Southwest Airlines unveils new paint scheme
Southwest Airlines on Monday unveiled a new corporate logo and a new “Heart” paint scheme for its Boeing 737s.
The carrier’s image makeover will include new uniforms and new signage at airports. Dallas Love Field is the first airport to feature the new corporate identity as Southwest prepares for the lifting of the Wright Amendment restrictions next month.
“It’s not a new Southwest, it’s an evolved Southwest,” the carrier’s chief executive, Gary Kelly, said of the blue-dominated color scheme. “I think recognizing that with a new livery and a brand refresh made perfect sense.”
The new colors are bold blue, warm red, sunrise yellow and summit silver for the aircraft livery. No orange will be featured on Southwest planes for the first time in its history. The font on the side of the aircraft was designed by Monotype and is called Southwest Sans.
The Dallas-based carrier last changed its livery in 2001 to celebrate its 30th anniversary. It featured a Canyon Blue paint job.
This new design celebrates the end of the Wright Amendment on Oct. 13. For decades, the law had limited nonstop flights from Love Field to a handful of nearby states as part of an agreement dating to the origins of Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.
Senior vice president Bob Jordan said the “heart” which is emblazoned on the belly of the aircraft is the new logo of Southwest that he hopes will become synonymous with the airline like the apple is for Apple and the circle within a circle is for Target.
“This is a new visual identity which is putting a bold new look on the company,” Jordan said.
Industry analyst Henry Harteveldt said the new look for Southwest is a “sensible evolution” of the brand and not nearly as dramatic as the rebranding American Airlines unveiled in 2013. Harteveldt questioned the timing of the livery change.
“There was no real reason, good or bad, for them to do this,” Harteveldt said. “If they had done it three years ago when they announced their merger with AirTran, it would have made sense.”
And, he added, the color scheme reminds him of “Wonderbread” with its bold primary colors.
Kelly said the design changes are a comprehensive update and will help simplify the dozens of logos that Southwest has used for various programs and initiatives in the past decade.
“I love the vibrancy of the colors,” Kelly said, adding that he hopes people like it. “I think it’s something that can last for a long time.”
New uniforms, a new website, and a new advertising campaign are part of the brand refresh for Southwest. Several ads feature beaming employees with the voiceover saying, “You can’t charge for smiles, so that’s probably the reason we’re the only airline still giving them away.”
Jordan said the branding is cost-neutral since the planes will be redone when they normally would be scheduled for a new paint job. As a result, it will take up to seven years for the entire fleet to be given the new livery. It also will take several years to convert all airport operations to the new logo, he said.
The carrier delayed painting about 50 planes, starting in February, knowing it wanted to create a new livery. By the end of the year, Southwest will have 60 planes featuring the new design. Although the livery features a deeper blue color, Jordan said the paint should not fade as easily as Canyon Blue. He claimed that the darker shade will keep the plane’s interior cooler when planes are sitting on hot summer Texas tarmacs.
Southwest unveiled the new design and corporate logo at an employee event at its maintenance hangar at Love Field. Thousands crammed into the hangar on Monday morning waiting for a glimpse of a new aircraft, Heart One.
A Boeing 737, dubbed Heart Two, flew over Bachman Lake and passed by Southwest’s headquarters at Dallas Love Field later.
This story was originally published September 8, 2014 at 10:56 AM with the headline "Southwest Airlines unveils new paint scheme."