I flew through Denver yesterday and was able to see with my own eyes for the first time a couple of United Airlines aircraft painted in the new colors. I’m not talking about Continental airplanes pulled into the shop, stripped of the Continental name and repainted in the UNITED font, but rather genuine United registered aircraft having gone through the “transition.â€

As I noted here during my trip up to the United Airlines Friends & Family Day at the San Francisco Maintenance Center, I’m actually a fan of the Continental globe/bingo cage/colors, so I was genuinely happy to see these airplanes. (Side note to United’s management, however: Please find some way to incorporate the tulip into the new identity. Perhaps an eventual rollout of a new livery, a watermark in the new frequent flyer program’s membership card, etc.)

Here are United’s birds featuring the NEW United Airlines identity. An Airbus A320-232 built in 1994, C/N (construction number) 489, United’s plane N420UA; and a Boeing 757-222 built in 1989, C/N 24624, United’s plane N503UA.