Southwest Airlines unveils new aircraft design, logo

Southwest Airlines is getting a new look to mark its expansion.

The Dallas-based carrier is completing its merger with AirTran Airways later this year. It has begun to fly to international destinations and will soon see restrictions lifted on flights from its hub airport at Texas’ Love Field.

To signal this turning point, the carrier on Monday unveiled a new design and logo for its fleet of more than 600 planes.

“With all these exciting changes happening, we thought it was time for a new visual expression of our brand -- one that marries our past to our present and sets the course for where we’re headed in the future,” Chief Executive Gary Kelly said.

The airline consulted with focus groups made up of customers and employees to come up with the new design for the planes, which keeps the familiar blue, gold and red colors but moves the name of the airline from the tail to the fuselage.

The design also includes a heart symbol on the underbelly of each plane. (Southwest’s New York Stock Exchange symbol is LUV.)

To reduce the financial impact of the new paint job, each aircraft will get the new look during the current repainting schedule, the airline said.

The cost of painting a commercial plane ranges from $50,000 to $200,000, depending on the size of the plane and the number of colors used, according airline painting companies.

Southwest is expected to launch more nonstop flights from its hub at Texas’ Love field starting next month.

Legislation known as the Wright Amendment, championed by then-House Speaker Jim Wright (D-Texas) in 1979, restricted airline traffic out of Love Field and directed more growth toward the then-fledgling Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. The last of those restrictions is set to expire Oct. 13.

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