Midwest Airlines - Livery

Livery

At the beginning of Midwest's life, they flew only DC-9s of the -10 and -30 series. The aircraft livery of these planes were painted in a dark blue on the upper half, and white on the lower half. The two were separated by two white, a blue, and a red cheatline, which ran up the trailing edge of the tail. The engines were white, and on the tail was a bold 'M' and a script 'E', representing Midwest Express, and the way the titles were printed. This scheme can still be found on one Beech 1900D of Midwest Connect, without the 'M E' on the tail.

In the early 1990s, the airline started to add DC-9-80, more commonly known as the MD-80 or "Super 80", aircraft to their fleet, initially in the same livery. In the mid-1990s they changed the paint scheme. The top half of the aircraft remained blue, but the bottom half was repainted grey, along with the engines, and they were now separated by a gold, white, and red cheatline. The tail logo also took minor changes, adding a circle around the lettering and a gold, white, and red stripe from the circle to the leading edge of the tail. Despite the unchanged lettering on the tail, the titles on the fuselage were changed to all bold letters, rather than the script "Express" titles.

In 2003, Midwest Express Airlines began to create a new identity, as the first Boeing 717's were being delivered, and the DC-9 aircraft were being retired. They started with chopping the "Express" out of their name (and thus, off the fuselage), and they designed a new logo which would help point them out as a representative of Milwaukee. The result was a logo that looks much like a wing, with a small 'M' inside of it. However, if the logo is turned on its side, it bears a resemblance to the Milwaukee Art Museum, designed by Santiago Calatrava, which was being constructed at the same time. The Art Museum has risen out as an icon of Milwaukee, and so the new Midwest Airlines felt this would be a good representation. Along with this new identity came a new livery. The bottom of the aircraft remained grey, while the top were repainted in a lighter, deeper blue, with essentially the same gold, white, and red cheatlines separating the two. On the lower half, there was also a blue swoop, starting at the front (looking much like another stripe), getting larger as it goes back, until it covers the whole tail section. The engines on these planes were painted in the same blue color, with 4 gold rings on the port engine, and 3 on the starboard. This was meant to represent the ranking of Captain and First Officer, along with where they sit. Only 3 MD-80 aircraft, registered N813ME, N822ME, and N823ME ever wore the full new livery; all other MD-80s had a sort of hybrid livery, combining the lighter blue, light gray engines/belly and stripes of the old Midwest Express livery with the current logo and titling of Midwest Airlines.