AirTran Goes For The Touchdown With New NFL Affiliations

August 27, 2009 at 9:09 AM | by Omri | 0 Comments

If Southwest is secretly dreaming of swiping the Atlanta market from AirTran—and they are—they're going to have to do it without the help of the hometown Atlanta Falcons. The NFL franchise just sealed a partnership with AirTran that's expected to go several years and will include joint advertising and promotions.

AirTran already has partnerships with individual Falcon players. Under the new deal, that arrangement expands to the entire organization, with the usual flood of mutual branding to follow. On the airline's side, expect to see a Falcons-themed Boeing 717 and advertising featuring Falcon athletes in full uniform. For their part, the franchise will be erecting "prominent signage at the Georgia Dome."

This isn't the first time AirTran's partnered with an NFL franchise. The airline is already affiliated with both the Baltimore Ravens and the Indianapolis Colts. Not coincidentally, Baltimore is one of AirTran's secondary hubs and they recently opened a series of nonstops to Indianapolis. NFL partnerships seem to be the promotional strategy for the low-cost carrier.

While there's no word yet on whether AirTran will be able to wire up the Georgia Dome with wifi the way they've done their entire fleet, crack Jaunted.com industry analysts think that will probably have to take a back seat to plastering Atlanta with ginormous billboards. Priorities, priorities.

[Photo: James Willamor]

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