When Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) unveiled its new paint job (called “livery” in the airline industry) on September 8 this year, photos of the new design had already been posted two days earlier at several websites. The new livery for Frontier Airlines, due to be displayed for the first time on September 9, also made its Web debut on September 6.

The photos of the new Southwest livery were posted by a Dallas-based travel agent who apparently has good contacts in the airlines industry. The first photo of the new Frontier livery came from a group called PHXSpotters, an enthusiast group in Phoenix that first spotted the new design parked on the tarmac at a Phoenix airport.

These aviation photographers are among a larger group of enthusiasts called “avgeeks” and, unlike their more famous paparazzi counterparts who chase celebrity photos, the airline and aircraft industries have begun to welcome the attention.

The avgeek phenomenon got its start as amateur photographers tried to get photos of Boeing Co.’s (NYSE: BA) 787 Dreamliner while the plane was still in development and more or less under wraps. The photos can be sold to enthusiast publications and websites, but most avgeeks apparently do this because they enjoy it.

Boeing now sponsors an annual Aviation Geek Fest. Bloomberg reported that tickets for this year’s celebration sold out in three minutes. The big attraction: getting to wander around in Boeing’s Everett, Wash., factory, the largest building by volume in the world. Woo-hoo.

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