OK, I've been at the airport a -lot- this week, and I have two curiosities. I tried to search for these answers and couldn't find anything.

I'll probably look foolish or uneducated by them, but I'll sleep better (or be ready for Who Wants to be a Millionaire) with the answers.

1) Who is the guy on the tail of Alaskan Airlines planes?

2) Why did Delta switch their livery twice in the last few years...and why does the newest version not have the name or logo on the tail (unlike most other US carriers)?

Thanks.

I've heard pilots for other airlines joke that it's one of Alaska's female flight attendants. Bad, I know.

Main Entry: liv�ery
Pronunciation: 'li-v&-rE, 'liv-rE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -er�ies
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French livree, literally, delivery, from livrer to deliver, from Latin liberare to free -- more at LIBERATE
Date: 14th century
1 archaic : the apportioning of provisions especially to servants : ALLOWANCE
2 a : the distinctive clothing or badge formerly worn by the retainers of a person of rank b : a servant's uniform c : distinctive dress : GARB d chiefly British : an identifying design (as on a vehicle) that designates ownership
3 archaic a : one's retainers or retinue b : the members of a British livery company
4 : the act of delivering legal possession of property
5 a : the feeding, stabling, and care of horses for pay b : LIVERY STABLE c : a concern offering vehicles (as boats) for rent

1. I read that it is simply nothing beyond a stereotypical emisko symbolic of their Alaskan and Aleutian heritage.

2. Since the 60s or 70s, Delta has had this livery. In 1997, then-soon-to-depart Ron Allen wanted to leave his mark on the company, so they introduced a new livery which maintains the cheatline but removes the "Widget" from the tail. And, finally, in 2000, current CEO Leo Mullin, in his move to establish his mark on Delta, introduced a new image. All but gone is the "widget". It appears in a new rounded form, but it is off the tail entirely. The tail is a waving flag of red and shades of blue, with a totally bare body, save the Delta titles and widget on the front. Notice the new Delta typeface and logo says only "Delta" (not "Delta Air Lines") and, again, the new, rounded "widget". Here is the newest livery/

Here is a shot of the new "widget" and typeface. Here is a shot of the older widget and typeface. Finally, here is a unique shot of four Delta liveries meeting the camera at JFK (the old 60s/70s, the 1997, the 2000, and the special "Soaring Spirit" SLC-2002 livery).

ROTFLMAO Thanks for the laugh.

BizJet -- thanks. That picture is great ... as a marketing professional, that "product image" really hurts!

Adding to the topic:

Does American Airlines have the oldest livery in the US? Personally, I like their colors just fine but I wonder if they have toyed with the idea of something new.

------------------
Addicted to airline miles? Check out: The Airline Mileage Workshop

You wanna know who that is? It's the younger brother of that dude on the Quaker Oats cans.

Jamester

AA's livery is great - so was Delta's 60's livery (the oldest in Bizjet's picture). Of the four, I much prefer it - in fact, the newer they get, the worse they are!

I have to agree that AAs livery is simply one of the best, if not the best livery ever created - 31 years and still going strong, however I have to admit TWAs new livery is very classy indeed.

That's a good question. In the 1990s, most US (and international too) airlines went through a major livery overhaul.

United of course went from the white with cheatline (line/s down the window line) to the cheatline-less grey and blue. Both new and old seen here. My favorite: New.

US Airways went from the metal with blue-and-red-accent cheatline to the cheatline-less shade of blue. Old /New
My favorite: New.

Air Canada dumped the cheatline and introduced a bare-body with block titles and a textured logo. Old/New
My favorite: New.

Canadian is another with three liveries. They have an old one, a new one (the goose logo), and the hybrid Canadian/Air Canda. Old/Goose/[url="http://www.airliners.net/open.file?id=127496"]Hybrid[/ url]
Favorite: Goose.

TWA had an old old one too, but finally introduced a really neat IMO one. Old/New
My favorite: New.

Both Continental and Northwest introduced new liveries in the early 1990s.

As far as the oldest US airline, I'd have to go with American. Or maybe even Southwest. They're the only ones in the US who haven't tinkered with their livery since the 70s or prior.

There are a couple of airlines that have three liveries, and this makes them fun to "spot" in airports. Delta has three, as described before. Canadian also has three. British Airways technically has three. They have their old black-bottom/white-top, the World Colors, and the Union Jack world colors, previously exclusive to the Concorde.

(edited for UBB errors)

[This message has been edited by BizJet (edited 12-17-2000).]

I believe the person on the tail of AS's jets is Jack London. Pretty sure of that.

BizJet, HP made a livery change in the 90s, too-- the old one being mainly white with a beige/brown AW logo on the tail, and the newer one using turquoise and orange with AMERICA WEST spelled out on the fuselage. I like the newer one better-- far better than WN.

As answered previously, Alaska'a tail logo is an eskimo. What is really interesting is that if you look at the eskimo in different liveries, the eskimo's smile has changed.
No smile: (photo taken in 1974)

Amused look: (photo taken 1991)

Medium smile (photo taken in 1979)

Current: (nearly identical to above)

The Delta question has an easy answer. Delta's new slogan is (see the DL forum & saveskymiles.com):

D Don't
E Ever
L Leave
T Things
A Alone

My favorite DL livery is the current "classic" look. The newest one looks as if a beach towel got hung up on the tail and the "old new" look with the single cheatline had nothing distinctive. I love the classic livery's double cheatline (thick blue thin red) and the slanting widget on the fuselage providing the illusion of speed. I also liked the varying sweep of the widget on the tail based upon the individual aircraft. I still don't understand why they had to soften the widget in the current livery. It seems like a waste of money to me since they had just finished updating all of the airport podiums, etc. with the "old new" design.

CWPFLY