| Advertisement |
DALLAS, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Southwest Airlines unveiled a new look that started with its heart-shaped logo and will include its website, ticket counters and the body design of its planes. "We've changed," said Southwest chief executive Gary Kelly said. "We've evolved. But what hasn't changed is the heart."
Advertisement
The makeover, which the company says is not an official rebranding, is meant to celebrate the airline's recent successes, including its acquisition of AirTran and its upcoming expansion into international routes. It also celebrated the expiration next month of a 1980 law that prohibited Southwest from flying nonstop outside of a few neighboring states, which was meant to help boost the then-new Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
The new livery was unveiled in a hangar near the company's Dallas headquarters. It keeps the red and gold of the tail and expands the canyon blue around the belly of the fuselage. The name, previously in gold lettering on the tail, is now on the side of the plane in "Summit Silver." The new striped heart logo is a play on its home at Dallas Love Field and its stock ticker "LUV."
Two planes, dubbed Heart One and Heart Two, are painted and will start carrying passengers Wednesday. Another 60 will be done this year, and the rest of its 680-plane fleet, as well as adjustments to signage will take some years.
