When the new American Airlines Boeing 777-300ER was spotted at Boeing, everyone was a touch surprised to see it painted in grey with some preparation for a different scheme shown in how the tail was painted.  Current speculation is that AA will introduce a new livery with this aircraft although it might simply be a one-off design.

American Airlines is, of course, famous for its polished aluminum aircraft although that livery has been modified here and there over the years.  When the A300 came onboard, it was originally painted grey since Airbus aircraft nominally can’t be polished and left bare.  MD-80s ultimate saw their tail surfaces painted grey although originally they were polished as well.

Some think this 777 may just be a Oneworld paint scheme but it doesn’t follow what has been done with Oneworld aircraft so far.

I think it’s a new livery but if I’m a creditor of American Airlines, I would be pretty annoyed at discovering this.  Changing liveries is costly and with the future of AA much in doubt, it would be wiser to pause on a livery re-design until other issues are settled.

Yes, American does need a new livery because it is taking on new Airbus A320 series aircraft that must be painted and the 787 cannot be polished either.  More important, AA’s current livery is just . . . old and dated.

AA has lately been throwing out lots of change into the media.  Changes in seating, changes in first class experiences and just change.  Much of it scheduled years away.  Clearly it’s designed to create some excitement about the brand again but it seems slow and uncoordinated and against the best interests of a bankruptcy exit.   None of it fundamentally improves AA’s revenue plan so far either.

Enthusiasts will be excited and that includes me since a livery change is rare for most airlines and rarer still for American Airlines.

Filed under: Trivia by ajax