Fly the Branded Skies

Flyby Wire:  June 9th, 2013

Welcome to the fourth issue of The Work This Week, a weekly roundup of new advertising, identity, and brand experience work from around the airline industry. This week, the great white north gets a new blue plane, the new American gets new boarding passes, and Norwegian’s flight attendants rock new socks.

Identity

  • Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s airplane took flight in a new red, white, and blue livery this week. Previously the airplane, an A310 derivative called a CC-150 Polaris, had been painted a drab grey colour so it could also be deployed as a military transport. The repainting was apparently ordered despite the objections of the Department of National Defence. Opposition leaders say the new colours too closely resemble those of the ruling Conservative Party. Source: CBC

Design

  • Norwegian Air Shuttle planned to celebrate its first intercontinental route, to New York, with a new plane and a new long-haul uniform. Unfortunately, the new plane, a Boeing 787, hasn’t been delivered yet. So the new uniforms flew on a leased A340 instead, and they’re actually a lot of fun, from the pillbox hats to the party-plaid jackets to the socks inscribed with a whimsical to-do list. Norwegian has posted some pictures, but only in Norwegian, for some reason. Designer: Moods of Norway. Source: Women’s Wear Daily.
  • By the way, according to Karen Walker, editor-in-chief of Air Transport World, the fact that so many airlines have been launching new uniforms recently is just a coincidence. She’s quoted in a New Republic article about “flight attendant outfits and the decline of the uniformed class.”
  • Alaska Airlines has unveiled “Spirit of the Islands,” a 737-800 painted with a design by Hawaiian high school student Aaron Nee. Source: Alaska Airlines
  • American Airlines has introduced a new, prettier, easier-to-use boarding pass. (Disclosure)

Digital

  • A contest for Scoot, the discount carrier owned by Singapore Airlines, went awry after server problems prevented thousands from participating. The contest, called “The World’s Longest Virtual Flight,” was sort of a digital “Hands on a Hard Body”; it required competitors to tap a button on their mobile phones every 60 seconds, with the winner being the person who kept tapping the longest. After 18 hours, Mohammed Firdaus Ismani won $20,000 and free flights for a year on Scoot. But many other contestants complained that they had been dropped prematurely by server issues. Agency: iNEO, Singapore. Source: asiaone

Inflight

  • We’ve known for a while that JetBlue is planning to introduce premium cabins on some of its transcontinental flights. But this week, we found out that not only will it outfit some A321 aircraft with business class, there will be four private mini-suites as well, of the sort usually found only on full-service, long-haul airlines. JetBlue confirmed the reports but did not provide any further details. Source: APEX

Tips?

If you have any tips, e-mail me or tweet them at @brandedskies. See you next week!

Image credits: Department of National Defence, Norwegian Air Shuttle, American Airlines

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