You've got to have heart! Southwest's new livery

The rumor has been circulating in airline circles for a week, and now we know it’s a fact: Southwest Airlines, the United States’ largest domestic airline, just introduced a dramatic new livery.

Called ‘Heart One,’ the new look marks at least the third major paint scheme change in the airline’s 43 year history. The signature element, the thing that makes version so distinctive, is the big heart emblazoned on the belly of Southwest’s Boeing 737s. In a prepared release Southwest Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Kevin Krone said that heart is “the finishing touch that makes the Southwest brand unique.” Krone calls it, “a symbolic reminder that we put our hearts into every flight.”

Southwest and its advertising and branding partners conducted extensive focus group research with customers and employees before coming up with the new look. What flyers will notice first is the airline’s name. It’s far larger, and displayed on fuselage and engines alike. The main color remains blue, and the arcing stripes accenting the vertical stabilizer (the tail) are bolder.

Southwest’s airport locations will also get the heart logo and color scheme.

Don’t look for the older, more familiar ‘Canyon Blue’ livery to go away right away. In a prepared release, Southwest says it’s “taking a cost-conscious approach to the conversion of its airplanes and airports…It might take sometime before customers and employees see the new design in person.”