A few months back, we broke the news that Southwest was retiring their last Boeing 737-700 in the original ‘classic’ livery. At the time, Southwest shared the news that they also had plans to paint a new Boeing 737-MAX8 in the ‘classic’ scheme to replace the retiring jet. Thanks to spotter Chris Edwards, we have first photos of the forthcoming special livery jet.
Livery Harkens Back To Southwest’s First Paint Scheme
The classic colors refer to Southwest’s original paint scheme. The 1970s era Boeing 737-200 jets featured the garish ‘mustard yellow’ paint scheme. This scheme became synonymous with Southwest’s quick turns, low fares, and open seating policy that become commonplace across the desert southwestern United States. (Note: If you are looking for a great breakdown of Southwest Airlines history, check out our profile we did on the fascinating early days of the pioneering airline by Avgeekery contributor David H. Stringer.)
Southwest later modified their colors to a more toned down but still distinctive desert brown before eventually refreshing their livery in 2001 to the Canyon Blue scheme.
As Southwest introduced the then new Canyon Blue scheme, they promised to keep three jets in the original scheme. Over time, that promise slipped to two aircraft named after its CEO and founder Herb Kelleher and its President-emeritus Colleen Barrett. Then over the past year, both remaining Boeing 737-700s were retired.
Previous Southwest schemes to appear on two new MAX jets
Southwest has plans to paint a single Boeing 737-MAX8 in the ‘classic’ scheme dedicated to Herb Kelleher. Southwest will also introduce another Boeing 737-MAX8 in the ‘Canyon Blue’ scheme dedicated to Colleen Barrett at a later date. We expect the official unveiling of the ‘classic’ jet should happen sometime around the end of the year.
For dedicated Southwest livery fans, an early look at this jet show that it retains the golden finish verses the more original brown paint that over 300 aircraft once wore. The jet does not look like the passenger windows will have a white outline like the original classic scheme but will instead mirror the previous special livery on the Boeing 737-700s where the white outline was deleted. There is no word yet whether this jet will feature any special nose art dedicated to Herb Kelleher. Also, we’ll be waiting to see if Southwest includes the heart decal that was so prominent on their jets back in the late 1990s. We’ll keep our eyes out for more information and keep you updated.
