Wednesday, July 20, 2011

American is Getting A320s...and an Opportunity to Evolve the Livery

It was announced a few hours ago that American Airlines is ordering at least 260 A320-series aircraft. Deliveries will begin in 2013. Now more than ever, the airline should be thinking hard about updating it's livery.

Here is an examples of how the present livery will look on an Airbus fleet:

Aviation-Design.Net:
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Design © mikephotos
Template © mikephotos


It's not that the current livery is bad or outdated from a design standpoint...it's that a livery based on polished aluminum is most suited to aircraft that are built primarily from that material. As more aircraft types integrate composite materials in their construction, the attractiveness of polished aluminum quickly becomes overshadowed by the painted gray composite panels surrounding it.

This much is certain - American's livery is changing whether they want it to or not. If they continue to do nothing, it will continue to evolve into a drab and unattractive mishmash of various dull gray and white paints. If, however, they become proactive and update their livery now, they will strengthen their brand in both the short and long term.

There's no shortage of opportunity, American. The time is right to evolve the brand. Eagle's E-jets are already a nightmare of painted whites and grays with no visible aluminum whatsoever...let's make sure that look doesn't continue to infest the mainline brand.


Aviation-Design.Net:
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Design © Almaden
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Aviation-Design.Net:
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Design © Ryan Powers
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Aviation-Design.Net:
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Design © Yves Mayer
Template © Yves Mayer



Aviation-Design.Net:
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Design © Yves Mayer
Template © Yves Mayer



Aviation-Design.Net:
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Design © Ryan Powers
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Aviation-Design.Net:
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Design © R P Abraham
Template © R P Abraham

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