If you board a United Airlines flight today, chances are the crew will look a little different.
After nearly a decade of planning, the airline has officially launched a brand-new uniform line. They were designed in collaboration with Brooks Brothers, Tracy Reese, and workwear brand Carhartt.
In addition to this change, United also confirmed it will no longer allow pilots or flight attendants to wear international flag pins—only U.S. flag pins are permitted going forward.
TikTok creator and United flight attendant Anna Cardamon (@annacardamon) shared a short tribute to the old look, posting photos of herself in the former uniform.
“Say bye bye to blueberry blue,” the text overlay reads, “She had her moment tho.”
Her video has racked up more than 195,000 views.
As Cardamon shared in a more recent video, the new uniforms are lighter blue, and the scarves no longer carry the signature stripe. While they’re a departure from the iconic darker shades, they’re intended to feel more contemporary.
On a post about the updated uniforms on Reddit’s r/UnitedAirlines, some commenters weren’t too impressed.
“Ummm. What’s ‘designer’ about this?” one wrote. “Looks like an ugly minor tweak to an already underwhelming outfit.”
Another self-identified United employee posted a photo of the men’s version. “For the men, at least, it’s a much sharper look. Blazer is a lot lighter,” they said. “Our previous (yesterday’s) uniform was made by Cintas… the people that make smoke alarms, fire blankets etc lol, which was terrible quality. Felt like wearing saran-wrap.”
But even with better fabric, the rollout didn’t go smoothly.
“The ladies’ dresses were butchered, some general quality oversights (someone’s pants ripped today on day 1), etc, and we still have a lot of people that haven’t even received their new uniforms in the mail, even though we ordered them in fall 2024,” they added. “Don’t be surprised if you see a crew mix-matched.”
A third commenter was more forgiving. “I mean, I like the throwback vibe,” they wrote.