Flying in a Fancy Plane Thursday, September 17, 2009

On Tuesday, I was at the Oakland airport ... and as typical, I was looking out the window, waiting for my plane to arrive at the gate. I was in for a real treat!

Instead of the usual beige Southwest 737 plane .... a really special airplane came up - the Illinois One - a plane painted with a rendition of the eagle from the Illinois state flag to honor that state.

Southwest Airlines unveiled this plane in April of 2008 to celebrate its relationship with Chicago and the State of Illinois since its first flight from Chicago Midway in 1985.

From the Southwest press release on April 14, 2008, "The newest aircraft in the Southwest Airlines fleet is truly a work of labor and art, requiring 26 people at the Boeing Company working three shifts over the course of six days to paint. Over 93 gallons of paint and 10 different colors make up Illinois One. "

"Illinois One joins twelve other 737s in Southwest's fleet that carry a unique paint scheme: Arizona One, California One, Lone Star One (Texas), Nevada One, New Mexico One, Maryland One, three Shamu aircraft (SeaWorld), Silver One (celebrating Southwest's 25th anniversary), Triple Crown One (recognizing Southwest's top rankings for ontime performance, baggage handling, and Customer satisfaction), and Slam Dunk One (tribute to the {SW}-NBA partnership)."

Here's a link to a 2 minute video showing the assembly, painting, and unveiling of the craft: video

Interestingly, Southwest also took delivery of Boeing's

5,000th

737 airplane in Renton, Washington in February 2006.

Guinness World Records has acknowledged the 737 as the most-produced large commercial jet airplane in aviation history.