Plan to change Colorado Flight for Life helicopters’ color has many seeing red

It seems innocuous at first blush: CommonSpirit Health, which took over Colorado’s Centura Health in 2023, last week announced plans to change the color of its six Flight for Life helicopters from orange to purple.

“We have been intentional about applying CommonSpirit’s colors in a way that makes our aircraft easily visible to other pilots and quickly recognizable from the ground,” reads a statement from the magenta-branded CommonSpirit, which is based in Chicago. “While orange is an easily noticeable color, there are times, specifically at sunrise and sunset, when an orange helicopter may not be as visible in the sky as our new color gradient.”

CommonSpirit, which operates 20 hospitals and more than 260 clinics in Colorado, Kansas and Utah, called it “a refreshed brand identity.” Changing its emergency vehicle livery, including ambulances and planes, will “enhance our recognition, strengthen our visual presence, and ensure that we continue to communicate the exceptional quality of care that Flight for Life provides.”

A vocal chorus of Flight for Life fans say this is much more than a simple rebranding. The announcement March 17 on Facebook harvested hundreds of comments opposing the shift from orange to purple.

Think of the things CommonSpirit could spend money on besides painting helicopters and ambulances a new color, says Dave Repsher.  

“Like medical equipment and training and safety upgrades to helicopters or crew quarters at bases,” says Repsher, a ski patroller turned fight nurse who was severely burned in 2015 when his Flight for Life helicopter crashed in Frisco, killing pilot Patrick Mahany. 

Karen Mahany was a flight nurse for Flight For Life in Colorado from 1998 to 2005, where she met her husband, Patrick. Following the fiery 2015 crash, the Repshers and Mahany have been tireless advocates for helicopter safety. They pushed for federal legislation in 2018 that requires crash-resistant fuel systems in helicopters manufactured after April 2020.  

That legislation changed regulations that allowed older helicopters to fly in the U.S. without modern-day safety upgrades. The trio remain vigilant in advocating for mandatory energy-absorbing upgrades to the structure and seating of helicopters.

“What killed my husband was not the fire that burned Dave. The main reason my husband died was blunt force trauma. Flight for Life still does not have higher-standard crashworthy structure, seating or restraining systems,” Karen Mahany said. “For them to be spending, by my estimate, at least $1 million to change the paint without putting in new safety seating and structure improvements or even buying new helicopters, it is reprehensible. This is nothing more than a vanity project. I do not see how it makes patients and crew any safer.”

Flight for Life began in 1972 with one helicopter based out of St. Anthony Central Hospital. That helicopter was orange. It was the first civilian, hospital-based helicopter program in the country and its helicopters now fly patients across nine states. Locals in mountain towns know to say a quick prayer when the bright Flight For Life ship thumps across the sky, knowing someone is having a very bad day. Bad, but blessed at the same time.

“From a first responder’s side, when you called that helicopter and you saw it coming in you knew you were getting good help and care for your patient,” Repsher says. “We were all happy to serve our communities and it meant a lot for us to be up there representing those colors. We were part of a long, proud tradition.”

When you see the orange Flight for Life aircraft, you don’t see a brand, says Chris Carr, who worked as a flight nurse for the company out of its Frisco base for nine years before leaving in 2020. 

“It’s a symbol that someone, on their worst day, is getting the highest level of care they can receive,” Carr says. “Now though, you will look up and see pink and purple and think ‘That is definitely a brand’ and an extension of a corporation. Which people generally seem to feel negatively about when it comes to health care. I don’t understand it. It’s like Coke changing from red to purple.”

The statement from the company does not mention the cost of color change but notes that no philanthropic funds are paying for the rebranding. The company says “generous benefactors” have supported new equipment and training for Flight for Life crews. 

“We recognize the significance of this visual change to a service that has been a part of our communities for more than 50 years,” reads the CommonSpirit statement. “While we have heard from many who are supportive and excited, we appreciate that there is a range of strong feelings. However, no change will impact our commitment to saving lives when minutes truly matter.”

CommonSpirit saying the livery color change is about safety irks Amanda Repsher.

“What have they done to invest in safety features and training for the crews? How does this promote safety at all? For them to say this is about safety is very offensive,” says Amanda Repsher, who travels the country with her husband, attending aviation conventions urging the industry to better embrace helicopter safety. “This is very personal for us. We are constantly being told that safety costs a lot of money and all the sudden you have this money and you are putting it into paint?”  

The opponents of the Flight for Life color shift are not really expecting CommonSpirit to change course. 

“I’ve made peace with the fact they are not going to listen to us,” Mahany says. “But at least we raised the red flag to say you are not doing right by your crew or your patients.”