United Airlines new Retro Livery. Photo by United.
United Airlines new Retro Livery. Photo by United.
United Airlines new Retro Livery. Photo by United.
United Airlines Retro Livery. Photo by Eric Dunetz
United Retro Livery celebration in Chicago. Photo by Eric Dunetz
United Airlines Retro Livery. Photo by Eric Dunetz
Click on photos for larger.
Today, United Airlines revealed their retro “Friend Ship” livery on an Airbus A320 (N475UA) at Chicaco’s O’Hare International Airport.
Hundreds of United employees showed up to celebrate not only the new retro livery, but also United’s 85th birthday.
United can trace its roots back to 1926 when they carried mail under the “Varney Air Service” name. Then the airline was purchased by William Boeing and merged with his other ventures as “United Aircraft and Transport Corporation.” In 1928, several airlines were combined as “United Air Lines.” Since then, the airline has successfully grown and had many different liveries.
Ah, flying how it used to be. Although a fun commercial with a great cast of airplanes, I feel it overly beautifies the earlier years of air travel. Sure, it was a big deal at the time since it was so costly and it was still new, but even comparing to 1984’s standards it would have been a bad experience for most people.
For aviation nerds, being able to fly on an old United Airlines Ford Tri-Motor would be an amazing experience. However, for most people it would be horrid. Very loud, lots of vibrations, uncomfy seats, and lots of fuel stops between point A and point B. Your coffee might have been served on a silver platter and given a glass of chocolate milk, but that doesn’t make it worth while.
Even with the “now” portion of the video, which takes place in 1984, it is a lot different than it is in 2011. A first class seat on a current United Airlines Boeing 747 is going to be much more comfortable and probably a bit cheaper. Not to mention all that interesting in-flight entertainment available now.
Sorry, I am not trying to harp too much on this video, I really enjoy it. Who can not like a video with a Ford Tri-Motor, Boeing 747-200, DC-10 and DC-8? I think it just supports the idea that flying used to be so much more glamorous, where I think it is just as glamorous or even a bit more than it used to be (not to even mention safer) — it is all about perspective.
Two will enter, one will leave. Some will have Wi-Fi.
United has announced today that Continental intends to add Wi-Fi to 200 of their Boeing 737 and 757 aircraft. It is not officially, official that this will happen, but I would imagine it will go through.
If you get confused on who and what United and Continental Airlines are right now, you are not alone. Although they will be merging, they are still two separate airlines. This gets more confusing since they have started to re-paint planes and doing joint announcements.
Add to the confusion that currently, United flies fourteen aircraft with Wi-Fi already on their Premium Service (PS). 13 of those aircraft are using Go-Go Inflight Wi-Fi and one is using Row 44. The Continental aircraft will be using LiveTV’s ViaSat-1 satellite internet. Those are a lot of different providers and I would imagine as the merger settles down, the new United will be looking at which service package they would want to provide to the entire fleet. Since the new United has so many international destinations, it makes sense for them to look at using a satellite provider like Row44 or LiveTV.
Becoming the world’s largest airline is not easy. There are a lot of things that still need to be dealt with to make sure the new United has a consistent brand.Time is of the essence since the new United doesn’t want to alienate loyal customers for both airlines during the transition.
This Boeing 747-400 (N127UA) is showing off the new United Airlines livery. Click for larger.
Back in October I got a hold of what I thought was a photo of the first Boeing 747-400 in new United livery, but it turned out to just be a photoshop.
This one is the real-deal and I actually think it looks better than the photoshop.
Once again, I am finding myself liking this livery more and more. I know there are a lot of you out there that strongly disagree. Is it starting to grow on you guys a bit more? If it is not, I bet it might soon.
Thanks to Jon Ostrower (aka Flight Blogger) for posting this photo.
On Monday, Delta Air Lines announced a new level of service coming to long-haul international flights: Economy Comfort. By summer 2011, more than 160 of Delta’s Boeing 747, 757, 767, 777 and Airbus A330 will have the new Economy Comfort seats installed. The seats themselves aren’t that much of a change, but what comes with them is a pretty a nice improvement. The seats will give you four more inches of legroom and 50% more recline, but you are also going to get free drinks and premium boarding.
The obvious comparison is to United Airline’s Economy Plus. United flies Economy Plus on international and domestic flights and it has been a great way to create loyalty for their passengers.
