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American Airlines has a new throwback centennial look

Edward Russell
Edward Russell
Contributor
Edward Russell is a contributor for TPG. An AvGeek at heart, he covered the airline business at FlightGlobal for eight years and previously covered finance in New York and Hong Kong.
Oct. 25, 2025
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4 min read
251015-Flagship-livery-render
American Airlines has a new throwback centennial look
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Centennial airline liveries are coming in hot and fast.

American Airlines is the latest to unveil its 100th-year scheme, joining Delta Air Lines and Lufthansa. The Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier will repaint a Boeing 777-300ER (its largest plane) in heritage livery that throws back to its first Douglas DC-3.

 

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The heritage look, which debuts in November, features an aluminum silver fuselage with a red lightning bolt-like cheatline and American's iconic "AA" eagle logo toward the rear. "American Airlines" will appear in a small sans-serif font under the first section of windows, while "Flagship" will appear on the upper half of the fuselage mid-plane.

American traces its first flight back to Robertson Aircraft Corporation, which took to the skies with chief pilot Charles Lindbergh carrying mail between Chicago and St. Louis in April 1926. Parts of Robertson became American Aviation — later American Airlines — in 1934.

The airline's first DC-3, featuring the basis for the centennial heritage look, took to the skies in 1936.

American DC-3
An American Airlines DC-3 at the CR Smith Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. AMERICAN AIRLINES

Delta debuted its own centennial look on an Airbus A321neo in March, with a design tracing its roots back to 1925. And Frankfurt-based Lufthansa will introduce its 100-year look on a Boeing 787-9 in December.

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Lufthansa 100 livery
Lufthansa's centennial livery will debut on a Boeing 787-9 in December. LUFTHANSA

In addition to the centennial look, American plans to begin retrofitting its 777-300ERs with its new premium Flagship Suites business class and premium economy seats in 2026.

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Featured image by AMERICAN AIRLINES
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.