Jetsetters Trav and Mag launch dayglo orange folk, by Valerie Lawson -
11th May 2004
(Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald)

In the slowest striptease since Gypsy Rose Lee twitched her feathered fans, the grey shroud slid off the jet. And slid, and slid.

The VIP guest launcher, John Travolta, tapped his left foot and swung his right arm out, Saturday Night Fever style, as he watched the painful progress. At last, the cable lifted the cover in the Qantas Sydney hangar.

The Jetstar jet was revealed - metallic silver fuselage, five-point orange star on the tail, orange underbody. Travolta spun around to the bank of TV cameras.

"She's a beauty, eh?" he beamed, relieved no doubt, that the eternity of waiting was over and his 10 minutes' promotional duty done.

As we all were. Wait? First, the wait to enter the hangar, a process similar to passing through Checkpoint Charlie.

Then a one-hour wait in the chill, waiting for Travolta, who turned up late, making his entrance through a back door, into a buggy, up to the stage, where he greeted Magda Szubanski.

The actress is the presenter of the $15 million advertising campaign for Jetstar - Qantas's new low-fare airline, whose livery and uniforms were unveiled yesterday.

Dancing to Jetstar's jingle, borrowed from Cole Porter's Let's Do It, Szubanski, in a raffish orange hat, had entertained the crowd of airline staff, marketing men, travel reps and media.

Orange was the colour of the day, dayglo orange, the colour of pumpkins and roadside witches' hats, the covers of old Penguin paperbacks, the livery of the European low-cost airline EasyJet, and the trim on the Jetstar uniforms, and the star on the aircraft's logo and tail.

The Sydney firm Moon Design and Melbourne ad agency Dewey and Horton came up with the Jetstar design with a team from Jetstar's marketing department.

Despite the committee approach, the uniforms are practical and sleek.

The women's boat-necked tops, slim pants and dresses are black (shades of Peter Morrissey's Qantas black dresses) with orange stripes at the neckline.

Their jackets are orange, with a tie belt, and orange lining.

The men wear black polo shirts, with orange piping, black pants, and no ties.

And here's a breakthrough: the captain does not wear a hat. He, or she, wears the colours of authority, black suits with white shirts. No orange for the boss.

The one offending item is the male cabin crew's black jacket, with a black collar but eye-popping orange lapels, the whole resembling the outfits in Star Trek, the original William Shatner version.

The airline will begin flying on May 25 with a fleet of 717 aircraft and will later move to an all-Airbus A320 fleet.

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