Southwest Airlines Celebrates Start of Fifth Year of Service to Hawaii With the Launch of a Special
- Joe Breitfeller
- Apr 30, 2023
- 2 min read
Celebrating the start of their fifth year of service to Hawaii, Southwest Airlines has unveiled Imua One™, a new special liveried Boeing 737-8 MAX honoring team members and the people of the Aloha State they serve.
On Friday (April 28, 2023), Southwest Airlines unveiled ‘Imua One’ a special liveried airplane celebrating the beginning of the carrier’s fifth year of service to Hawaii. The Hawaiian-themed Boeing 737-8 MAX pays tribute to Southwest team members and the people of the Aloha State they serve. Imua One was designed by Oahu-based Osaki Creative Group, in partnership with Kanaka Maoli/Indigenous Artist, Designer and Researcher, Herman Piikea Clark.
The distinctive design features eight elements that represent Hawaiian culture and also align with Southwest values. The livery has stars representing each of the five airports in Hawaii that the airline serves (Honolulu, Kauai, Maui, Kona and Hilo), six paddlers in an outrigger, and six turtles in two groups representing harmony and balance. Emblazoned near the front of the aircraft is a lei, which honors unique islands with their official flowers. In the color scheme, a gradient from blue to yellow represents the evolution from night to day, and honors Hawaiian history of journeying the Pacific using wind, and navigating by the sun, stars and moon.
In Friday’s announcement, Southwest Airlines’ President and Chief Executive Officer, Bob Jordan, said,
“When we dedicate an airplane, it’s not only a symbol of gratitude, but also of a promise we’ve made. Hawaii welcomed Southwest with warm aloha, and we approached serving the people of Hawaii with an earnest desire to connect them with important moments, places, and the people who matter most in their lives. We’ve grown since our first arrival on the Islands four years ago, to 90 departures a day, thanks to the support of Island communities. Each flight is filled with—and powered by—an essence of aloha, combined with the Heart of Southwest and our People, all working together and moving forward.”
Time Lapse Video of the Creation of Southwest's Bespoke 'Imua One' Livery - Courtesy Southwest Airlines
Founded in 1971, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) has distinguished itself by offering exemplary customer service delivered by over 62,000 team members at 121 airports across 11 countries. Southwest offers a robust point-to-point network with a strong presence across leisure and business markets. During peak travel seasons, the airline operates more than 4,000 daily departures to over 100 destinations across the U.S. and 10 additional countries. Southwest also continues to develop tangible steps toward achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, including offering Customers the opportunity to help the airline offset carbon emissions.
Source: Southwest Airlines