Ayla Murick, a regional flight attendant, has spoken about her dislike for the uniform she has to wear while on the job. Ayla has had aspirations of becoming a flight attendant since her teenage years due to her love of traveling, with a goal to visit every country in the world. She has had the opportunity to travel to 48 states within the United States, but her airline does not offer international flights. She shares her feelings about her airline uniform, which she finds unattractive and unexciting.
Ayla had always envisioned that flight attendant uniforms would be glamorous and fashionable, but her airline's uniforms are quite the opposite. The navy-colored uniform is, in her opinion, unflattering and makes her look like a "blob of color." The uniform's standard design doesn't leave much room for personal style, and Ayla prefers wearing bold or sparkly accessories when not at work.
Flight attendants are limited in their wardrobe options as they can only wear skirts, dresses, or pants. The airline provides two types of dresses. The long-sleeved dress has buttons in the middle and comes with a belt, which accentuates the figure more, making the dress more flattering. The other dress option is short-sleeved, has no buttons or belt, and Ayla describes it as resembling a "navy burlap sack," unflattering for most body types.
The airline only provides a small allotment of $300 per year for the purchase of uniform pieces, with a dress costing around $100, shirts ranging between $30-$60, and jackets costing around $200. The uniform's quality is not high, and Ayla often finds herself replacing her wardrobe on a yearly basis as the uniforms rip easily from wear and tear. As a new flight attendant, you only receive a few uniform pieces and cannot afford to buy new ones, so you end up wearing the same outfit to work every day.
The uniforms are also uncomfortable to wear, with the short-sleeved dress being tight around the armpit area, and the pants – made of polyester and lined with silk – making the wearer sweat when it's hot. Ideally, Ayla wishes she could wear comfortable clothes since the job involves constantly moving and reaching for things. She finds the boots that she is mandated to wear leave her with blisters.
In Ayla's opinion, the uniforms make female flight attendants look pretty but are impractical, designing they for aesthetics and not function. She thinks it's time for airlines to update the uniform guidelines to accommodate modern trends and create an easy-to-move-in outfit.