Same as it ever was. Icelandair's new livery

[jensdad]

I've said it on here before... Why are virtually all airlines these days trying to look exactly like each other?

[SpringHeeledJack]

All lining up to be absorbed by the NWO Air Corporation in the not so distant future ;-) I agree, most of the liveries seem to be looking somewhat similar in general. No doubt cheaper and easier to keep looking nice.

[c52]

Haven't airlines always mostly tried to look like one another?

When I was very small, all silver.

Then along came a white top with a cheatline, just BOAC & TWA having unconventional cheatlines.

Then the cheatline got swept up to end at the top of the fin.

Then the white top spread downwards and the lower part of the fuselage was coloured - or the other way round.

Massive overgeneralisations I have no doubt, but there such a thing as fashion, and if an airline says, we want to be fashionable, then their design consultants will offer something like every other fashionable airline.

[jensdad]

Originally Posted by SpringHeeledJack

I agree, most of the liveries seem to be looking somewhat similar in general.

It honestly is as if they're making a conscious effort.
Had a little bit too much spare time this evening, and have counted 20 European flag carriers that have all-white fuselages. Even the small flourishes and additional titles seem to be going the distance. It's as if that little bit of blue on Croatian's belly was just a bit too daring for the marketing folks. And was Iberia's 'Lineas Aereas de Espana' not global enough?
Off for a lie down

EDIT: I get what you're saying, c52. Air France's all-white was classy when it first appeared, then it gradually became the norm. At least cheat lines had the advantage of being available in different colours!

[atr-drivr]

Don’t care what they paint them as long as my kid is back flying them....

[ATNotts]

Originally Posted by c52

Haven't airlines always mostly tried to look like one another?

When I was very small, all silver.

Then along came a white top with a cheatline, just BOAC & TWA having unconventional cheatlines.

Then the cheatline got swept up to end at the top of the fin.

Then the white top spread downwards and the lower part of the fuselage was coloured - or the other way round.

Massive overgeneralisations I have no doubt, but there such a thing as fashion, and if an airline says, we want to be fashionable, then their design consultants will offer something like every other fashionable airline.

Two words; "Marketing Consultants"!!

[treadigraph]

I remember the disbelieving silence from those of us in the audience when Carillion's name and logo was revealed to us by the marketing consultants as the company separated itself from Tarmac...

Was that a Lufthansa A320 I noticed last night? Or one of the other European airlines. Took me a long time to realise that the blue bellied vapour trails scurrying overhead were not BA out of Manchester or other points north, but Ryanair.

Am I the only one who hankers after those gorgeous schemes from the 60s and 70s?

[Less Hair]

Branding is claimed to be SO important these days but maybe keeping mostly white fuselages to move aircraft to lessors and back fastest has become even more important? I seem to remember Air France was the first "eurowhite" user and Pan Am the first billboard titles carrier or maybe UTA?

[treadigraph]

Might have been UTA, pretty sure I recall that on their DC-10s around 1975 whereas Pan Am's new scheme appeared a couple of years after the SPs were introduced in '76.

[SpringHeeledJack]

When was the last time Air France redesigned their livery ? In my mind it's been the same for the last 30 years or more, same with Alitalia up until recently. That said, it would appeare that all these other 'white dominant' schemes are kept cleaner than good ol' AF's aircraft that always seem somewhat grubby to my eyes over the years.

[treadigraph]

I think the current scheme appeared around 1976. It has been adapted a little over the years I think.

[pax britanica]

Branding is grossly over hyped away from straightforward dowmstic purchases. As has been said a billion times on here passengers look at one thing price if they look further is timing convenience .

Many global brands have kept essentially the same branding for decades or thier whole life
Coca Cola, Ford , Mercedes, BMW, . You dont see the folks from Stuttgart saying hey lets put a fourth point on the star or ford going for a LGBT friendly multicolour background..

Airliners more than many if not all major enterprises change their brands relatively frequently and as someone point sout its those back office bad guys the marketing dept. Persuading BA to go to World Colours - great idea that was .
Ryanair have branding that looks like it comes from the 920s not 2020s , probably O.'Leary got one of his kids to do it hasnt done them any harm. Have American suffered by only changing their branding since the 1950s compared with United numerous efforts? Have Singapore airlines ever changed theirs in material way?.

Seems to me there are many better things most airlines can spend their cash on

PB

i think in the airline business

[c52]

And LH's current scheme was adopted because the old one looked too much like Ryanair, if what I once read is correct.

[jensdad]

Originally Posted by pax britanica

Ryanair have branding that looks like it comes from the 920s not 2020s , probably O.'Leary got one of his kids to do it hasnt done them any harm.

Strangely enough, I happen to think that Ryanair's scheme is very good by modern standards, and I've often commented that it actually looks a lot more classy than Easyjet's or Wizz's for example. Having said that, at least Easy and Wizz have a bit of colour about them. Just shows that beauty's in the eye of the beholder!

[jensdad]

Originally Posted by treadigraph

I remember the disbelieving silence from those of us in the audience when Carillion's name and logo was revealed to us by the marketing consultants as the company separated itself from Tarmac...

Was that a Lufthansa A320 I noticed last night? Or one of the other European airlines.

Am I the only one who hankers after those gorgeous schemes from the 60s and 70s?

I suspect we would have learnt a few Spanish swear words if we'd been in the audience when Iberia's new colour scheme was revealed!

The colours on that A320 could have been Lufthansa, LOT, Air Serbia, TAROM, SAS, Finnair, Icelandair...

And in answer to your final question, most certainly not!

[Mr Mac]

treadigraph
I can tell you as quite a regular LH user, none of the crew I have spoken to like the new livery one bit and it is not even popular with most Germans either if questioned about it. As for Carillion I share your observed comments, and so ended a very successful company.

Cheers
Mr Mac

[jethro15]

Simple is best, otherwise you go to the extreme of ornate liveries. Some more effectual than others, but the costs of applying such liveries must be astronomical. Remember the flack that BA took when they revealed their ‘World’ liveries.



What is a livery for? It serves no purpose in the air, However, on the ground, it identifies to the general public/passenger a presence. It may not look pretty to the aficionados, or the aviation photographers, but it gets them noticed by potential customers.

[jensdad]

Originally Posted by jethro15

Simple is best, otherwise you go to the extreme of ornate liveries. Some more effectual than others, but the costs of applying such liveries must be astronomical. Remember the flack that BA took when they revealed their ‘World’ liveries.



What is a livery for? It serves no purpose in the air, However, on the ground, it identifies to the general public/passenger a presence. It may not look pretty to the aficionados, or the aviation photographers, but it gets them noticed by potential customers.

I totally get what you're saying, jethro. Most folks aren't as obsessed by what a plane looks like as many of us on this forum are! Having said that, one livery could very easily be mistaken for another these days (Lufthansa, LOT & TAROM, and Swiss & Austrian spring to mind) and I'd have thought the marketing folks would want to do something a bit different to catch the eye.
(I appreciate that Swiss and Austrian are essentially owned by the same people, and that might be a reason for the identikit liveries.)

[SpringHeeledJack]

Has anyone seen the ITA scheme ? After the same Alitalia scheme(more or less) for decades, the successor has gone 'vibrant'

[Less Hair]

It will be hard to spot against the blue sky for collision avoidance. And it feels expensive to paint the entire fuselage in some custom color.