Southwest Airlines emphasizes how it cares about its employees yet it chose to ignore the legacy of AirTran in designing Southwest's new "Heart" livery. It wouldn't have taken much to include AirTran, and it would have meant a lot.
InterContinental-owned Holiday Inn isn't ever likely to start an airline of its own, but it is great to see the possibilities of a hospitality brand in the largest sense of that phrase.
The new American Airlines logo will be hated by everybody for its sleekness, and the new typography for its blandness. But that's how it goes with any big design change, especially an iconic high profile one as AA.
American’s merger may be more pressing news that its redesign, but change the iconic look too much and the airline risks becoming all but recognizable from the company it’s been for the past 80+ years.