WestJet's new look and 787 preview

[Maverick]

I like it!

[Guest]

15 minutes ago, Maverick said:

I like it!

Is "The Spirit of Canada" the aircraft name or is it what all new long range aircraft will show? I like the paint job. Who will be doing the catering?

[Maverick]

I don't know either answer Malcolm. 

Details are a little thin at this point. 

[Guest]

Thanks Maverick: I got lucky and found the following:

Quote

 

AIRCRAFT LIVERY AND LOGO
The updated logo and livery was overseen by Ove Brand Design. Boeing and Teague, a Seattle-based design firm, implemented the design on the aircraft.

The font has been updated to Bliss, give the WestJet wordmark a more uniform and current style, while retaining the Maple Leaf symbol in a more contemporary and bold look. The logo also now uses a single colour to soften the regional emphasis on "west."

In addition to the updated stylized Maple Leaf on the aircraft tail, another nod to WestJet's heritage is in the form of the Canadian flag appearing at the front of the aircraft. The new livery will also marry both of Canada's official languages with, "The Spirit of Canada" appearing on one side of the aircraft and the French translation, "L'esprit du Canada" on the other, both extending across the middle of the aircraft fuselage.

The livery will gradually appear across WestJet's entire fleet as new aircraft are delivered in 2018 and as aircraft are repainted in their normal cycle. The Boeing 737 MAX-8 will be the first aircraft in the new livery appearing in June.

This summer, WestJet's growing fleet will operate an average of 777 daily flights to 90 destinations. The airline recently announced its first foray to the European mainland with daily direct flights between Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ) and Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) in Paris starting May 31.

 

News Releases

WestJet unveils its Dreamliner 'Spirit of Canada' to the world

Inspiration behind new livery, interior elements and logo revealed

CALGARY, May 8, 2018 /CNW/ - WestJet today unveiled its new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner livery, logo and cabin interior including the airline's first-ever business class cabin. The reveal is part of WestJet's lead-up to the arrival of its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners in early 2019.  

Details, including images, video and an immersive 360-degree experience of each cabin, are available on the WestJet Dreamliner Hub. A Facebook Live of the reveal event can also be seen here.

"The introduction of Boeing's 787-9 Dreamliner, a state-of-the-art aircraft, is the dawn of a new era for WestJet and the next step in our transformation to a global network airline," said Ed Sims, WestJet President and CEO. "The updated livery is modern and dynamic while the interior is world-class, distinctly Canadian and uniquely WestJet. Both reflect WestJet's transition from a regional airline in 1996 to a new era of connecting Canada with the world and bringing the world to Canada."

WestJet has firm orders of 10 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft and options for another 10, all of which will feature the new livery, logo and interior.

THREE-CLASS CABIN
The WestJet Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner features a three-class cabin including business class seating, premium economy and economy seating. The design was created by PriestmanGoode, a design consultancy firm located in London, England, specializing in transportation and travel branding. 

Drawing from Canadian themes, the cabin interior welcomes guests with a rich colour palette: a soothing alpine lake blue in Economy class; aurora‑inspired shades and tones in Premium Economy; and in Business Class, luxuriously rich earth tones inspired by the splendour of Canadian summers.

Business Class will feature touchscreen service and on-demand dining that allows the traveller to define exactly how they like to fly. When it's time to relax and fully unwind, lay-flat mattresses, bedding and turn-down service will offer WestJet guests the opportunity to enjoy a tranquil flight.

Premium Economy will offer comfort enhancements and service with an elevated guest experience. WestJet will also offer a premium menu, a self-serve social area, and more space to move and relax.

In Economy, guests will discover oversized, self-dimming windows, and leading-edge in-flight entertainment and connectivity with in-seat device charging.

AIRCRAFT LIVERY AND LOGO
The updated logo and livery was overseen by Ove Brand Design. Boeing and Teague, a Seattle-based design firm, implemented the design on the aircraft.

The font has been updated to Bliss, give the WestJet wordmark a more uniform and current style, while retaining the Maple Leaf symbol in a more contemporary and bold look. The logo also now uses a single colour to soften the regional emphasis on "west."

