Washington Post: When designing the new look for US Airways, America West executives turned their back on high-salaried Madison Avenue image consultants. Instead, they interviewed employees from both of the merged airlines: flight attendants, pilots, mechanics and executives.
The newly redesigned planes, which make their debut today, aspire to a brighter appearance than US Airways’ current fleet.
The new look is part of a rebranding of Arlington-based US Airways as it heads toward its merger with America West, expected to be completed by the end of September, barring any objections from America West’s shareholders and US Airways’ creditors. America West is spending more than $18 million to paint the 200 planes in the combined airlines’ fleet. It will take 18 months to complete the redesign, which is the first for US Airways since 1997 when it changed its name from USAir.