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Bankrupt Delta Air seeks a fashionable fix

If you ran an airline that has reported $11.6 in losses over the past five years, what would you do to help you shape up and fly right? Well, if you are Delta Air Lines, you throw caution to the wind and commission
Designer Tyler looks at one of the new uniforms he designed for Delta Airlines flight attendants in New York City
Designer Richard Tyler looks at one of the new uniforms he designed for Delta Air Lines flight attendants as Delta's vice president for marketing Joanne Smith, right, and Delta's senior vice president for in-flight services Paulette Corvin model uniforms in New York City Jan. 25. Maybe the red outfits were chosen to assure passengers they're not flying JetBlue.Mike Segar / Reuters
/ Source: msnbc.com

If you ran an airline that has reported $11.6 billion in losses over the past five years and is in bankruptcy protection due to high labor costs and brutal competition from low-cost rivals, what would you do to help you shape up and fly right? Well, if you are Delta Air Lines, you throw caution to the wind and commission a new line of flight attendant uniforms.

Delta's new duds unveiled this week in New York were created by Australian fashionista Richard Tyler, who said "I designed the uniform to have timeless elegance that reminds us of the classic age of travel."

Ah, those good old days when airlines served food, arrived on time and were ... profitable.

We also applaud Delta's decision to choose bright red for the new uniforms — the color matches perfectly with the ink spewing from their financial reports.

Not-so-bad ideas

  • Need temporary help on your company's reception desk? One Japanese employment agency is suggesting you try recruiting a robot.

    A spokeswoman for PeopleStaff said it would cost more than $2,700 a month to employ a real person for this type of work, but warned that the robots were not capable of doing everything human employees can do, presumably like lying to salesmen that you are in an important meeting and can't be disturbed.

  • We love peanuts — the real kind, shelled, roasted, salted and served straight from the can.