Southwest Unveils Fleet of Shark Week Planes

Image: Southwest launches a Shark Week fleet in celebration of the Discovery Channel’s 30th anniversary of the televised event. (Courtesy of Southwest Airlines)

by Donald Wood
Last updated: 11:45 AM ET, Tue July 10, 2018

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Discovery Channel's Shark Week programming, Southwest Airlines unveiled five aircraft Monday with each featuring custom artwork of a different species of shark.

The planes featuring Great White Shark and Hammerhead Shark livery launched from Southwest's home base of Dallas Love Field, while the Tiger Shark aircraft launched from Chicago, the Bull Shark aircraft launched from Houston and the Mako Shark aircraft launched from Phoenix Sky Harbor.

Each of the aircraft will fly throughout the Southwest network until August 31.

"Entering our fifth consecutive year of partnership with the Discovery Channel, we are thrilled to celebrate Shark Week's 30th anniversary in an even bigger way by launching an entire fleet of Shark Week aircraft and premiering a Shark Week episode onboard our flights, letting our customers have the first view of Shark Week content," Southwest director of external communications Brandy King said in a statement.

"Each year, our customers and employees share our Shark Week enthusiasm and look forward to joining the fun with our airport and onboard activations," King continued.

Passengers flying with Southwest will be able to enjoy Discovery Channel content via the Onboard Entertainment Portal's custom Shark Week TV series channel, including past episodes and all new showings of the 2018 edition of the series.

To celebrate the partnership, Southwest launched the Dare to Dive sweepstakes from July 1 through July 31. The winner and a guest will earn a five-day, all-inclusive Great White Shark cage diving trip to Guadalupe Island, Mexico.

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