Today saw Hawaiian Airlines bring their latest livery and logo to the skies emblazened on a freshly-painted Boeing 717. The new livery has been painstakingly refreshed to bring the carrier’s Aloha spirit forward into the 21st century.

Pualani (Flower of the Sky), the beloved icon of Hawaiian’s brand for more than four decades “continues to gaze forward on the tail of the aircraft; beneath her, a silver maile lei with woven pakalana flowers wraps around the fuselage in a larger-than-life expression of the aloha spirit,” states the press release.

“Our new livery embodies a stronger, more contemporary representation of Hawaiian Airlines’ culture of service and hospitality, which is the bedrock of our guest experience,” said president and CEO Mark Dunkerley, who unveiled the new brand design at Honolulu International Airport during a special employee event on Lei Day, a statewide annual celebration of Hawaiian culture. “It acknowledges our place as Hawaii’s airline and underscores the commitment our employees make every day to provide our guests with a gracious and genuine island welcome.”

We are thrilled to see Pualani remain, and there is little reason for us to expect her to go. It symbolises Hawaii and the airline perfectly. In fact, most people probably won’t see a great difference – the major difference being in the addition of a silver lei now wrapping around the fuselage.

Hawaiian worked with Lippincott, a global creative consultancy, on the new identity. Hawaiian’s brand team and Lippincott spent a year studying the airline’s history, working with a committee of front-line employees, and immersing themselves in Hawaiian culture to arrive at the new design.

The new logo, which we can’t help feel that it looks a little bit like the waze app icon (speech bubble), has been carefully considered, and is clean and will be easy to apply to a range of different touch points. It is supported by a slightly more aggressive typeface, with the ‘A’s of Hawaiian featuring a cut out wedge. This perhaps reflects both ‘direction’ and its traditional roots, but we did prefer, the warmer, friendlier rounded typeface the previous incarnation had. There was a retro warmth that actually reflects Hawaii’s nature – anyone who has travelled through O’ahu International Airport will be able to recognise that.

“So much of our visual identity, which is 15 years old, still resonated deeply with our guests and employees,” said Avi Mannis, senior vice president of marketing for Hawaiian. “Our aim was to retain the essence of our brand and arrive at a bolder, truer expression of our unique Hawaiian hospitality.” Painting of all aircraft and ground service equipment is scheduled to be complete by 2020.

This is a welcome refresh, and should be seen as the airline wanting to keep true to its roots, rather than a full redesign.