Alaska Airlines’ Iconic ‘Flying Salmon’ Paint Scheme Plane Getting Made Over

Alaska Airlines has traditionally delivered the first shipment of Copper River salmon to its home base in Seattle. And at least one plane paid homage to the state’s salmon culture. But that Boeing 737 paint scheme will be getting a makeover. Here’s more from the Alaska Beacon via KTOO:

That will be Flight 65, the daily Southeast Alaska “milk run” that travels from Seattle to Anchorage with stops in Ketchikan, Petersburg, Wrangell and Juneau along the way.

The salmon-painted plane has been an iconic part of the Alaska Airlines fleet since 2005, when the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute — a public corporation — funded the repainting of an aircraft as part of a promotional campaign for Alaska salmon.

The aircraft was repainted with a new salmon design six years later, with the airline fronting the cost.

Photojournalist Brandon Farris of Airways Magazine first reported that Salmon Thirty Salmon would be erased, citing a post on an internal company website that said the “world’s largest flying fish” will be missed. The yet-to-be-announced replacement will be a new way “to honor the culture and history of our namesake state and our connection to communities across the West Coast.”