Northwest Airlines has moved to rebrand itself with a new paint scheme that suggests a simplified and hi-tech look. The scheme, which chief executive Richard Anderson unveiled in an employee newspaper, replaces the red and dark-grey full-length striping and instead presents a silvery grey fuselage.
The design, the first update since 1989, keeps the distinctive bright red vertical-stabiliser tail that has been a Northwest trademark for years, even before the days of the 'Northwest Orient' brand. The largest element of the new design is the legend 'NWA', which dwarves Northwest Airlines as the brand name. Northwest has used NWA to stress its hi-tech features, including its web site, which uses NWA as the key word.
The new scheme will be phased in for the 436-aircraft fleet over the next five years. It will be applied to 27 new jets to be delivered in 2003, including new Boeing 757-300s, and will be applied to as many as 50 older aircraft by the end of the year.
Northwest says that the longer life-cycle and the simplicity of its new scheme should save about 20% in future costs and 5% in application costs.
Source: Airline Business
