HI RES IMAGE (click for larger). JAL's first Boeing 787 rolls out of the paint hangar in new livery. Photo by Boeing.
From Boeing’s press release: “The first Boeing (NYSE: BA) 787 Dreamliner to enter service for Japan Airlines (JAL) rolled out of the paint hangar last night. The airplane’s livery features the iconic new brand mark on its tail and underscores the airline’s commitment to provide the highest level of service to customers and contribute to the advancement of society. The logo is a distinct symbol of the airline which was the first Japanese carrier to fly internationally from Japan since 1954.”
This is the new livery that JAL first premiered on one of their Boeing 767s back in March 2011 and was shown off in drawings in January 2011. JAL already had multiple 787 Dreamliners painted in their older livery at Paine Field and it was assumed that they would be re-painted in the new livery before delivery.
The resurrection of the crane is to match the airline’s, ’œnew philosophy and corporate policy which underscore the company’s re-commitment to provide the highest levels of service to customers and to raise its corporate value in order to contribute to the advancement of society.’
I have seen the livery in person a few times now on 767s and 737s and I have to say I am still not a huge fan of it. I am okay with simplicity and I realize this is a cultural thing with connecting with the airline’s roots, but give me a swooping cheatline or something. Although it does look better on the 787 vs the other aircraft I have seen.
What do you think of the new JAL livery on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner?
Photo on the left shows the new painted bottom. The one on the right shows the old aluminum bottom.CLICK FOR LARGER.
You might be an airline nerd if this interests you. Warning: I am an airline nerd.
On the Twitterverse and Airliners.net, there were some questions around why American Airlines has started to paint the bottom of their new Boeing 737s. There was some speculation (and questioning if American is even really painting the bottoms), but officially from American:
“All 737’s have fluid discharge ports along the bottom Aft fuselage. AA has decided to paint the underbelly of the aircraft for aesthetic purposes and to prevent any contact of these fluids with the bare aluminum skin.”
Nothing too shocking, the bottoms have been painted to slow corrosion. I only hope that this is not a sign that American plans to keep this dated livery over the long-term. As I am sure you remember, the airline recently went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which would give them a perfect reason to get a new livery (even though I know there are a lot of American livery lovers out there).
Both photos taken by Drewski2112 at Boeing Field
Recently Ken Fielding shared two very interesting photos with me and I wanted to share them. I figured that it would make sense to do it on the Livery of the Week, since these two liveries are pretty sweet. Here are his photos and information on the airlines in his own words:
Hot Air Vickers Viscount (G-OHOT) taken at Manchester in April 1989
Apart from a mention in a ‘Defunct British Airlines’ list… nothing! So I decided to approach from the aircraft, G-OHOT.
The aircraft was one of three that had been operated by British Midland (BMA) for many years and was sold to British Aerospace in a part-exchange deal when BMA took delivery of their new B.Ae ATP’s. All three were sold at auction in Oct-87 to Sean T. Hully (Sales) Ltd. Mr Hully, trading as Hot Air in Mar-89, put the other two into service from Heathrow to Paris & Qimper in France. The airline only lasted the summer of 1989 and the aircraft were sold to British Air Ferries (BAF). However, although G-OHOT was in full Hot Air livery, it never operated for Hot Air and was leased to Baltic Airlines (another Sean T. Hully company!) and stayed with them before being sold to BAF in Nov-89. I also have a photo of it in BAF livery in Oct-90.
Trans Caribbean Boeing 727-200 (N8790R) taken at New York JFK on July 9, 197070
Trans Caribbean was New York based and originally date back to the late 1940’s operating DC-3’s and DC-4’s on New York/Puerto Rico charter services. They were granted full scheduled service status for New York/Puerto Rico services in Feb-57 with DC-6’s. They added two DC-9-30’s and the first of 4 DC-8-51’s joined them in Nov-61, followed by a DC-8-61CF in Dec-67. They took delivery of two B727-200’s in early 1969 and were absorbed into American Airlines at the end of 1970.
Check out Ken’s other photos on Flickr
I am not going to lie. This is the best livery possible. Can you do better? Click photo for full 360 interactive version.
WARNING! Reading this story might lead one to spend a good chunk of their day designing their own Boeing 787 liveries. Do not continue if you have other, more important things to do with your day.
All joking aside, Boeing has recently released the ability for anyone to create almost any livery on a 787 Dreamliner and it works pretty slick. You have to agree not to put cuss words on your plane and that you are over 18 and then you are given a clean, white 787 Dreamliner to start your design. You are able to add symbols, text, free hand and a much more in any color your heart desires. Although there are a few things that can become frustrating, the tool is relatively easy to use. The key is to remember that you need to make the same design on both sides, otherwise your design doesn’t really work in the 360 view.
Once you are done, you can submit it to the gallery and it takes about 24 hours for Boeing to approve your design. There are already quite a few designs to look through online now. Some are pretty amazing and some are… well not so amazing.
If the custom designs are not your thing, you can still check out the 787 in the livery of many airlines on NewAirplane.com.
So do you have what it takes? Take a shot and design your own livery and when you are done, leave a link to your design in the comments.
Do you know these liveries and aircraft types?
Alright, here are the answers for my fifth Ultimate Airline Livery Contest:
#1 Air Canada Boeing 747-100 by Bob Garrard
#2 TWA Lockheed L1011 by Dean Morley
#3 Cubana IL-62M by Chris Chen
#4 Avior Airlines Boeing 737-200 by Aero Icarus
#5 Aero California DC-9-15 by Ron Monroe
#6 Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787 Dreamliner by Jon Ostrower
#7 Pakistan International Airlines Airbus A310 by Osdu
#8 CP Air Douglas DC-8 by Jim Bavin
I had a record number of you give you best shot with guessing all the liveries and aircraft types and it is time to give some props (or jets) to those who “won” the contest and will receive AirlineReporter.com stickers:
THOSE WHO GOT ALL LIVERY AND AIRCRAFT TYPES CORRECT:
* Gordon Werner, who is ultimate champion and only person to get all five ultimate livery challenges correct
* Keith Goodman (@airplanegeekcom)
* Daniel Jones
* Paul Cavallo
* Kyle Duncan
THOSE WHO GOT ALL THE LIVERIES CORRECT:
* Tim Sieber
* Andy Wade
* Francesco Favazza
* Antonio Tantalo
If you did not win this time, do not worry. If you tried, you are really a winner in my book. I have said before that I probably couldn’t get these 100% myself, so do not feel bad. It seems that the one that people had the most trouble with was the Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787. Stay tuned for the next one!
