American Airlines’ #NewAmerican revamp: Are we patriotic enough yet?

After 45 years of untouched changes, American Airlines has revealed a well deserved new design that boasts patriotism and lots of added tech on board. Is the upgrade too little too late?

American Airlines has unveiled a new look to its entire brand and is calling it #NewAmerican. You know, because the old American reminded us too much of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Okay, not really, but I can’t help but think of that every time I type aa.com into my browser window. With the new American Airlines logo, no longer will you see the generic Helvetica double A’s but instead, an actual “Flight Symbol” logo with a minimalistic font to accompany it. Along with the visual changes (which AA hasn’t touched since 1968), the company is also aiming to pump up its tech specs on-board, including electrical outlets and Wi-Fi availability on “nearly all U.S. flights” starting in early 2013.

New planes will also be outfitted with television screens to offer in-flight movies, shows, music, and games so you don’t have to stare out of the window through the entire flight. The move toward connectivity is obviously a money maker for AA since we’re all so increasingly addicted to the Web, and we’re surprised it took them this long to update its in-flight entertainment. Other airlines such as Virgin America and JetBlue have been offering free satellite television on their flights for years.

Not only will passengers enjoy new tech on upgraded AA planes, flight attendants will also receive new gear with which to work. Instead of waiting to hear flight information at the airport, AA flight attendants will be given Galaxy Note’s so they’ll have access to your connecting gate information, flight status, and loyalty information so they can creep and say hi to you by name even before you introduce yourself (but why would you?). Meanwhile, pilots will be rocking iPads in their cockpits to reduce paper waste. If all this doesn’t scream American thanks to increased use of technology and varied instances of red, white, and blue, then you’re probably better off flying Delta. Traitor.

How much this will change, enhance, or worsen the typical American Airlines flight experience is beyond us, but one could only hope updates are always for the better. Now if you’ll only do something about those first checked baggage fee. Pretty please?