The new Star Wars themed Alaska Airlines Boeing 737, registration N538AS
I might as well get this out of the way right at the start: I am a Trekkie. I have tried to love Star Wars and I can appreciate it for what it is. But I have just never been able to get into it and I know not too much about the franchise (spoiler alert: I think Darth Vader is Luke’s father and Luke is Princess Layla’s sister which caused some family awkwardness all around).
However… when you put a nice looking Star Wars livery on a 737, I can sway my sci fi space nerd alliances for one morning. This week (on what was appropriately May 4th), Alaska Airlines unveiled their newest special Disney livery.
Live long and prosper! It is a positive saying, no matter what universe you are in.
It has an eye catching black background with many Star Wars-themed designs and a beautiful green Millennium Falcon “emblazoned” onto the tail. And this isn’t your rattle can paint job. It took 228 gallons of paint, 540 work hours, and over 27 days to complete.
This is the seventh Disney-themed aircraft for the airline; this one celebrates Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. The aircraft’s official name is “Star Wars Transport to the Disneyland Resort,” but you can just call her “SWTttDR” for short.
Northern Pacific’s fresh livery on it’s first 757-200 at the recent rollout event in San Bernardino, Calif.
AvGeeks loooooove liveries. An interesting livery is one of the main reasons we go planespotting – we head to the airport to see either a particular type of aircraft, or to see that aircraft wearing a special or unusual livery.
A lot of time, effort, deliberation, and money go into designing those liveries, both the special ones and the mainline designs. A new multi-part series takes a look at how those liveries are designed. Last time, we looked at Icelandair’s branding and livery refresh. Today, we’ll take a look at Northern Pacific Airways‘ mainline livery.
Edmond Huot, Northern Pacific Airways’ chief creative officer and airline designer, explained that “We were given a clean slate to design the livery, the collateral, and the name. I was given a lot of latitude, for sure, and that is the exception to the rule as projects typically come with a framework and the client might be more hands on.”
For the name of the new airline, Huot said he wanted a name that “had an inherent story to it, and I didn’t want a trendy name.”
“Northern was the first name we came up with, but the legal team came back and said we can’t do northern,” so the name eventually morphed into Northern Pacific Airways.
“The stress for me, in the world of airline design, is that you only get one or two kicks at the can, so I already knew up front we had to nail it – I did a lot of research into the factors that would influence the brand – people, regions, etc.
Naming projects are usually very tricky, and that’s when the pressure started. We actually came up with the idea on a plane flying back from a meeting with a different client.”
He continued that “The idea was to come up with a name that wasn’t typical of a LCC (low-cost carrier).”
Brussels Airlines – Belgium’s flag carrier and part of the Lufthansa group – was forced to shut down operations completely during the first wave of the pandemic last year. Since reopening they’ve been gradually ramping services up again. And to keep the momentum going they recently revealed a complete livery redesign.
The old
The new
It’s a spin on the Eurowhite look that’s been increasingly popular around the world: a white background without solid colors or cheatlines on the fuselage. There’s no more dotted “B” on the tail either, but dots still make an appearance on the tail and the front of the fuselage. The nine orange dots in a 3×3 grid (the new core logo) are all different sizes, representing the diversity of the airline’s crew and customers.
I think the colors are the strongest part of the new design. The gorgeous deep blue text goes nicely with the red on the tail. The new fonts are an improvement too. But all those dots? I think they work better on the longer A330 (see the lower-right pic above). But on the A320 they cover more of the fuselage, and the plane ends up looking like it has technicolor chicken pox. Your overall opinion of the livery likely depends on your attitude towards the Eurowhite look. But compared with the dated prior livery, it’s definitely a change for the better. Another clear win is that white paint is lighter and reflects more heat, which offers a degree of environmental benefit.
Comment below to let us know what you think of the new look, livery enthusiasts!
It has been too long since I have done an AvGeek Pop Quiz. If you are new to these, you are in for a treat! Or in for a lot of frustration. I am going to show you a cropped photo and you have to guess the airline and/or aircraft type. This time I am doing it a bit different. I will show you nine thumbnails below, you make your guesses, and when you are ready, keep scrolling to the bottom of the story and I give you the answers. Then in the comments, let me know how you did (or which ones were the most difficult/easiest)! Here we go:
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Think you know enough? Ready to see the answers? Keep on reading…
Way back in April 2010, I had this crazy idea to put snippets of airliner pictures out there, asking you to guess the livery. Then I got a bit more creative with showing different parts, angles, designs etc. Then I totally just stopped. I am not fully sure why. Maybe because I was getting jealous that many of you knew liveries way better than I did, or the fact that this setup actually takes quite a bit longer to get published as a story than one might think. No matter the reason… IT’S BACK!!!
Take a good look at the photos below and see below to learn how the game works. Hey, if you guess enough, maybe I will mail you a few sweet AirlineReporter stickers!
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Rules are easy. In the comments, list the airline AND/OR aircraft type for each photo. Some are easy. Some might be nearly impossible. If you only know a few, that is okay, leave your answers in the comments. The big thing is no cheating, such as Google image search or looking at other people’s comments before you make your guess (often people are wrong anyhow).
Don’t feel bad if you only know a few (or even one). I think if I wasn’t the one making this, I would get half at best (okay, maybe only 25%). Then next week, I will share the full photos and see who won! And by win, if you had fun, I will send you some stickers! Good luck!
