American Airlines introduces new logo

NEW YORK American Airlines is getting a new look.

The airline showed off the first plane bearing a new logo and paint job at Dallas--Fort Worth International Airport on Thursday.

American's new look

/ American Airlines/AP

The familiar red, white and blue stripes along the side of the fuselage are gone, replaced by a new logo and "American" in large letters on the silver body. Red and blue horizontal bars are emblazoned on the tail.

"We thought it was time to update the look - it's been 40 years," Thomas Horton, CEO of American's parent, AMR Corp., said in an interview.

The new livery was painted on a Boeing (BA) 777-300 that was flown into Fort Worth, Texas, overnight and was to be shown to the public later Thursday. The plane goes into service Jan. 31.

American expects about one-third of its fleet, or roughly 200 planes, will sport the new look by the end of the year with the rest to be repainted within five years. The makeover will extend to airport signs, self-help kiosks and American's website.

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American declined to say how much the "rebranding" campaign will cost.

Horton said planning for the redesign began in the summer of 2011, when American announced it would buy hundreds of new planes from Boeing and Airbus, many of which will be made of composite material that can't easily be painted in American's traditional polished-aluminum look.

That means American was thinking of a makeover even before it filed for bankruptcy protection in November 2011. Horton said bankruptcy creditors were kept informed about the redesign. The desire to cut costs didn't derail the effort.

"We're very much coming to the end of the restructuring, and really all the cost-reduction initiatives have been bolted down," Horton said. "We really are at that moment now to turn the page and set the course for a new American."

American Airlines unveils a new company logo and exterior paint scheme on a Boeing 737-800 aircraft on January 17, 2013 in Dallas, Texas. The exterior changes are the first for the company since 1968 and were announced as the parent company of American Airlines, AMR, is considering a merger with US Airways.

/ Tom Pennington

Under pressure from creditors, AMR is studying whether to embrace a merger with US Airways (LCC) or remain on its own. A decision is expected soon, and Horton said the redesign doesn't tilt the company toward either outcome.

Horton said AMR did not tell US Airways in advance about the new livery - "That wouldn't have been appropriate; they're a competitor" - but he gave US Airways Group Inc. CEO Doug Parker a courtesy heads-up on Wednesday night.

US Airways praised the "compelling result" of the redesign, as spokesman Ed Stewart put it.

The pilots' union at American, which has long fought with AMR and wants company management replaced, was less enthusiastic.

"A new paint job is fine but it does not fix American's network deficiencies and toxic culture," said Dennis Tajer, a spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association. His and other unions at American support a merger that would put US Airways executives in charge of the combined airline.

[mudhen22]

Through all of this reporting there has been no the name of the designer or design firm. The CEO talks about this as if he dreamed it up himself. Most major corpoprate rebrandings feature the name of the designers involved.
PS

[SpookyLinda]

For an airline that is having money problems why take this step to repaint all of their 600 airplanes with a new logo. My brother works for a company that paints jumbo jets and it costs from $15,000. up to paint a brand new airplane and twice that to paint the older airplanes. Because they have to strip the old paint off the airplane first so they can repaint it. Paint adds weight to the airplane. So if you have to go to the new logo why not just paint the new airplanes and as you replace the older planes paint the new planes.

[phil8192]

When companies that are in financial straits start messing with their corporate logo and coming up with new slogans, it's a sure sign they're in their death throes. Goodby, been nice knowin' ya, American Airlines.

[doctorfrank]

As a former Executive Platinum frequent flyer with Americanm for many years, I welcome any innovation that might help them get back to their former status. But I can remember when coming back from outer Slobbovia many times the thrill when I first saw an American plane with the familiar logo. A piece of home!

[artguyindia]

Each organization should really go for new design innovations. It does really not matter weather they or Gov., private, huge or small. It's nice to see these guys going for new design innovation. They could have done it more better.

https://twitter.com/ArtguyIndia

[dkjack]

All American had going for it was its classic livery. Now it doesn't even have that.

[timthefilmguy]

I like the logo...the tail paint, not so much. It looks incredibly labor intensive with the stripes and fades and SIX colors!

[akibeel]

Logo looks like Air France, tail art looks too close to British Airways... just sayin'

[kernals12]

well why shouldn't it have these things with other airlines named after their origin

[HassG]

We are in bankruptcy and hopeful airplane Boeing 787 is coughing smoke, all we need now is a good logo.

[UtahRugbyGuy]

Definitely a massive improvement, but as a brand designer and an Art & Creative Director, my opinion is that they fell somewhat short of greatness.

They missed an opportunity to take this concept further. It needs to be fatter, for one. It needs to be more organic and curvy. It looks so rigid and stiff. I get that they were trying to simulate the tail of a plane, but the tail of a plane is FATTER. It doesn't only have a thin edge.

Plus, the best logos that try to resemble a component of their trade in some way are IMPLIED. The logo doesn't have to be a engineering rendering of the tail.

Fatter, curvier, a bit more organic (in the not so rigid sense) and it could have been so amazing.

Great effort but I'm disappointed an confused at why they had such a great concept but crap execution of implementing that concept.

CONCEPT: A-

IMPLEMENTATION/EXECUTION: C-

My credentials: http://www.behance.net/heliuscreative

[UtahRugbyGuy]

Definitely a massive improvement, but as a brand designer and an Art & Creative Director, my opinion is that they fell somewhat short of greatness.

They missed an opportunity to take this concept further. It needs to be fatter, for one. It needs to be more organic and curvy. It looks so rigid and stiff. I get that they were trying to simulate the tail of a plane, but the tail of a plane is FATTER. It doesn't only have a thin edge.

Plus, the best logos that try to resemble a component of their trade in some way are IMPLIED. The logo doesn't have to be a engineering rendering of the tail.

Fatter, curvier, a bit more organic (in the not so rigid sense) and it could have been so amazing.

Great effort but I'm disappointed an confused at why they had such a great concept but crap execution of implementing that concept.

CONCEPT: A-

IMPLEMENTATION/EXECUTION: C-

My credentials: http://www.behance.net/heliuscreative

[UtahRugbyGuy]

Oops! Didn't mean to submit that twice :) delete, delete, delete.