Delta Sidebar: The Pink Posse
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E-mailDelta flight attendant Alice Ramsey was battling breast cancer when the airline christened its now-famous “Pink Plane” in 2006 to raise awareness and money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF). Following the philosophy that it’s what’s inside that counts, Ramsey wanted to color the whole fleet pink by selling custom-made pink uniforms to Delta’s flight attendants and challenging them to raise $1,000 each for the foundation.
Ramsey e-mailed Delta’s new CEO and asked for a five-minute meeting to discuss her brainstorm. Richard Anderson gave her more than an hour, and by the end of their discussion he had approved the pink rollout and written a personal check for the Pink Posse, her private foundation, which helps breast cancer patients pay their bills while they are going through treatment.
Anderson also made Ramsey a fan for life. “He thinks of the employees as his customers,” she says. “What a great leadership philosophy.”
As for the pink dresses, Ramsey’s seamstress found enough material to make 275 matching uniforms. Priced at $150, they sold out in less than 12 hours, with all proceeds going to the BCRF, says the company. The attendants wore the dresses and sold pink lemonade on all Delta flights last October. In its first six months, Ramsey says, the pink brigade raised more than $75,000.
