
Sky Style
- Virgin America, 2012
- TWA, 1938
- TWA, 1965
- Aeroflot and Pan Am, 1968
- Union de Transports Aériens, 1968
- Mohawk Airlines, 1967
- Pan Am, 1970
- Air West, 1968-1971
- The Chic Race
- Braniff International, 1960′s
- National Airlines, 1971
- American Airlines, early 1970s
- Court Line Aviation, 1970s
- Alitalia, 1990s
- Song, 2003
- Hooters Air, 2003
- Air France, 2005
- Delta, 2006
- Singapore Air, 2012
