Why do airlines actually change their painting (e.g. United; from grey-black to white-blue)?

Question

I mean, this all just costs a lot... Nothing else...

Answer 1

Why do women change their hair color? It's all about image my man. All about image.

Answer 2

some airlines change their color logo etc. ,i think they do it for their special colors like qantas,all nipon airways united airlines,southpacific airways,etc. if you want to know how they paint it, just go to www.a380delivery.com to watch the panting etc of a380 cause they do it for the same to other airlines.

Answer 3

As Nina said Market Strategy is the main driver.  They want a livery that's distinctive and pleasing to the eye.  It's not a move they take lightly because it is expensive (though not millions/plane) and the plane is out of service during the painting.  Only planes in the ari generate income.

Normally paint protects a surface from weathering and corrosion.  With aircraft there's the added concern of weight and drag and their affect on performance and fuel economy.  ALL previous paint is removed.  You would be amazed at how much paint weighs on a commercial liner.

I found a good discussion for you that also includes fabric aircraft.  http://www.swaviator.com/html/issueam01/...

Answer 4

It's part of their marketing stategy - your right though this cost the company millions of dollars to paint each aircraft!!

Answer 5

Why do men hide gray hair and do the comb-over thing?  Or wear speedos to show off their big beer gut and chest hair?

Because it looks better.  Or so they think :)

I would love to see some retro paint jobs, not just the occasional plane, the whole fleet.  But I'm all alone in that or it would have already been done!

Answer 6

Because one of the strongest forces on earth is marketing! You are right, it costs a lot to paint a commercial airliner. You would not believe what it costs to paint a company's whole fleet. It does not make the aircraft more efficient, or make it ride better or make the food that is no longer served taste better.

It is a perception that a good paint job enhances the passenger's ride. More marketing!

I used to work for United. From 1963 to 1984 I saw at least four differenet paint jobs. The company painted 300+ aircraft four times, that is 1200 paint jobs, at over a million dollars per paint job. That is also a billion dollars more than the company made in profit!

Delta is in the middle of a repainting job, and if they merge with Northwest, those will have to be repainted also.

Maybe we should buy stock in paint manufactures rather than in airlines.

Regards,

Dan

Answer 7

For branding purposes. They want consumers to see that they're "cool, hip, in with the in-crowd, etc." That's the only reason why- to target the new generation.