Southwest will soon bid farewell to the two remaining Boeing 737s in its legacy ‘Canyon Blue’ livery. The third to last aircraft bearing this livery – N762SW – was retired on April 14 at a Birmingham, Ala. storage facility.
The affectionately named ‘Canyon Blue’ design was first unveiled in 2001 as part of a brand shake-up from the 53-year-old airline’s original ‘desert gold’ colors.
In September 2014, the Dallas-based airline pivoted away from the ‘Canyon Blue’ livery on its fleet. The carrier unveiled a new livery, which was first rolled out on a 737-800 named ‘Heart One.’
After unveiling this new paint scheme, Southwest slowly updated its fleet in the new colors. With some of its older 737-700 series aircraft set to be retired, a handful remained in the previous design.
Currently, both N7813P and N786SW remain in the ‘Canyon Blue’ design. According to a Reddit post, these two-decade-old aircraft are set to be retired in October 2024.
Although no 737 MAX 8s were ever originally painted in the ‘Canyon Blue’ design, Southwest recently repainted one with a retro livery, which is registered as N872CB. The carrier also has a retro livery for the ‘desert gold’ design on N871HK.
