EasyJet celebrates 20 years with wearable tech uniforms announcement

EasyJet celebrates 20 years with wearable tech uniforms announcement

EasyJet marked its 20th anniversary today by announcing a trial of uniforms for crew and engineers incorporating wearable technology.

Image via Giovanni G / Shutterstock.com

EasyJet marked its 20th anniversary today by announcing a trial of uniforms for crew and engineers incorporating wearable technology.

The uniforms demonstrate how the application of innovative technology could play a role in making tasks easier, helping with communications and enhance safety procedures, according to the budget carrier.

Wearable tech features being trialled for cabin crew uniforms include:

• LEDs on shoulders and illuminated hems to provide additional lighting in an emergency
• LEDs on jacket lapels displaying important information like flight numbers and destinations
• In-built microphones to improve communication between the crew, pilots and passengers
• LEDs in ground staff jacket cuffs to help with aircraft movement on the ground

EasyJet’s head of cabin crew, Tina Milton, said: “Our crew’s primary concern is for the safety of all passengers so it is really exciting to be working on this pioneering new technology which could transform the capability of our uniforms, helping crew to be more easily identified in an emergency as well as helping them to provide great service to passengers.”

The disclosure came as the airline unveiled a special livery aircraft featuring a mosaic of more than 100,000 of its passengers’ favourite holiday snaps and selfies taken during their travels across Europe over the past 20 years.

The airline celebrated with an event at its Luton base attended by more than 500 guests including stakeholders, suppliers as well as past and present staff.

Stelios Haji-Ioannou, founder of easyJet said: “Today is the best possible opportunity to thank all the 30,000 people who make easyJet work on a daily basis.

“I want to thank those employees and sub-contractors – both on the ground and in the air – who have made easyJet over the last 20 years such a great investment for its shareholders and such a great brand for its customers.”

Chief executive, Carolyn McCall, said: “Twenty years ago easyJet changed the way Europe travelled.

“We challenged the high price monopolies of the legacy airlines and enabled a new generation of people of all ages, incomes and interests to enjoy Europe.

“Since then we’ve carried over 600 million passengers and flown over 4.7 million flights but that challenger spirit is stronger than ever in the easyJet of 2015.

“We started with fares to Glasgow from £29 – or as we advertised at the time, the same price as a pair of jeans. A pair of Levis 501s will now set your back £75 while our fares to Glasgow start from £27.49.

“Although today we’re celebrating 20 years of generation easyJet, we’re even more excited about the future. We will continue to challenge conventional thinking and we look forward to where the next two decades could take us.”