Social media ruined Southwest Airlines’ big reveal of its new aircraft paint scheme over the weekend and threatens to do the same to Frontier Airlines, which will unveil its new livery Tuesday morning in Denver.
Southwest took the wraps off at a rally Monday morning at its headquarters near Dallas Love Field, though photos of a Boeing 737 in the new paint scheme had already circulated on blogs and Twitter over the weekend.
Frontier is readying a new scheme, too, as part of a rebranding campaign. The new logo harks back to its historic liveries — still green and white, but borrowing a the green wing shape from the circa 1950s logo that was morphed into a red letter “F” in a 1978 logo design credited to Saul Bass.
Photos of the new Frontier look, too, have begun to circulate on social media and websites.
Blue is still the dominant color of Southwest’s new paint scheme, but the planes will also have red, yellow and blue swooshes on the tail and wing tips and “Southwest” in big letters along the side of the fuselage.
“It’s a bold look; it’s an updated look,” CEO Gary Kelly said Monday.
On Twitter, the reviews came immediately and ranged from “horrible” to “I luv it.”
It will take six to seven years for Southwest to repaint its entire fleet. To control costs, planes will get the new look only as they come in for their regularly scheduled repainting, said chief marketing officer Kevin Krone. Airport signs and employee uniforms should make the switch in about three years, he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
