Five Things Star Wars Geeks Love About United’s The Rise of Skywalker Plane

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When at the airport, one thing that always gets passengers excites is seeing a plane with a different paint job. Southwest has planes painted to celebrate many of the states where they fly. JetBlue has planes painted for major Boston sports teams like the Celtics, Bruins and Red Sox.

The more technical term for the exterior design of the plane is the livery.

An aircraft livery is a set of comprehensive insignia comprising color, graphic, and typographical identifiers which operators (airlines, governments, air forces and occasionally private and corporate owners) apply to their aircraft.

So the basic UNITED on the side of the plane and the globe tail design is part of the standard livery. Special liveries are a way to distinguish one plane from the rest of the fleet. It could be to commemorate a special event with the airline, designate an aircraft offering differentiated service (like the Hello Kitty planes), or, more frequently, they are being used as a co-brand marketing tool.

The Rise of Skywalker plane

United has partnered with Lucasfilm/Disney to create a special plane celebrating the release of the final film of the Star Wars saga, The Rise of Skywalker.

1. The Livery

Star Wars fans have to admit the livery of this plane looks really cool. The most striking element is the lightsaber graphic on the tail, but when looking at up-close pictures, there’s a ton of detail.

2. The Interior

While planes often get fancy paint jobs, they don’t often get any changes to the interior of the plane. Not this plane. You’ll either have to sit on the side of the First Order or sit with your friends in the Resistance.

3. Amenity Kits

To make this flight even more unique, United is handing our amenity kits to passengers. I’ve heard these were given to passengers in business class and premium economy, so it’s unclear if everyone on the plane will get one.

4. Boarding Music

OK, this is admittedly a small one, but apparently, they play the Star Wars theme as the music when boarding the plane. I wonder if they can do a study to see if this helps people board the plane faster?

5. Flight Tracking

I did geek out about this when I saw someone mention it on Facebook. I’ve already written about how United has partnered with FlightAware to show the Star Wars plane as an X-Wing Fighter on the map. You can follow it around the world at https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N36272.

Pity they only release the schedule two days out so it’s almost impossible to plan a trip to fly on the plane.

Final Thoughts

The amount of fun you’ll have on the United Star Wars plane will depend on how much of a fan you are. For many passengers, it will just be another flight. I imagine if you boarded the plane and saw this as your flight crew, there’d be a different reaction.

I don’t know about you, but I think the one in front is a little short for a Stormtrooper 🙂

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary