Anyone who flies on any sort of a regular basis has seen the safety presentation enough times to be able to likely recite the majority of it by memory.  Airlines know this, and have attempted to liven them up, particularly now that most planes are equipped with video screens to show pre-recorded versions.

Delta has been particularly public about their efforts to liven up safety videos, and their latest one, as with previous iterations, has caught some attention online for its sense of humor (which keeps with previous iterations) and because it’s littered with 80s references that aren’t always visible at first viewing, making repeated viewings rewarding. I certainly caught a lot of great references, including a toy I wanted as a kid but never got (I won’t ruin the surprise by citing some of the references; watch for yourself).

It’s a clever way to draw attention back to one of the more monotonous and predictable (yet, of course, important) parts of the preparation for take-off. Kudos to Delta for aiming to have some fun. My last flights on American Airlines, to Albuquerque, had videos that were as dry as they ever were, and looked like they were around for awhile.

Additional viewing

Of course, this isn’t the first time Delta has done this.  They drew attention a few years ago for selecting Katherine Lee, a photogenic flight attendant also dubbed “Deltalina,” who was the main presenter of the video used starting in 2008. The popularity of her role in the video, including her unique finger wag during the “no smoking” segment, created unique opportunities for her to make appearances as Deltalina elsewhere, earning the airline and her some good press.

Although not the lead presenter, Deltalina appeared via cameos in more recent videos (the 80s video at top parodied her famous finger wag with a child).

Two versions were made in 2012, with different gags, keeping things interesting.

This past holiday season, Delta also debuted a holiday version, adding more variety to the presentations.