Can I help you

I only speak for myself how come you can speak for others?

BAeuro

Exactly and thank you Schind and others.

I was merely asking about the livery and believe it or not, those at Waterside have to focus on many things not just the industrial relations and impact of COVID. Life still goes on in other areas and plans have to be made.

Paul Banks

Not BA. Given the 747's are going there will be a lot less flying F.

Can I help you

Sorry Paul, I don’t think you got what the F stood for?

Paul Banks

ffs I really should not drink and type !!

lhrpete

Surely as cost cutting is in the DNA of BA and presumably IAG it's time for a standardised livery.

Perhaps all the planes could be painted dark grey so they don't show dirt and could just have IAG on the tail?

That should save some money.

Paren

Initially I wasn't a fan of the oneworld livery on 747s but it kind of grew on me.

I agree with another poster, I think the A350-1000 would look great.

The CX 777s in oneworld livery look good too.

As some have mentioned, it may not be high up on the priority list, but I suspect it may be if you are working in their marketing dept. and that oneworld want to see some of their logos on your aircraft.

13901

There are a number of 77Ws that are due a paintjob if memory serves me right; one or two of them could very well be given a oneworld livery (again, still if memory serves me right, oneworld dictates that a number of aircraft be painted with its livery). However I doubt that, right now, painting an airplane is an activity for which there is funding to be had. If the paintjob was already paid for then why not, but otherwise... I mean, I know for a fact (working in a company that supplies the industry) that there are airlines that are flatly refusing to pay invoices for consumed products, citing the current situation. And I'm talking about big airlines, for not really enormous bills. As much as we'd all like to be going back to speak about service and champers and liveries, the industry is on life support and the doctors are pulling that "Aww, man" face that you don't want a doctor to be pulling...

Confus

There is indeed a rule that says a certain % of each member’s fleet should be painted in alliance colours. But really, oneworld isn’t stupid. They know airlines have uncertain fleet plans and other pressures right now, and aren’t going to push it. What are they going to do anyway, ask a member to leave the group? Over this? Come off it. The absolute worst they will do is ask the airline if they have plans to repaint a few aircraft in the near future. “Yes of course”, and the conversation is over. Priorities.

DFB_london

Precisely. Most people rarely notice the colour of the plane they are on. Mostly you’re on the inside looking out - to state the obvious. Sometimes, like that nasty BEA painted airbus, that can be a good thing.

With €$bns in bailouts a non revenue generating cost like a paint job isn’t going to happen. See other threads on catering, ie with limited resources are you going to spend money on cleaning (essential), better catering (to match Lufthansa and get your premium flyers back), or a paint job to keep some geek happy?

skipness1E

Oh FFS. What additional cost are we moaning about? It’s simply big ONEWORLD titles versus the standard BA typeface. Any additional expense is a rounding error on a secondary finance spreadsheet as the airframe will be painted anyway..... Everything else about BA’s ONEWORLD livery is standard BA. It’s not “to keep some geek happy”, it’s about keeping the fleet well maintained both inside and out whilst being an effective marketing tool for both the airline and the alliance. Nothing screams “crap airline” than paint falling off an older aircraft, and some of the B777 fleet are now well over two decades old. Aircraft are painted to keep the level of corrosion down, another reason to keep on top of things.

It’s not true most people don’t notice the colour of the aircraft they’re on, the Qatar Airways and Air Belgium operating for BA recent leases proved that much.

sxc

I thought that planes needed to be repainted during their D check anyway?

I found this on the Boeing website:

”Beyond the need for washing, the comparative cost of maintaining painted and polished surfaces is significantly affected by the policies of individual operators. Most repaint their airplanes every four years, often during a scheduled C- or D-check, but do not completely strip the paint during each cycle. Instead, they alternate between complete stripping and merely scuff-sanding the existing paint layer and applying a new topcoat. Painting costs include labor, stripper, paint, primer, masking materials, and proper disposal of consumable”

https://www.boeing.com/commercial/ae...y/fo01txt.html

champair79

sxc,

I think there’s two sorts of ‘painting’. The one that is referred to above is most likely a clear gloss coat with some buffing (I’m no expert in aircraft maintenance and I’ve never seen this done but the above implies that). This will be to help reduce drag and provide protection to the current paint scheme in order to extend its life.

At BA, certain paint touch-ups (for example nose cones, parts of the tail etc) can be done on site during normal hangar inputs.

For a full repaint (and this includes livery change or refresh), this can only be done in a specialist paint bay due to the complexity as well as the environmental impact. At the moment, BA predominantly use IAC sites mainly in Ireland but occasionally elsewhere. Most aircraft seem to be painted on a 7-10 year cycle. I think the paint used now is of such high quality whereas in previous decades, 5-7 years was more normal.

champ

DFB_london

That is not factually correct. A repaint is not a rounding error. It’s why airlines so rarely change their look. Up to 10 days for an asset out of service is a huge cost, and it’s mot just slapping on some paint. On some control surfaces it’s both intricate and complex. For example on the rudder it must be balanced and that requires absolutely precise painting. So it’s not a ‘FFS’ issue.

As for Qatar and Air Belgium- the clue is in the interior products (lots of Qatar all over it) and the crew, not the outside - so again that point is incorrect.

so in present conditions no sane airline is going to take an an avoidable expense to keep geeks happy.

KARFA

If few aircraft are repainted as part of a normal repaint schedule is there any additional cost in choosing to do a few in a oneworld livery?