#newAmerican and What It Means for the Merger With US Airways

As you most likely know American Airlines unveiled their new look last week what was lost in the shuffle was a bit of merger talk in the opening video from Tom Horton, Chairman and CEO of American Airlines.

As Horton is introducing the new features that will be introduced through all of AA's aircraft, including a new livery, logo, full lie-flat seats and in-flight entertainment at every seat he also made a few hints to the future of the airline.


"As we complete our evaluation on if a merger could build our strengths," says Horton, "We remain steadfast in each step we take on our journey to modernize our airline."

He later continues

"We know there are still decisions that need to be made about our future, but today marks our next step to modernize..."

I really found these admissions interesting as back in July American's leadership was doing everything they could to brush off talk of a merger with U.S. Airways. But over the last few months I have heard more and more talk of the merger moving towards an announcement. In fact, last week when I was visiting the U.S. Airways Club in Phoenix the couple in front of me checking-in asked the agent at the desk if she thought they would merge and she responded that the rumors they were hearing was that it would be going through and that it was only a matter of time before the announcement was made. Now, I don't know how scientific that is, but it's an interesting thing to hear from the staff on the ground.

But the other interesting thing to ponder if the merger were to happen is what the new airline would really look like.

With a new fleet, the newest in the industry as they always like to mention, coming on line over the next few years, a new livery and a new logo I believe that they will be pushing to bring the U.S. Airways brand under their wing (no pun intended) instead of the other way around.

This would open the door to American staying in the oneworld alliance and avoiding a fight with the Star Alliance of having both American and United in the same alliance. It would also open up great routes for oneworld and bring even more offerings for U.S. Airways customers.

The question for the frequent flyers of both airlines is what the new loyalty program will look like and what benefits they will include that each group loves about their program.

What do you think? What does a merger between AA and US Airways mean for you as a frequent flyer? Are you dreading it...looking forward to it?

American Airlines Announces New Look at 10:00 AM ET

Over the past few months American Airlines has been doing an amazing job teasing out their new livery, including on a video in December that showed a sheet being pulled off an aircraft tail (video via AAdvantageGeek) that has whipped AA fans into a frenzy. Now it looks like their long wait for an updated logo is over. Multiple news outlets are reporting that AA will announce their new look at a 10:00 am ET press conference.

A report from The Dallas Morning News says that it will not be on the new 777-300ER, as was expected. Instead it will be on a 737-800 that was pulled out of service at the beginning of the year.

If you want to watch the announcement live, AA has provided a link to the video feed here. 


UPDATE: It appears that a user on Twitter might have been able to discover the new logo on AA's website they are using for the announcement today. User @Gatsby posted this image that comes from the AA site of the new logo. What do you think?

UPDATE 2: The Points Guy has a picture of the full livery up and I have to agree with him...it totally looks like the old red, white and blue ice pops. But the other important part is that it looks like the body is still the general "tin can" color so they are mixing a little bit of the old with a little bit of the new!

Picture via The Points Guy

UPDATE 3: The leaks are confirmed! That's the new logo and livery for AA. You can see the full design and though on their website and also take a look at the new commercial that is going to be running to announce the change to the public. I'll try and embed the video when I can find it online.



UPDATE 4: Here is a link to the new commercial featuring the new livery.