beautiful look for a likable and profitable airline for a change. aren’t they the only profitable one now since southwest turned a huge 3rd qrtr loss on fuel hedging?

Both JetBlue and AirTran were profitable, but there are others as well. Allegiant, for example, and Alaska as well both posted pretty strong profits. By the way, I would hardly call Southwest’s $16 million loss “huge.” It was actually quite small.

As for the AWA Teamwork plane designed by the kid…we used to call it “Nightmare on Sesame Street”, just awful. If we had done our Mexico themed plane, it would have been real sweet.

For a really nice livery, check out the Surinam Airlines 747-300, beautiful, but very soon it will be gone.

It’s true that airlines avoid dark colored paint because it weighs more, right? I’ve always been curious to know how much difference it would actually make (every time I think about the AA lack of body paint) . . . Would also be interesting to know how much that black paint might contribute to AC needs on the tarmac. (sorry if these are stupid thoughts — I’m nowhere near the league of your regular commentors!)

First of all, these are NOT stupid thoughts at all. I’d encourage anyone who is thinking about commenting to do it, because you have nothing to lose. (I mean, nobody will no who you are anyway.)

Now, back to your points. I don’t believe there is any difference in weight between light and dark paint. There may very well be a cost difference for more exotic colors, but this is definitely out of my area of expertise.

Paint in general does weight more than no paint, but I’ve heard that it’s really a wash in terms of ultimate costs. Pain provides a nice protective layer for the skin of the airplane, so without paint, there are additional costs to keeping the skin protected from the elements. There is a fuel savings to having no paint, but I’ve always understood the total benefit to be nil.

Your point about air conditioning costs is actually a huge one. That was one of the main considerations when US Airways introduced its new white logo. The old US Airways spent a lot of time in cold weather places, but the new US Airways has a substantial operation in Phoenix and Vegas. So, they wanted a lighter livery to keep the planes cooler.

It’s true that airlines avoid dark colored paint because it weighs more, right? I’ve always been curious to know how much difference it would actually make (every time I think about the AA lack of body paint) — seems like this is an interesting opportunity to compare the fuel consumption of the Falcons plane vs. typical AirTran 717 and see what the difference might actually be. Would also be interesting to know how much that black paint might contribute to AC needs on the tarmac. (sorry if these are stupid thoughts — I’m nowhere near the league of your regular commentors!)