Maybe Delta Air Lines should have the special Falcon livery

On Saturday, I blogged about how AirTran is the official airline of the Atlanta Falcons. To celebrate, AirTran made a special livery for the airline. Today, I was interested about the arrangement and did a little research and found that even though they are the official airlines, when traveling, the Falcons fly on Delta Air Lines.

The deal between the Falcons and AirTran allows the airline to put signs up in the Georgia Dome, use of the Falcon players in advertising, and of course the special livery Boeing 717.

The Falcons are not the only ones. The Phoenix Cardinals and US Airways had an arrangement, although the team flew on Northwest Airlines (which is now Delta Air Lines).

Even though this can be mis-leading, it is business. In fact, with AirTran flying only Boeing 737’s and Boeing 717’s, they have no aircraft able to fly a whole NFL team and staff. It just shows that just because an airline is the official carrier of a team, doesn’t mean the team gives their seal of approval. Personally, I don’t consider what sports team is endorsing the airline I fly when booking my travel.