Tide_from_PAE

Didn't AS get similar feedback when it proposed the mountain livery back in the early 90s? Bonus points if one knows where the Museum of Flight keeps a model with that livery.

Can Tim, Clark, and Lewis return to AS/QX advertising?

Snowdevil

You mean this one?

lg20

If that livery had become reality, I don't think we'd have many people still wanting to hang onto it right now. That certainly looks early 90s to me.

IceTrojan

Alaska has an iconic brand. Screw the East Coast!

Seriously though, I hope that any change is an evolution rather than a revolution. I feel the Alaska wordmark is still relevant, and the Eskimo is recognizable. Sure, the fact that AS is actually based in SEA is a minor detail...

If a name change is to be had... I bet "Northwest Airlines" will surely draw attention.

98103

How about rebranding it as "NOT DELTA"?

ou81two

Do you think that the CEO shares this information with flight attendants? They have a powerful brand that has positive connotations. Companies completely rebranding themselves is pretty rare. It's usually as the result of a merger or when the brand is tarnished like in the case of ValuJet.

ChugiakAk

Ridiculous idea to change a name with such a rich history and a loyal fan base.
What are they teaching in management school now that gives rise to such ideas?

taxicabnumber

Might be a byproduct of the enormous gap between what's "taught" and what the majority of biz school students actually care to learn from management courses...

ou81two

What does management school have to do with anything in regards to what I said? Did you read it?

Students learn what's taught. How did business school come in to this discussion exactly?

ChugiakAk

Sorry but I was commenting on the overall discussion of rebranding and makeovers rather than your specific comment on what CEOs say to employees. I shouldn't have hit the quote for reply. My error.

BearX220

Not totally rare -- United's been through five discrete brands since the '70s. The blue cheatline / red accent Friendship look, the white fuselage / orange stripes / tulip, the Death Star look, the post-BK blown-out tulip look, and now the current hybrid post-merger meatball. After all that it's still pretty tarnished.

Post-Smisek, they're going to have to rebrand yet again to make the public forget about the current debacle. AS doesn't have UA's problems.

jackal

Well, are we all talking about the same thing by "complete rebranding"? Are we talking about ValuJet eliminating the ValuJet name in favor of AirTran, or are we talking about changing the United logo and picking a new color scheme but keeping the same name? Two very different things.

Is Alaska looking to update their livery and logo, or are they looking to shed the Alaska name entirely and pick a new identity that isn't so geographically limited (and thus might lead to some radical new future expansion of their service)?

BearX220

Everything but the name. You are right that it is very rare for a company to change its trade name, and it's usually because the prior name is seen as irretrievably tainted. (ValuJet --> AirTran; Comcast --> Xfinity.)

There's really no need for Alaska Airlines to change its name. If Southwest can fly from MHT to BWI, AS can fly from DCA to LAX. It's more a state of mind than a geographic destination sign.

AS Flyer

If Southwest Airlines were called New Mexico Airlines then they would probably not do as well in certain areas of the country because people would likely not associate their name with, for instance, flying from Baltimore to Manchester. If Delta were called Louisiana Airlines they, too, may have had a harder time becoming one of the largest airlines in the world. Alaska's Airlines indicates a much more specific area than does Southwest or Delta. That said, Alaska suffers from a huge lack of name recognition in states not along the west coast. Most people east of the Mississippi assume that Alaska flies to... Alaska. They don't realize that Alaska has an extensive west coast network and a large number of flights to Hawaii. People in Chicago would not likely think of Alaska Airlines when considering a flight from Chicago to Lihue. But Alaska can take them there. All that said, a name change is not in the works. I wouldn't really be looking for any big changes in the near, to not so near future. Subtle changes, yes. Big changes, no.

Canarsie

Believe it or not, there are people who actually believe that New Mexico is part of Mexico and not the United States; so it stands to reason that New Mexico Airlines would be thought of as a Mexican airline by some people...