Editing Western Airlines (section)

==Advertising==
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Western contributed to popular culture with its 1956 advertising slogan, "It's the oooooonly way to fly!"<ref>https://www.swizzlestickcollectors.com/post/true-confession-my-love-for-wally-bird My Love for Western Airlines Wally Bird</ref> Spoken by Wally Bird,  an animated bird hitching a ride atop the fuselage of a Western airliner, and voiced by veteran actor [[Shepard Menken]], the phrase soon found its way into animated cartoons by [[Warner Bros.]] (''[[Crow's Feat]]'') and [[Hanna-Barbera]]. Another famous advertising campaign by the airline centered on ''[[Star Trek]]'' icons [[William Shatner]] and [[Leonard Nimoy]]. Some of the carrier's last television ads, shortly before the merger with Delta, featured actor/comedian [[Rodney Dangerfield]].

In the 1970s Western called itself "the champagne airline" because champagne was offered free of charge to every passenger over age 21. (Actor [[Jim Backus]] uttered the "It's the only way to fly!" phrase while piloting an airplane, somewhat inebriated, in the [[1963 in film|1963]] film ''[[It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World]]''.)

Western Airlines was famous for its "Flying W" corporate identity and [[aircraft livery]]. Introduced in 1970, the scheme featured a large red "W" that fused into a red [[Aircraft livery#Cheatline|cheatline]] running the length of an all-white fuselage.<ref name=fyoffi>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XHFkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=q30NAAAAIBAJ&pg=2800%2C4154446
|work=Calgary Herald |location=(Alberta) |agency=(advertisement) |title=Fifty years of firsts |date=January 10, 1976 |page=43}}</ref> This new corporate identity was the subject of litigation by [[Winnebago Industries]], which contended the new "Flying W" was too similar to its own stylized "W" logo. In the 1980s Western Airlines slightly modified the scheme by stripping the white fuselage to bare metal, retaining the red "Flying W" (with a dark blue shadow). This color scheme was known as "Bud Lite" due to its resemblance to a popular beer's can design.

Western Airlines was a favorite first class carrier for Hollywood movie stars and frequently featured them in its on board magazine, "Western's World". [[Marilyn Monroe]] and many other silver screen actors were frequent flyers and the airline capitalized on it. Western had a famous flyer out of Seattle: Captain "Red" Dodge. Red worked previously as a helicopter test pilot, and got involved with flying for the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] ([[CIA]]) in his later years when he wasn't flying as captain on the DC-10. The movie ''[[Breakout (1975 film)|Breakout]]'' starring [[Charles Bronson]] was based on his daring airlift of a CIA operative out of the courtyard of a Mexican prison. The Mexican government tried to extradite Dodge back to face charges. Red became wealthy leasing government storage units with unlimited government business but never again flew to Mexico.

The airline was promoted in [[the Carpenters]] promotional video for the track "[[I Need to Be in Love]]", released in 1976. The video shows exterior footage of a DC-10 in takeoff and landing shots, as well as seating promotions for Western's FiftyFair seating product, with shots of a cabin setting depicting what looks like business class of the DC-10.

During the 1980s, destination flights aboard Western Airlines were featured as prizes on televised game shows, including ''[[The Price Is Right (American game show)|The Price Is Right]]'' and ''[[Pyramid (game show)|The $25,000 Pyramid]]''.