Some Quick Thoughts On American Airlines’ New Livery

My family and I are traveling to Great Wolf Lodge (trip report and tips for families to follow later), so I probably won’t be posting much in the next couple of days.

There’s been a bunch of buzz in the blogsphere over the past 24 hours or so on American Airlines’ new logo.  AA is my favorite of the domestic US carriers, so there’s a certain attachment to the current livery.

I’ve always been a big fan of the polished metal finish that American has sported for as long as I can recall as opposed to the fully painted plane that most other carriers favor.  It became clear a while ago AA wasn’t going the route of an unpainted plane for the future, so it was really just a matter of waiting to see what the new look was.  And today, we saw it:

First, I like the new eagle and that they kept the eagle prominent in the new logo.  It’s been a part of the livery for almost 100 years AFAIK.

Second, I’m really not sure how I feel about the tail.  I like that they’ve remained consistent with the colors, and the design definitely seems bold.  I guess I’m reserving judgment for the time being.

But, of course, I’m an aviation geek.  And, more specifically, an American Airlines geek.  So, I’ll have my eyes peeled for my first glimpse of the livery on an actual plane.  And then I’ll start figuring out how to get on one of those new 777s.

As View From The Wing notes, it’s going to be quite some time before everything is re-branded.  That makes some sense to me, since there’s so many moving parts right now.  I’d much rather have them investing in the insides of a new plane (read, more lie-flat seats!), and I don’t care what it looks like on the outside if I’m comfy on the inside.

It’s a good day for American Airlines, if not solely because they continue to move forward.  And, they do seem stronger as each day passes.  We’re still waiting for the shoe to drop on a potential merger with US Airways, so there’s still quite a bit of runway before we’ll know if American can be a leader once again.

Related articles

• Confirmed: No Polished (Unpainted) Finish For American Airlines’ New Livery (pizzainmotion.com)