Southwest Air’s Paint Guru Keeps 750 Airplanes Looking Sharp
Photo Credit: Corey Culbertson is Southwest's senior manager of airframe field services and handles the airline's airplane painting schedule. Southwest Airlines / Stephen M. Keller
Skift Take
Peeling paint is a fact of life at an airline. But most carriers try their best to keep aircraft looking sharp. They view an airplane's livery as free advertising. That's why jobs like Corey Culbertson's are so important.
Before Corey Culbertson boards a Southwest Airlines airplane, he stops at the boarding door to look at the blue, red, and orange heart logo to his right, checking whether it's as shiny and crisp as the day it left the paint shop.
Next, as he takes his window seat near the wing, he scrutinizes the aircraft's engines to see if they've retained their blue sheen and ensure they're not scuffed or weathered. If he doesn't like something, he writes down the aircraft's registration number and follows up in the office.
"I don't announce what I am doing," he said. "I try to look nonchalant when I'm doing it. I just want to make sure our fleet looks good."
Culbertson has one of the more niche jobs at an airline. He's senior manager of airframe field services, and among other tasks, he is Southwest's paint guru, in charge of scheduling Southwest's roughly 750 airplanes for repainting.
Usually airplanes get a full exterior makeover once every eight years, but if something's not looking