In addition to the updated stylized Maple Leaf on the aircraft tail, another nod to WestJet's heritage is in the form of the Canadian flag appearing at the front of the aircraft. The new livery will also marry both of Canada's official languages with, "The Spirit of Canada" appearing on one side of the aircraft and the French translation, "L'esprit du Canada" on the other, both extending across the middle of the aircraft fuselage.

The livery will gradually appear across WestJet's entire fleet as new aircraft are delivered in 2018 and as aircraft are repainted in their normal cycle. The Boeing 737 MAX-8 will be the first aircraft in the new livery appearing in June.

This summer, WestJet's growing fleet will operate an average of 777 daily flights to 90 destinations. The airline recently announced its first foray to the European mainland with daily direct flights between Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ) and Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) in Paris starting May 31.

ADDITIONAL QUOTES
Louis Saint-Cyr, Vice-President Guest Experience, WestJet 
"Throughout the aircraft cabin, the interior design takes inspiration from iconic Canadian landscapes. Our guests' inflight comfort is enhanced by the uncompromising quality of the interior finish and custom details. Both WestJet and our guests are on their way to bigger things, but as only WestJet can, we will make the journey as enjoyable as the destination."

Richard Bartrem, Vice-President Marketing Communications, WestJet 
"WestJet is a proudly Canadian, modern, and innovative airline. With our distinctly Canadian guest experience delivered by our more than 13,000 WestJetters, we are truly bringing the Spirit of Canada to the world. We are an international airline with headquarters and roots in Western Canada, yet we will never forget where we started in 1996."

Michel Viau, President and CEO, Ove 
"This updated design retains the WestJet wordmark, but in a more modern font and with a more refined feel. Although WestJet is an airline based in Western Canada, it is an international carrier, which is the reasoning behind using a single colour across the full WestJet wordmark. This is the most Canadian airline and it's now truly reflected in the new look and logo."

Ben Rowan, Director PriestmanGoode and Design Lead
"We set out to create a design tour of Canada on-board WestJet's new fleet of Boeing Dreamliners, taking inspiration from the country's stunning landscapes. From the luxurious, rich, earthy tones of the Canadian summer that has inspired Business Class, to the aurora inspired Premium Economy, and the fresh, invigorating tones of an Alpine lake in Economy, this new interior scheme will provide an enhanced and complete passenger experience that is uniquely WestJet. We believe this new in-cabin design will ensure WestJet can compete confidently in new markets."

[Super 80]

Love the tail, hate the typeface. Spirit of Canada is an shameless rip-off of Spirit of Australia.

[Guest]

21 minutes ago, Super 80 said:

Love the tail, hate the typeface. Spirit of Canada is an shameless rip-off of Spirit of Australia.

I see that WestJet has applied to trademark both the French and the English version.

https://www.ic.gc.ca/app/opic-cipo/trdmrks/srch/viewTrademark?id=1889596&lang=eng&tab=reg

 

https://www.ic.gc.ca/app/opic-cipo/trdmrks/srch/viewTrademark?id=1889597&lang=eng&tab=reg

 

 

 

 Descriptive Reference

Name

L'ESPRIT DU CANADA

Type

Word Mark

Category

Trade-mark

 Descriptive Reference

Name

THE SPIRIT OF CANADA

Type

Word Mark

Category

Trade-mark

[FA@AC]

Nice livery.

[dagger]

41 minutes ago, Super 80 said:

Love the tail, hate the typeface. Spirit of Canada is an shameless rip-off of Spirit of Australia.

Ha, I'm the opposite. Love the typeface, hate the tail (as I do Rouge's tail), never liked the logo. Ever

[DEFCON]

I wonder why they feature the business cabin with such a lousy load factor?

[AAS]

1 hour ago, Super 80 said:

Love the tail, hate the typeface. Spirit of Canada is an shameless rip-off of Spirit of Australia.

Or Spirit of St. Louis.

[Fido]

Just like BC Ferries

[blues deville]

45 minutes ago, DEFCON said:

I wonder why they feature the business cabin with such a lousy load factor?

I think to fully compete with AC they must offer a business class on this new fleet and maybe others going forward. 

[Geminoid]

Nothing was said in the video, so I'm assuming economy class still does not get food unless they pay for it.

[Kip Powick]

 

 

Speaking of Livery

Years ago when I was stationed in the USA we flew the CV580 (Military Cosmo) out of Colorado Springs  and were all over North and South America. Our Flight Engineer was excellent but a bit of a "crusty" old fella and every once in awhile he would come up with a good line.

