X

Southwest shows that sharks really can fly

In a nod to the 30th anniversary of Shark Week, the airline paints five of its aircraft with shark-themed artwork.

Kent German Former senior managing editor / features
Kent was a senior managing editor at CNET News. A veteran of CNET since 2003, he reviewed the first iPhone and worked in both the London and San Francisco offices. When not working, he's planning his next vacation, walking his dog or watching planes land at the airport (yes, really).
See full bio
Kent German
southwest-shark-week-737

You'll never go into the air again.

 Southwest Airlines

If you thought that flying sharks were limited to the fictional (and hilarious) world of Sharknado, think again. OK, I'm exaggerating, but Southwest Airlines is bringing sharks to the sky on five of its Boeing 737 aircraft.

To commemorate the 30th anniversary Shark Week on Discovery Channel, the airline painted the nose sections of the aircraft with shark-themed artwork. Five different sharks are represented: Great White Shark, Hammerhead Shark, Tiger Shark, Bull Shark and Mako Shark.

flightawre-southwest

That's one helluva flying shark.

 FlightAware

Though Shark Week runs July 22 to 29, the themed airliners will fly Southwest's entire network through Aug. 31. You can track their locations on FlightAware.com, which has replaced the normal green aircraft icons with red sharks. Just look for tail numbers  N470WN, N705SW, N961WN), N553WN and N947WN. (FlightAware's iOS app doesn't appear to support this feature.)

Watch this: Watch Boeing's 737 MAX 7 complete its first test flight

Happy flying to the sharks. Hopefully they don't meet up with Frontier Airlines's own shark-themed plane, "Finn the Tiger Shark." There could be blood in the water.