As an American Airlines Frequent Flyer, I have to chime in regarding the new paint job American has unveiled.  It’s new, fresh, modern and patriotic.  Unfortunately and as unlikely as it seems, it has created a controversy on social media, by those who refuse to accept change. There have been many comments regarding American changing the only thing positive about the airline.  I disagree.  The classic American Airlines logo of red, white and blue stripes covering brushed aluminum was the symbol of American since 1967 and reminds us of the golden age of flight.  But that doesn’t mean American shouldn’t try to update and modernize its image .  Parent company AMR had been bleeding money and was forced into bankruptcy.  What better way to emerge than with a new, fresh look?  A much larger issue is that American was recently voted at the bottom of the list of airlines in terms of customer satisfaction.  The change of the logo is American’s declaration that they are moving upward and onward and isn’t that a good thing?  However, there are still major issues at the airline that need to be addressed.  Dennis Tajer of the Allied Pilots Association said, “A new paint job is fine but it does not fix American’s network deficiencies and toxic culture, so we continue our steadfast support of a merger with US Airways and not doubling down on the network strategy that brought us into bankruptcy. Tajer continued, “American’s network needs more than cosmetic changes to compete with Delta and United, simply put, it needs to merge with US Airways now.”  Tajer makes an important point and the merger talks with US Airways are continuing.  But even as talks continue the service must improve.  If it doesn’t, then people should hit the social media circuit and complain about the cosmetic changes.  I am looking forward to seeing improvements in the overall operations as promised, because in the end, that’s the only thing that truly matters.