Originally Posted by
ConcordeBoy
...all of which is more of a rule than an exception among modern Legacy carriers, excluding perhaps older classics such as AA, AC, SQ, LH, and a very few others.
Ignoring non-US carriers for a second:
- UA has the big "U" on their tails - pretty distinctive and closely tied to their brand.
- AA has "AA" on their tails. Again, pretty closely tied to their brand.
- US has their grey stylized USA flag thing on their tails, which is an integral part of their brand
- NW has their compass thing, which again is integral to their brand and pretty widely-recognized.
- CO has their partial globe on their tail. Again, closely tied to their brand for a long time.
- Southwest has "SOUTHWEST" on their tails. Pretty easily identified.
- Airtran has their lowercase "a" on their tails.
In fact, of all domestic tails, the Delta "colors in motion" is probably the least-closely tied to their brand.
The Delta widget is pretty easily recognizable, triangle-shaped (so it ties to the name of the airline - Delta) and fairly well established.