Keeping the new American Airlines re-branding should make sense at this point, right?  It is a fait accompli in the airline world.  There are a number of airplanes now painted in the new American Airlines livery and repainting aircraft costs a lot of money, right?

Well, maybe.

Doug Parker is responding to questions about the rebranding with a fairly non-committal answer that indicates that nothing is decided.  I would wager that Parker was annoyed, at the least, with the rebranding roll-out in January and especially so given how close the merger really was at that point.

Anything can happen and nothing likely will until Parker is in charge.  This is an example of exactly why I don’t think it’s a good idea that Tom Horton remain in place.  He rolled out that rebranding despite all he knew about the near certainty of a merger and that was disrespect for the merger and Parker.  That rollout could have waited.  Even if you needed to paint 777s, you could have waited.

Will it remain?  I kind of doubt it.  I think there will be a revision of it at the least and I think it will embody a replacement of the airline livery on the tail.  The billboard titles for American Airlines will remain and I think even the logo will remain but I think those tails will be changed and I think whatever replaces them will show a certain continuity for American Airlines history with a nod to US Airways.

Filed under: Airline Fleets by ajax