Airline

Flying the friendly skies -- but friendly to whom? The outlook of the airline industry regarding African-American job prospects and the overall future of the airline industry

Fly the friendly skies," the famous and infamous Delta Airlines advertisement used to proclaim to viewers everywhere. But friendly to whom, African-American job seekers and consumers could have demanded of the smiling Delta personnel depicted in the ads when they first ran in the 1970s and 1980s. The customers and the airline personnel alike in the advertisements were largely white, middle-class, and homogeneous in their appearances and depicted lifestyles. If women appeared in these ads in a professional capacity, they appeared as smiling and attractive stewardesses. This was, sadly reflective of the real-life airline industry in general at the time.

Also, in this "friendly" Delta advertisement, as in advertisements for most of the other carriers, African-Americans had no presence at all, even...
[ View Full Essay]