Spirit Airlines goes yellow, raises bag fees for holiday travel

Ultra low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines is changing its colors — but not its stripes.

Following the lead of Southwest and Frontier airlines, Florida-based Spirit announced a new, very yellow livery for its fleet of 61 planes.

------------

FOR THE RECORD

Sept. 22, 9:57 a.m.: An earlier version of this post stated that Spirit Airlines has a fleet of 35 planes. It has 61 planes.

------------

With less fanfare, the ultra low-fare carrier known for imposing a long menu of passenger fees recently notified passengers that it is raising bag fees by $2 for flights during the upcoming holidays. The higher fees are for flights booked after Aug. 19 for trips between Dec. 18 and Jan. 5.

The airline explained on its website that the fee hike is intended to “encourage customers to pack a bit lighter” to make room for more bags during the crowded holiday season.

As for the new livery, Spirit is painting seven of its planes bright yellow with black lettering, with the rest of the fleet getting painted as planes are replaced or undergo regular repainting. The entire fleet should be painted within three years.

The new livery announcement comes after Dallas-based Southwest Airlines and Denver-based Frontier Airlines unveiled their new exterior designs. Southwest will keep the familiar blue, gold and red colors but will move the name of the airline from the tail to the fuselage. Frontier will add green lettering but retain its trademark animal portraits on the tail.

To read more about travel, tourism and the airline industry, follow me on Twitter at @hugomartin