Image credit: American Airlines

American Airlines today unveiled a new design scheme for its fleet. The new logo and livery are the first fleet-wide update in 40 years.

The nation's third-largest airline is in merger talks with US Airways. Should the airlines merge, the new airline will be called American Airlines, so there won't be a need to repaint to match US Airways. If the airlines do merge, the new airline will be the world's largest.

In an email to customers, CEO Tom Horton said, "Our changes on the outside reflect how we're evolving on the inside. Our new logo and the refreshed exterior of our planes represent more than a change of symbol, but a symbol of change in our path to modernize and innovate. "

The new design keeps the aluminum color scheme on most of the fuselage, but the tail is painted red, white and blue in a modernistic American flag motif.

"Our new logo and livery are designed to reflect the passion for progress and the soaring spirit, which is uniquely American," said Virasb Vahidi, American's Chief Commercial Officer, said in a news release. "Our core colors - red, white and blue - have been updated to reflect a more vibrant and welcoming spirit. The new tail, with stripes flying proudly, is a bold reflection of American's origin and name. And our new flight symbol, an updated eagle, incorporates the many icons that people have come to associate with American, including the 'A' and the star."

AMR Corp., the parent company of American Airlines and American Eagle, has been operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since Nov. 2011. But this week, American announced a profit for the fourth quarter of 2012. It was the first economic bright spot for American in years.

This year, American will take delivery of nearly 60 new aircraft, including the new Boeing 777-300ER, which will start flying at the end of this month.