Southwest debuts first repainted AirTran plane

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines on Friday debuted its first AirTran plane repainted in Southwest colors.

The plane is also outfitted with an all-coach Southwest seating layout. The milestone marks the beginning of the end of AirTran's business class seating and assigned seats. Southwest is converting AirTran flights over to Southwest service as it gradually repaints and reconfigures interiors of AirTran planes, so AirTran service will remain for a couple of years during the transition process.

The Boeing 737-700 now emerged after eight weeks of work in the Seattle area in Southwest colors of blue, gold red and orange .