TRUE COLORS

AS THE NEW YEAR KICKS OFF, football season goes into high gear with a host of bowl games, including the Insight Bowl on December 31, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on January 2, and the best-known bowl of them all, Super Bowl XLII, on February 3 — all happening right on US Airways’ home turf: Phoenix, Arizona (a.k.a. the Valley of the Sun).

As the Valley of the Sun’s hometown airline, with service from more nonstop destinations to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport than any other carrier, we know many customers are choosing US Airways to take them to and from the game of their choice. We’re proud to welcome bowl-game visitors to Arizona, and we’re sure they’ll enjoy game day and the rest of their visit here in our beautiful state.

Like many US Airways customers and employees, I’m a big fan of football. In fact, you could say US Airways has taken football fever to new heights by painting planes in the colors of NFL teams from key US Airways cities.

We’ve painted four of our 112-seat Airbus A319 aircraft in team colors for the Arizona Cardinals, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Carolina Panthers. By painting a plane, we create a flying billboard to promote these teams around the country and to show our support for these teams. The aircraft are put into regular service, which means you’ll see them flying throughout the U.S., Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Perhaps you’re flying with us on one of these specially painted aircraft right now.

Painting an airplane, as you can probably imagine, is a big deal and involves a lot of hard work and expense. Here are a couple of facts I’d like to share with you about it:

• US Airways paints aircraft in three locations: Roswell, New Mexico; New Iberia, Louisiana; and Miami, Florida.
• Typically, over 60 gallons of paint are required to paint an aircraft.
• The entire process, on average, requires a plane to be out of service for eight to nine days.
• It takes about 72 hours for the paint to dry.
• Aircraft require repainting every six to seven years, depending on how the coat is maintained and polished.
• The paint schemes of US Airways’ Eagles, Steelers, and Panthers planes were designed in-house by US Airways’ creative services team, managed by Rusty Falk, with the input and approval of the NFL.

From all of us at US Airways, thank you for flying with us today. And best wishes for a safe, happy, and healthy New Year.

Doug Parker
Chairman and CEO
US Airways

Book your travel to over 230 destinations in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Caribbean, and Latin America with US Airways at usairways.com.