We were at Montgomery Alabama on some type of a mission and were being handled by civilian contractors. One old fellow wandered around the Cosmo and met up with our Flight Engineer as he was buttoning up the starboard engine. The civilian Contractor was looking up at the aft part of the fuselage and said to the Flight Engineer,  "What does ' Forces Armees' mean in that round logo on your airplane?"

Our Flight Engineer responded, rather quickly, "It means "Door on other side".

 

[CanadaEH]

Business, Plus, and Economy on 787

Plus and economy on 767

Plus (2x2) and economy on 737 

 

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, CanadaEH said:

Business, Plus, and Economy on 787

Plus and economy on 767

Plus (2x2) and economy on 737 

 

Certainly sounds like WestJet is trying to become a traditional airline. I wonder why though. The original model made money and likely would have continued to do so.  

[FA@AC]

4 minutes ago, Malcolm said:

Certainly sounds like WestJet is trying to become a traditional airline. I wonder why though. The original model made money and likely would have continued to do so.  

Network carriers seem to have figured out how to compete effectively with carriers like Southwest and WestJet (before it changed so much).  

A former poster here was always crowing about how WestJet's new strategies would see it carrying a few additional guests on each flight, and that the few extra seats sold would be "pure gravy" or something like that.  He ridiculed any suggestion that the added complexity might not end up being of benefit to WestJet's bottom line.  The market so far seems to disagree with him.  

[internet]

Hate the whole thing.  Old tail was simple. This is some graphic software over-designed mess of a bunch of different directions.  

Not sure who in Marketing is so paranoid that no one will know it’s a Canadian airline.  Give me a break. How many more small ridiculous nods to “we are Canadian. We are Canadian” can they try to incorporate in that mess.

[MD2]

Looks great both inside and outside, I like both!

That's their future and where the focus should be!

[blues deville]

Not sure why they changed their Westjet lettering. It was original. Now it has to be updated on so many things and places. 

[CanadaEH]

2 hours ago, Malcolm said:

Certainly sounds like WestJet is trying to become a traditional airline. I wonder why though. The original model made money and likely would have continued to do so.  

One can make the same argument for Air Canada; why change? Mostly because it had to. Competition, changing markets, consumer expectations, mismanagement, etc. are others. I don't have a problem with WJ's strategy but it's more difficult to execute in a short period of time. It's easier to add rows to planes, charge for amenities that used to be free, and tack on a bunch of ancillary fees. 

[CanadaEH]

2 hours ago, FA@AC said:

Network carriers seem to have figured out how to compete effectively with carriers like Southwest and WestJet (before it changed so much).  

A former poster here was always crowing about how WestJet's new strategies would see it carrying a few additional guests on each flight, and that the few extra seats sold would be "pure gravy" or something like that.  He ridiculed any suggestion that the added complexity might not end up being of benefit to WestJet's bottom line.  The market so far seems to disagree with him.  

That person wasn't necessarily wrong. The execution was. 

[CanadaEH]

1 hour ago, internet said:

Hate the whole thing.  Old tail was simple. This is some graphic software over-designed mess of a bunch of different directions.  

Not sure who in Marketing is so paranoid that no one will know it’s a Canadian airline.  Give me a break. How many more small ridiculous nods to “we are Canadian. We are Canadian” can they try to incorporate in that mess.

I'm sure they didn't do any market research, focus groups, surveys, etc.......

[boestar]

Spirit of ... has been used on hundreds of aircraft, boats, trains etc over the years.  It is far from a new thing and far from original.

 

[Vsplat]

My own opinion, the addition of the 'The' to "spirit of Canada" is likely what is trying to be trademarked here.

No issue if someone wants to name their vessel 'sprit of x'. As has been noted, it's been done many times and is often a nod to a scenic destination or significant heritage.   But the addition of that one little word (the) changes it from honoring a place to an arrogant statement - i.e the spirit of Canada resides nowhere else.  I don't think anyone, or any institution, can claim this or should try to simply to sell tickets.  BTW I would hold this view regardless of whose aircraft it was.  I still have PTSD from the Celine experiment.

But, as I said, just an opinion.

Vs