Box10

This could be a book so I will initially limit my comments to a few.

American Airlines: very pleasant livery but has no strong logo. The tail is merely a stylized US flag. No AA eagle. There is a half A eagle but that is smaller and near the front. Overall: ok, pleasant.

Delta: Very business like. Not bad at all.

United: The globe does absolutely nothing. They should have kept the tulip U.

Lufthansa: Very sharp and business like. One of the best of the big airlines.

ANA All Nippon: Have liked it for 30 years. Very sharp. Nice blue.

GlobalMatt

I do love the new AA livery, though. I remember the AA livery from when I was very young (over 30 years ago) as looking cheap, which lead me to believe that the airline was unsafe in that, if they could not afford to paint the plane, they probably couldn't pay to properly maintain it. Gotta love a then-7-year-old's logic!

I agree about Lufthansa. I love their crisp and clean design, and behind that, I'd say I like the boldness of Royal Jordanian's.

In terms of favorite tail livery, I'd have to say South African. ^

Box10

For quite a few years, I actually tried to avoid AA because I thought the livery was goofy. Not ugly but very boring. Then, after flying AA because there was no better schedule, I had 50,000 miles and decided to be a little more active with them.

jrl767

when I was at single-digit ages (late 1950s / early 1960s) my father traveled a lot for business (USAF, research & development) ... I was a complete airline and airliner geek, always bugging him for info about which airline and aircraft he had flown to wherever and back ... to his great credit he regularly returned with timetables, postcards, miniature pilot wings, etc; but around 1967 he made a comment that sort of stuck with me: "An airplane is a big tube, with wings and engines and seats, that gets you from Point A to Point B, and after a while you don't really care who built it or what number it is or what color it is as long as you get where you are going."

I followed his footsteps into the Air Force as an engineer, went to work for Boeing, and started traveling a lot for business ... I stretched many a Baltimore trip by a day to visit my parents in the DC area; the one I remember most was when I took the Metro into downtown on Mon morning following a redeye into DCA, put my bags in the trunk of the rental car, and met him for lunch ... in response to his "How was your trip?" question ... well, I didn't miss a beat: "An airplane is a big tube, with wings and engines and seats, that gets you from Point A to Point B, and after a while you don't really care who built it or what number it is or what color it is as long as you get where you are going." ... he just about broke up in laughter, saying something like "I NEVER thought I'd hear you say that!"

in case it isn't evident, I'm mainly a fan of old liveries, many of those belonging to airlines that have passed into history: TWA's twin red stripes, CO's original "Golden Tail", Western and Mohawk with the chief's profile (although MO's final orange-and-ochre was rather attractive), Panagra, BOAC "Speedbird" ... among today's airlines I agree with menuger11 on SA, and I also like the clean look of WestJet

sbm12

It is random paint on the outside of the plane. Doesn't affect the travel experience for me at all.

ryanbryan

Old LAN livery was my favourite. Loved the blues. The new LATAM one is boring. New AA livery is great and now my fave.

cbn42

I don't know how I feel about that. The globe symbolizes a global carrier, that can take you around the world. It also evokes memories of Continental. I think the globe does more than Delta's triangle, which is just a geometric shape.

I agree with you about AA.

lhrsfo

I've always liked the Virgin Atlantic livery, not so much the tail but the treatment on the body of the plane - the tail is too similar to that of Qantas.

I suspect that the AA livery is good from a commercial point of view, but it's way too brash for me and it makes me feel the product will reflect values I dislike.

I love the LX livery - very Swiss and that's comforting in so many ways when you fly, although the reality doesn't live up to it.

Near wins for me include Singapore (very smart, reassuring colours), BA and, peculiarly, Ryanair (despite everything else about that airline). For entirely sentimental reasons, the old Pan Am and BOAC liveries were always my favourites, whereas I hated the TWA livery with a passion.

deniah

Niki Airlines: about the worst in the sky.

DocP

"I think the globe does more than Delta's triangle, which is just a geometric shape."

The uppercase of the Greek letter delta IS a triangle. It is, in my opinion, a clever play on the airline's name.

bitburgr

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...ne-livery.html

I still think LH's is the best.

jbb

In terms of airline logos/roundels/liveries, my favorites (as a total design amateur) include:

JAL's crane roundel - Modernist, crisp, clean and representative of the country. Asia's equivalent to Lufthansa.

Korean Air - Love the sky blue on the plane, which is also reflected in their marketing and stylish in-flight uniforms. The Taegeuk symbol too is unique, clean and a classic national symbol.

Cathay Pacific - the minty green is contemporary and the swoosh is a nice mix evoking both classic chinese calligraphy and modern flight

Fiji Airways - One of the most impressive rebrands in recent years. More airlines should invest in their design and image as Fiji has.

Etihad - The new geometric design and use of metallic coppers and bronzes is unique, modern and stands out

To the OP: I too like LH and ANA... ANA's hasn't changed in 35 years but there's something about it I just like!

jbb

The designair website does a great annual livery award which often highlights some lesser known airlines:

https://thedesignair.net/2015/04/30/...eries-of-2015/

https://thedesignair.net/2014/07/22/...eries-of-2014/

https://thedesignair.net/2013/05/07/...ries-for-2013/

https://thedesignair.net/2012/04/15/...dern-liveries/

Interestingly, they have given recognition to AA for both their old and new liveries.

lhrsfo

It seems we have a winner here!

deniah

i think Air Canada has a much more pleasing hue of blue than does Korean