So, Southwest apparently has a new livery

And I am finding it awfully hard to care even a tiny bit. The company is expected to announce the new livery formally at an event on Monday but photos started to leak on Saturday night suggesting that it looks a little bit like this:

https://twitter.com/PlaneBusiness/status/508429575307923456/

And, as expected, there are plenty of comments out in the first few hours of it being online suggesting that it generally sucks. That’s usually the response where there is change to a livery. And this one certainly doesn’t get me excited in any particular manner. But I also don’t really think I can be bothered to hate on it, either. I don’t love the font but that is pretty much the only bit I seem to have an opinion on.

Yes, it looks a bit similar to the Ethiopian livery with the colors up the tail. Or maybe Sri Lankan Airlines. I’ve even seen a couple comparisons to Walmart, though I’m guessing that’s a font thing.

And I still just don’t care. Mostly I’m just trying to figure out why the carrier felt a need to make the change and make it now. There are some suggestions that the old scheme fades too quickly in the sun. Maybe this is a different sort of paint but the colors are relatively close so I’m not so sure that it will wear any better on that front. And, beyond that, there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot going on in terms of branding here. The company isn’t changing in any way which is readily apparent and the demand for a new livery seems weak at best.

I’m more in the same camp as Doug Parker who noted that, “I have always believed [liveries] are not particularly important to the success of an airline.”

I just don’t get it. Maybe I’m just too grumpy today.