An airline’s livery can be one of its most effective marketing tools. A memorable paint scheme can boost brand recognition, helping fuel the airline’s growth. But sometimes airlines deviate from their established look to wrap certain aircraft in different liveries.
These special liveries might promote a partnership, pay tribute to a carrier’s past or call attention to special causes. Other common themes include retro paint jobs, sports franchises, employee appreciation and hometown pride.
Southwest airlines, Harry Reid International Airport’s busiest carrier, is known for painting and naming its jets to honor the states it serves. Its fleet includes a robust collection of aircraft featuring depictions of states’ official flags, such as the Texas-themed Lone Star One, California One and Nevada One.
“We do special livery paint jobs, or decals, for a variety of reasons at Southwest Airlines,” says Bill Tierney, vice president, marketing. “For celebration or commemoration, we’ll do them for awards and recognition, and we’ll do them for promotional partnerships.”
The most recent addition to Southwest’s specialty aircraft program is Freedom One, created in 2021 to celebrate the carrier’s 50th anniversary.
“I think our most recent plane, ‘Freedom One,’ represents what Southwest Airlines is about, which is giving people the freedom to travel,” Tierney said.
To appeal to local sport fans, Allegiant Air has introduced special designs of its own. In 2019, Las Vegas’ hometown airline celebrated the city’s NHL team, the Vegas Golden Knights. And in 2021, the carrier rolled out a sleek Silver & Black Airbus A319 in honor of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders and its Raider Nation fan base.
In addition to Allegiant’s and Southwest’s specialty aircraft, there’s no shortage of interesting, colorful airplane liveries rolling down the runways at LAS. American honors its past with a series of retro planes, while Alaska, WestJet and United promote entertainment with Disney and Star Wars themed liveries. Delta Air Lines’ “Thank You” plane is another example of an airline celebrating its workforce. And Israel’s El Al even debuted a Las Vegas-branded Dreamliner for its first-ever flight to LAS.
