Will Choose Between 'Legacy' And 'Flag' Versions For The Merged Airlines

Saying he wants all employees to have a voice in the identity of the New American Airlines, CEO Doug Parker sent an open letter to the company asking them to choose the airline's new livery.

In the letter posted on Parker's company blog, the CEO said it would not be possible to continue with the buffed silver look American has used for years because it is not compatible with the material used to construct Airbus airplanes. He also said that composite airplanes such as the Boeing Dreamliner and the Airbus A350 cannot be converted to the traditional shiny metallic look.

"A second constraint is cost," he wrote. "One of the great things about the buffed silver livery was its cost efficiency – no paint meant less weight. And we want to continue that tradition. However you may feel about the new livery and branding, the fact is it would be irresponsible for us to start over from scratch. There are currently more than 200 aircraft in the new livery and the new flight symbol or, “eagle” as it’s sometimes called, and the related signage is up in many airports and facilities already. One of our five imperatives at American is, “Provide a Return for our Investors” and we can’t do that by spending their capital redoing a lot of work that has just been recently accomplished."

So the airline has proposed the two designs depicted here. The top image shows the "Flag" option, while the lower picture is the "AA" choice.

Employees have until January 2 to make their preference known.

(Image provided by American Airlines)

FMI: www.aa.com/newamerican