American Airlines revealed its new logo and plane concept on Thursday morning.
"With the inaugural flight of the Boeing 777-300ER just weeks away and nearly 60 new aircraft coming this year, now is the time to unveil the new, more modern look," the Fort Worth-based company said in a media advisory.
Photos of the new logo and concept leaked out on Twitter shortly before the Fort Worth-based carrier announced the rebranding.
American chief executive Tom Horton has openly talked about the rebranding of American for the past few months, including a new color scheme on planes that have traditionally flown with their shiny metal exposed.When the carrier received its new Boeing 777-300ER from the manufacturer in December, the plane's tail lacked the usual "AA" logo. The makeover -- a typical move when an airline emerges from bankruptcy -- also comes as American is considering a merger with US Airways.
On Monday, AirlineReporter.com posted a photo of one of American's Boeing 737-800s that had been flying around Seattle that had been prepped for the new livery design as it did not have the AA logo on the winglets as the carrier's other 737-800s currently have.
American also added a countdown clock on its website at http://www.aa.com/newamerican to get ready to unveil the new look.
UPDATE: Here's a leaked photo of the brand from @ThePointsGuy, what do you think?
And this image from @gatsby
Do you mean Thursday morning at 9cst?
Posted by: Mike Saunders | January 17, 2013 at 07:04 AM
I think the old saying that you can, "put lipstick on a pig and it's still just pig," holds true here.
Posted by: Greg | January 17, 2013 at 08:12 AM
The tail section is an insult to all American citizens who have an ounce of pride and/ patriotism! AA has one of the worst records of any airline for customer satisfaction, on time, and customer service. Just last week they were nearly the least liked airline. And they have the gall to put an American flag Lon the tail???
Posted by: chris baack | January 17, 2013 at 09:51 AM
It looks too much like Obama symbol. A mistake....
Posted by: b.satterfield | January 17, 2013 at 10:00 AM
Mostly OK but the 'eagle' logo is a very weak design. Is this just temporary until they repaint the planes in U.S. livery?
Posted by: Robert | January 17, 2013 at 10:18 AM
... and the LIPSTICK is on the PIG!!!
Posted by: AMR Employee | January 17, 2013 at 10:54 AM
Did you mean Thursday morning?
Posted by: TXCOMT | January 17, 2013 at 11:11 AM
Kinda reminds me of a Greyhound Bus Lines logo.
Posted by: RayLRiv | January 17, 2013 at 11:25 AM
Very sad news for the AA employees, first they loose pay, they got pay cut, benefits etc. etc. etc., now stupid AA management will spent millions of hard earned n blood money to renovate the aircraft inside n outside plus the terminals n etc. etc. While their beloved hard working employees living under the poverty n here v go, those monsters CEO n their moneysuckers spending millions on that way, what a shame, thats what AAmerica stand for.
Posted by: ProphetJesusisnotgod | January 17, 2013 at 11:32 AM
Big deal! If the Us Airlines merger goes through, will the tail be different again. Why change the logo, American hasn't really been American since Crandall left. The tradition is nowhere where it once was.
Posted by: Mike Wilkins | January 17, 2013 at 12:00 PM
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
Posted by: UtahRugbyGuy | January 17, 2013 at 04:15 PM
This livery is a huge disappointment, because it looks like so little effort or thought was put into it. You essentially have an all grey fuselage with no cheat-line or any sort of color added. The billboard titles are not too bad, but the new logo seems like it was borrowed from Air France. I suppose you can make out an Eagle in there.
The tail is absolutely awful and cartoonish. It looks as if a fifth grader designed it, or it was cribbed from Colgan Air. Other carriers have incorporated their national flag into their tail design, see British Airways, and done so tastefully.
Speaking of lacking detail, note that the aa.com is not even on the winglets now, in fact, there is no design or flourish whatsoever on the outer winglets.
This new livery, sadly, merges banality with a jarring mess resembling the U.S. flag on the tail. What a complete disappointment.
Posted by: Greg | January 17, 2013 at 04:23 PM
American is following the well-worn path of other now-defunct companies who, when in financial trouble due to poor service, try to window-dress their way out of their problems. Rather than spending millions of dollars on implementing a new brand, why not negotiate in good faith with the pilots and flight attendants so they're happy, open more ticket lanes, hire more baggage handlers and, most importantly for customer service, improve on-time reliability by hiring more maintenance workers (instead of laying off 800 maintenance personnel at three facilities and closing their Alliance service hangar) so seats don't come unbolted and flights aren't grounded.
This is the beginning of the end for the once-proud American Airlines. Sound the deAAth knell.
Posted by: Greg | January 17, 2013 at 04:31 PM
As a frustrated AA flyer, I would rather they just spray paint their name on their planes and get me to my destination on time.
Posted by: Greg | January 17, 2013 at 04:37 PM
I think it looks great. Welcome to the 21st Century AA
Posted by: LindyR | January 17, 2013 at 04:52 PM
You are a bunch of losers. WHO CARES
Posted by: t dog | January 17, 2013 at 06:56 PM
New brand, new look, same old AA service and attitude.
Posted by: Tom Jones | January 17, 2013 at 07:06 PM
Kinda like polishing a turd, isn't it?
Posted by: Tom Jones | January 17, 2013 at 07:08 PM
did Ronald McDonald paint this plane?or was it Horton,s kids.wow they can.t even get that right.what an ugly paint scheme!
Posted by: whitey | January 17, 2013 at 10:34 PM
AA's management since Bob Crandall left has been, well, let's be nice and just say 'lackluster.' The new livery alone will change little, but Mr. Horton had to start somewhere and a new visuals are a good place. I will stay tuned with interest.
Posted by: Kendall Furlong | January 18, 2013 at 06:38 AM
11 red and white stripes on the tail? Symbolic of Chapter 11.
7 Blue stripes, indicative of Chapter 7.
That's why Horton had the smirk at the end of the latest advertising video hinting of American's "future".
He's played you all very well and now he wants to rub the memberships faces in it.
Do you hear me, Keith Wilson and Neil Roghair?
Posted by: Concerned Family Member | January 18, 2013 at 09:43 AM
It's amazing that every change that AA makes draws out so many people's inner "bitter Betty" and "bitter Bob." It was time for AA to refresh its livery and a smart move to do so with so many new planes coming down the pike. If they hadn't, these same folks would be complaining about how tired and antiquated AA planes look.
Posted by: casual observer | January 18, 2013 at 12:27 PM
hey casual observer. colors don't mean a thing. but when you color up the service and attitudes with better pay for the employees and better service to the consumer, then we have a livery.
Posted by: whitey | January 18, 2013 at 09:43 PM