New Delta Safety Video: A Hundred Years Of Safety

Delta Air Lines has just unveiled its latest safety video, and it’s a special one, as it celebrates the carrier’s 100th anniversary (well, sort of — airlines take some liberties with their anniversary celebrations, as the company factors in predecessors that eventually became Delta).

Delta unveils 100th anniversary safety video

With Delta celebrating its 100th year of flight, the airline is debuting a new safety video, entitled “A Hundred Years of Safety.” The safety video will be screened on flights as of April 2025, and takes passengers on a journey through the decades of air travel.

The video starts in the 1920s, and features 11 different Delta logos over the years, and 10 employees wearing historically accurate pilot stylings and flight attendant uniforms, provided by archivists from the Delta Flight Museum. You can see the safety video for yourself below.

For many, the most exciting aspect of this will be a cameo from “Deltalina,” the star of Delta’s 2008 safety video. Since I realize that at this point 2008 was well over 15 years ago, there’s a whole generation of people who probably have no clue who she is, so below is the safety video from the time. Deltalina really hasn’t aged a day… good for her!

Here’s how Maya Dukes, Delta’s Managing Director of Global Brand Strategy, Creative and Social, describes this new safety video:

“These quintessential uniforms and references not only demonstrate just how much has changed throughout the last 100 years of air travel – including habits, fashion and culture – but that Delta’s commitment to safety has always been our top priority. Our safety video is viewed by hundreds of thousands of customers every day from all walks of life, so it’s the perfect creative venue to honor our history and people while captivating the attention of customers as they prepare for takeoff.” 

My take on Delta’s special new safety video

I think Delta’s new safety video is cute, and it’s nice how the airline is celebrating its 100-year milestone. It’s always fun to see how uniforms have changed throughout the years, and the cameo from Deltalina is delightful, despite the lack of a finger wag.

Now, it’s interesting to note that several years back, Qantas had a similar 100th anniversary safety video concept, taking a trip down memory lane, from the 1920s to 2020. Personally, I thought the production quality there was a bit higher, but it also has a different theme.

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time that Delta has featured uniforms throughout the years in its safety videos. In 2018, the airline had a safety video about uniforms over time, coinciding with the new Zac Posen-designed uniforms that the airline was launching at the time.

Lastly, for context, below is Delta’s most recent safety video, which started being screened in early 2024. I think it’s supposed to be calming and relaxing, though it’s abstract, and I’m not sure I understand how the theme is supposed to tie into the airline.

Bottom line

Delta has unveiled a new safety video, which celebrates the carrier’s 100th anniversary. The safety video features uniforms throughout the years, and even has an appearance from “Deltalina.” You can expect to see this video screened on Delta flights as of April 2025.

What do you make of Delta’s new safety video?