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American Airlines Thursday said it has zeroed in on a new fabric colour — Pantone Parisian Night — for new uniforms that AA announced earlier this month will be manufactured by Lands' End. Parisian Night is a dark blue colour that resembles the fabric colour of the so-called legacy blue uniforms AA employees wore for many years before the merger with US Airways — uniforms that many legacy AA employees say they greatly enjoyed wearing. AA also said Thursday that the design of the new uniforms will not change from what was rolled out by Twin Hill. Eliminating a new uniform design step could conceivably speed up the rollout of the Lands' End outfits. But an AA spokeswoman said it could still take another 22 to 30 months before AA employees are wearing the Lands' End outfits. <br/>

For American Airlines CE Doug Parker, the issues of trust and leadership are getting his full attention these days. "We have a business that's been transformed, but the culture hasn't been transformed," he said. "And that holds us back." Recently, American Airlines travellers have complained about clashes with airline employees, customer service ordeals, and allegations about racial discrimination. Parker acknowledges the problems and is trying to fix them. "In almost every case, we've put the employee in an incredibly difficult situation because of the rules we have in place. And it's the rules that are the problem, not the people," he explains. "And we need to work to make sure that we don't put people in these situations. As we do more and more of that, trust gets stronger." <br/>