DALLAS — Shirley and David Daniels have always been proud of their son Eric.
As a senior graphic designer working for Southwest Airlines, they’ve seen him achieve “some pretty cool accomplishments,” said Shirley Daniels. “In 2017, he designed the artwork that covered a plane as a promotion for Pixar/Disney’s 2017 'Coco' movie.”
His dad added that they couldn't be prouder of him.
Eric Daniels has designed for the Dallas-based airline for the last 11 and a half years. When he told his parents his design was chosen for a new plane named Freedom One, created to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary, they had yet another reason to be proud.
“He’s always excelled in everything he does. We’re proud, but not surprised,” said David Daniels.
Eric Daniels' patriotic design features the 50 stars and 13 stripes from the American flag, and is the first Boeing 737-800 to join the airline’s custom-designed paint schemes.
“Freedom is the essence of our country, and giving America the freedom to fly is the essence of our company,” said Southwest Chairman and CEO Gary Kelly at an employee celebration in Houston on June 18. “With 50 stars on the flag and 50 years of LUV, we dedicate our anniversary to freedom.”
Later that day, the plane would depart from the employee event in Houston for Dallas Love Field with Eric on board. Waiting for him in Dallas were the Daniels along with Eric's wife Alexis, his daughter Charlotte, and some of his in-laws. They were surprised when, while waiting inside the terminal 10 minutes before Freedom One landed, members of Southwest’s communications/media relations team handed them bright orange safety vests and invited them to wait for the plane from the very spot it would be parked.
As they waited outside, the Daniels were all smiles, getting emotional with pride at the special treatment they were given. Shirley and David hadn’t seen Eric, Alexis and their granddaughter in more than six months, and had no idea this is what he meant when he said he’d meet them at the airport.
When Eric stepped off the plane and swiftly made it over to his family waiting down below, Alexis got the first, hug followed by Shirley.
“I’m so proud of you! It’s beautiful,” she said, as she gave her son a big hug.
Eric said out of all of the projects he’s completed for the airline, this one means the most to him.
“Both my grandfathers were veterans, and they were always so proud of me becoming a designer at Southwest,” said Eric Daniels. “They’re not here with us anymore, but to be able to do this and to represent them was just an honor.”
He first started drafting designs for Freedom One before the pandemic halted the project. The design called for each of the 50 stars to measure 39x40 inches, which is approximately the same size as the Southwest heart that is on the belly of each Southwest plane.
“I got started in 2019 and then because of COVID, there were some delays,” said Eric Daniels. “I feel it was the perfect storm to launch it on our 50th anniversary and just very fortunate to be a part of it.”
Erics’s boss, Ryan Green, who’s the senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Southwest, said Eric's design is kind of a big deal because the past decals Eric has designed only stay on for less than a year, but this timeless paint-job will be a part of the Southwest fleet for a long time.
“We looked at probably 10 different designs and different variations of the designs, and we refined it as we went along, but his was the clear winner from the very beginning,” said Green. He believes Eric’s patriotic design is a perfect representation of what the airline stands for: getting Americans in the sky.
“When we started 50 years ago, 85% of Americans had not flown. It just wasn’t affordable,” said Green. “Today, after Southwest has expanded across the country, only 15% of Americans have never flown.”
Seeing their son’s work valued and appreciated by his superiors is something the Daniels said they’ll never forget.
“I can’t wait to see what he’ll do next,” said David Daniels.
A timelapse video posted on Southwest’s YouTube page shows more than 87,000 still images taken during Freedom One’s painting process by the Southwest Creative Studio Team. It took a crew of 8-10 people 14 days to paint the airplane. The job took more than 60 gallons of paint and primer to cover Freedom One which features 15 different paint colors.
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