murphy

PSA never flew an aircraft that said "US Airways" on it, either. Those are artist's renditions of special liveries they'll be using.

"As a tribute to the airlines that have joined together over the years to form the new US Airways, several 'heritage' aircraft will be painted in the classic paint schemes of these airlines."

olympicnut

Personally I can not WAIT to see the PSA plane, smile and all!

AZ Travels the World

I think this new look is fine. It's not extraordinary, but they did it by committe, in-house, so for that approach, it's better than average.

Of the prior two, I liked US's old scheme much better than HP's, which I always thought was childish and amateurish. I never got used to it; perhaps it always reminded me of Franke. Given that they couldn't keep the current US because of the heat issue, I think this is a decent, professional looking design. Safe and unimaginitive, but fine. For HP, I say it is definitely an improvement.

However, I love the retro planes. That's genius. They'll be very cool. I hope they are among the first to be painted.

dmfriedman

I just got home from McCarran after spending some time awaiting US9090, the new livery from Charlotte, followed by some remarks from Doug Parker and several other representatives of the airlines and airport.

The general feeling amongst the employees that were there (I was one of the only people amongst the 150 or so in the B17 gate area that were not employees or media representatives) was that it was a very classy paint scheme. They applauded loudly when the picture of the America West heritage plane was displayed, and were very impressed by the flight attendants wearing heritage uniforms of the legacy carriers -- PSA, Allegheny, Piedmont, and America West.

The heritage circle that has been discussed, consisting of the US lettering in the middle of a circle bordered by the four heritage carrier logos is clearly visible from up to about 100 yards away, located right near door 1L on the right side when facing the door from the outside.

In addition to the remarks, HP representatives passed out stickers and pins with the heritage circle on it to everyone in attendance.

It was truly a unique experience to witness the "unveiling" (despite having seen the livery online several hours earlier), and hear the optimism from not just the airline reps but from the airport folks as well.

A larger version of the heritage circle than what you can see on the HP site can be found at http://www.friedmanhomes.com/heritagecircle.jpg

Other notes from the "ceremony":

• The livery intentionally reuses the same flag logo, font, and sizes to reduce costs by eliminating the need to create new stencils
• That same re-use of components also allows for existing US signage to remain in place - HP signage will go away, but as much as possible, the US signage inside the airports will be reused
• Parker was very proud of the fact that unlike most other carriers, no outside consultants were used, which means money was saved - the whole point of a Low Cost Carrier
• Parker mentioned that the merger should close at the end of September or early October, certainly sooner than many of us had expected

snokums925

As an HP employee, it was an incredible event to be at the hangar last night and see our new aircraft taxi through the water cannon salute and into position. Once the aircraft was parked, we were able to walk out under it, take a tour of the interior and listen to all the speeches that were given.
The livery is very classy and shows what is to come for the new USAirways.

Joeypete

I like the current scheme as well...it's not as fantastic as I thought, but it is very nice. I am SOOOOO happy about the heritage planes. It will be nice to see Piedmont and PSA "alive" once again. Of course the HP and Allegheny schemes are great too!

I didn't get a button...I want one!!

shell nyc

As far as I could tell I was the only customer out at PHX last night as N109UW pulled into the HP hangar. My full report is on the US board, and pics are posted on USAviation. What really struck me was how excited all of the employees were. They are proud of their airline, excited about the new livery, and looking forward to making this work! I spoke with old Piedmont ladies who had been around for 30+ years, and a very nice woman who has only been with HP as a FA for 9 months. From what I heard from a few people who were on the flight yesterday, "good things happened up there." ^

KevAZ

Good thing for excellent maintenance crews with sharp eyes!

Crack Discovered in US Airways Window




I'm sure to take a hit for this one..............

AZ Travels the World

You've certainly earned it.

SAT Lawyer

Me too.

I think the new livery is pretty uninspiring, however.

KevAZ

Anyone else loath that fake American Flag? I really hate that cartoon thing they have slapped on there.

IMHO, if they change it to an honest to goodness American flag in red, white and blue the livery would look 10 times better.

ByrdluvsAWACO

Not really. I'd prefer no flag in the livery. Unfortunately, the US name almost requires its use.

KevAZ

Then they should drop the US name if they aren't proud enough to quit using a poorly drawn cartoon of the flag of the USA. I am no "flag wrapper" but if this was done with any other country's flag there would be hell to pay.

1.)The graphic is ugly as heck
2.)They are trying to use US as a marketing advantage without paying proper tribute.

olympicnut

I dunno about that. Have ya seen British Airways tails? Thats suppose to be a stylized Union Jack.


Guys, what's done is done. The new livery is it, it aint gonna change. Time to accept it and focus on the new airline.

ByrdluvsAWACO

I agree totally.

How do you use the flag as part of a livery without looking like "Freedom Toast Airlines"? It's almost impossible to use the flag and not look cheesy.


Well, they only painted one plane. There's plenty of time to get rid of that hideous cheatline.