There is no missing Spirit’s new bold yellow livery – Photo: Spirit Airlines
It seems that every airline in the US is in the process in getting a new livery. We had Southwest and Frontier last week and this week we have probably the most bold of a change with Spirit Airlines. Not to mention the horrid look of the new China Eastern livery spotted at Paine Field.
If you thought the new Southwest livery was bold and radical, it has nothing on this taxi-like black and yellow design of the new Spirit look. You should have no problem spotting these Airbus aircraft from a distance.
Notice the “Bare Fare” on the engine nacel – Photo: Spirit Airlines
The first aircraft, in new livery, started services today from Atlantic City (ACY) to Fort Lauderdale (FLL). The airline plans to introduce six more aircraft in the new livery over the next few months. Any new planes delivered will sport the yellow livery, but the rest of the fleet will be updated during their regularly scheduled painting timeframe.
’œThis new livery perfectly matches Spirit Airlines,’ said Ben Baldanza, Spirit’s President and CEO. ’œIt’s radically different from other airlines, and it’s fun, just like we are. When you see this plane in the air ’“ or on the ground – there will be no question that this is a Spirit plane.’
The airline is really hoping to market their rock-bottom fares with the ability to only pay for what you need. They have a whole section of their website dedicated to educating passengers how to fly them and how their fees work.
The look might remind one of a taxi cab — maybe something Spirit wants – Photo: Spirit Airlines
Many passenger have been critical of Spirit and all their fees, but as our JL Johnson recently found out, if you are smart in how you book Spirit, you can have a successful and cheap flight. Since JL is a fan of the airline, I wondered what his thoughts were on the new livery.
“I like it! The new livery will serve the brand well and aligns the paint on the planes with their newly revamped website and overall marketing scheme,” Johnson explained. “Not long ago Spirit launched the new “bare fare” branding in an attempt to educate customers on their unbundled model as well as reduce complaints. When an airline repaints their planes to mirror their marketing it sends a clear message that that they are committed to it. All positives, in my book. Plus, I’m always a fan for throwing away boring Eurowhite liveries in favor of anything else.”
The current Spirit livery will take a while to be replaced with the new yellow one – Photo: Bernie Leighton | AirlineReporter
So what do I think? Man, I feel like I am on a “livery overload” already. My first reaction is, “what, really? That is a taxi-cab livery… who would do that?” Then I remember this is Spirit Airlines. Known for their crazy antics, low fares, and tons of fees — the airline where anything can happen. If Spirit wants to come off as a low-cost carrier that says, “look at me, I want attention,” I think that they hit their mark.
BONUS: The Five Stages of Flying an Ultra Low Cost Carrier (Epic Comic Style)
What do you think? If this the right move for Spirit Airlines?
Yo, taxi!
I wish we had a “like” function on our comments 🙂
David
Me, too, DPB, ’cause I’d “like” Bob M’s for sure! “Cheap but fits the airline” hits the nail on the head!
This ” new ” paint scheme reminds me of those of Northeast 721,722 and D93 ” Yellowbirds ” and Hughes Airwest Banana D93s. They were circa 1970s to 80s. Delta later acquired Northeast. Anyone else old enough to remember them? Yellow is certainly more attractive than BORING white!
I think the Northeast “yellowbirds” at least did their livery with a little class…
David
I would love to know how this is so different to all the other Airlines its not as if this livery took much thought. I know its better than white but really is this the best they could come up with? Looks like school bus with out the red flashing stop lights.
Now United needs to change theirs, and Delta adds more color the world would be right.
Terrible but functional. Looks cheap but it fits the airline. Southwest is the current winner of the best new airline liveries.
I had to check the date of the story, thought this was an April Fools joke for a second. This is certainly one way to make your brand recognizable.
Honestly, when I first got wind of this, I thought it was a joke. Spirit does do some silly things to get attention.
Took a while and an official statement from the airline before I finally felt it was true…
David
I think it looks like Hertz Carsharing….
[img]http://www.weather2travel.com/images_blog/hertz-courtesy-shuttle.jpg[/img]
Hideous. Simply hideous. And the yellow “scratches” in the lettering make it look like a giant used a huge piece of steel wool on the sides of those poor Airbusses.
Here’s an airline that wants to look like a rental car shuttle or taxicab. Here’s an airline I’ll likely never fly.
I love it! I think Spirit’s new brand is really cool and it looks pretty bold on their planes. The white livery is pretty generic, and the silver one just looks dated. The bold yellow is going to really pop, and the scratches are another unique feature.
I actually saw it in person today at FLL. It actually looks similar to the Sprint branding with the yellow with black lettering. I saw the rebranding a few weeks ago at the HQ building in Miramar. I wonder if anyone thought about that when they came up with the colors and the similarity with the spelling with Sprint.
You aren’t alone in making that connection. Taking it a bit further, the livery was designed by a Kansas City Based marketing firm who has also been advising Spirit on their Bare Fare re-brand and related marketing. Until Sprint was bought out by a Japanese firm it too was a KC (suburb) based company. Likely just a coincidence but worthy of note.
It may look like a Taxi but I can tell you that our flights out of KTPA are overbooked or are all most full.
Many passenger are commenting at the ticket counter and gate, how much they love Spirit Airlines for the “Ultra Low Fare” and now understand what they can travel with to get the very lowest cost.
LOOKS GREAT YOU KEEP GOING NK
I waiting to see when someone’s going to call it “The Flying Banana”. Or maybe I just did! 🙂
When a banana gets a little ripe it turns to two colors: Yellow & Black.