COMMENT: Time to Polish the Silver

It was announced last week that AMR Corp. - parent of the antiquated, bankrupted US mega-carrier American Airlines (AA) - is starting a process of rebranding which may include a change of livery for their aircraft. The iconic (and that's a word I'm not using lightly here) red, blue and polished silver that has been used since 1967 may be painted over on future deliveries, and some analysts believe that it will start with the introduction of the Boeing 787. 
This is because the aircraft is made of composites and plastics, rather than aluminium so it would not be possible for a polished silver look. 

Personally, I believe that unless it is strictly necessary American should not lose the bare metal look. This is for two primary reasons.


1. Brand
Of the many attributes an airline can utilise, heritage is one of few that can't be created artificially: either you've been around a long time or you haven't. AA has heritage in buckets. It started becoming American Airlines in the sort of form we know it way back in 1929, and even has ties to Charles Lindbergh and the early airmail pilots, a fact not a lot of carriers can lay claim to. 


The bare, polished metal represents a lot about the way flying used to be, and I'm sure that for more than a few older travellers there is a certain nostalgia linked to the old-fashioned cheatlines and simple colours on AA's aircraft. It harks back to the heyday of civil aviation, that golden era between the 1950s and 1980s when flying was still a bit glamorous, and to throw that away would seem folly. 
It has been proven time after time that an airline with a strong brand identity and image can win new customers and keep existing ones much more effectively than those without, and American already have theirs, it may just need tweaking a bit.


2. Operational
As the company itself points out, leaving the fuselages of their aircraft three-quarters unpainted saves them money on fuel because of the weight reduction (even with the current livery, the paint on an AA Boeing 767 can weigh over 130lbs!). With jet fuel making up to a third of airlines' operational costs, this is more important than ever before.
It also saves them money on the paint, as they only spend something like a quarter of what other carriers might. When you consider that next year marks the beginning of deliveries of no less than 460 aircraft to replace their current fleet, that extra 75% of paint would be a bit harsh on the old wallet.  And even if they do decide to paint the whole aircraft (there has been talk of grey, or of white such as on their regional feeder subsidiary American Eagle), that still leaves 150 aircraft in the old livery, unless they decide to retire these. So AMR Corp. will either have to shell out to repaint them or put up with discrepancies within the fleet. 




American has had a troubled few years in terms of customer service - Skytrax gives it 3 out of five stars, and Skytrax users only give it a 3/10 rating - so it is obvious that an upgrade to the brand is in order. However, my suggestion would be this: where possible, keep the bare metal on the aircraft, and change the tail paint and cheatlines slightly to modernise them. That way they still will have the basis of the iconic brand image, but with tweaking round the edges, perhaps to go alongside improved customer services and products, and other aspects of the brand. 
This should be very possible in my eyes, as although the aircraft order includes a large number of Boeing 787s (42 to be exact) that come in those lovely new composite materials, it is nothing compared to the orders of narrow-bodies they have placed - all of which are still currently manufactured in traditional, polishable, wonderful aluminium...

FOCUS: Is LATAM a Game-Changer?

Like a computer on dial-up, the merger between LAN Group and TAM airlines had been ticking over for almost two years by the time it finally became reality on the 22nd June. The carriers, of Chile and Brazil respectively, are now called LATAM and it is estimated that their combined revenues amount to either $13bn or $14bn, depending on who you ask. In 2011 it had a combined fleet of 310 aircraft, which would put it well inside the top twenty in the world, as would their scheduled passenger numbers: last year they carried sixty-million.


But the big question now being asked is this: will this pave the way for other international mergers? Sure, we have KLM-Air France and BA-Iberia, but these carriers still have their separate identities and are controlled by holding groups, set up simply to avoid the archaic ownership and control rules established during the teething years of commercial aviation. 
But now LATAM plans to eventually become essentially one airline. The civil aviation industry is one of few that still abide by restrictive old laws like these; they were created to protect the sovereign rights of nations who felt the threat of airborne attacks were very tangible.


Theoretically, there is no longer any problem with Yippee Airlines from Argentina being owned by Belgians or Patriotic Airways from China being owned by Kazakhs. After all, it happens in the car manufacture industry, the shipping industry, the banking industry...the only barrier now is the law itself. 
Of course, anti-trust laws must be observed to ensure competition is fostered, but this has been honoured in the South American merger - the agreement, for example, includes rules on which alliance the new behemoth of a carrier can join - so there's no reason it couldn't in other mergers.


Which leads me onto the final thought of this post. Where will LATAM lay its allegiance? TAM was a member of Star Alliance but the agreement stipulated that it couldn't be in the same one as the other South American super-carrier, AviancaTaca, also a Star member.
LAN, on the other hand, has been in Oneworld since 2000. Of course, there are the options of Skyteam, or simply staying unaligned (although with all the benefits of alliances this doesn't look likely), but as Ghim-Lay Yeo of Flightglobal points out, there is much less incentive to change after twelve years. Besides, Oneworld provides the North American and European connections its chief executive, Enrique Cueto, wants in the form of American Airlines and IAG (BA-Iberia). 


A decision is expected imminently, and no doubt the potential alliances will be vying for LATAM's attention. Whichever way they go, it could prove to shake up the industry considerably.

A350 Nears Flightline

                                             A350-900 front section                 Photo Airbus

Airbus have brought the front section of their first flying A350-900 to their Toulouse factory from St Nazaire.

#FARNBOROUGH2012, or The Year of the Many Unnecessary Hashtags

Farnborough International Airshow 2012 (or, if you're on Twitter, #FARN12, #FIA12 or one of the umpteen other Hashtags employed) has been and gone, and as usual debate and intrigue prevail afterwards. But what were the main stories to come of it? Well, in brief, 2012 was the year that:

• Boeing brought the 787 back to the display line, in Qatar colours 

• David Cameron opened the show by expressing confidence in the UK aerospace sector, but advised that "...there can be no complacency". This was reinforced by the Science Minister David Willetts recognising that there is a generation of engineers, thinkers and other workers, who brought us the technology we see today, who will soon be retiring.

• The A350-1000 bounced back after a significant reworking, with orders from Cathay Pacific effectively making them the new launch customer.

• Steven Udvar-Hazy changed his mind rather quickly. Months after saying the Boeing 737MAX wasn't a "long term solution" he's now placed an order for 75 for his company Air Lease Corp, which I'm fairly sure is all about long term solutions.

• Airbus showed off their newest airborne animal, the A320 with 'sharklets'. Looks pretty cool I reckon.

• Richard Branson had his own space. Geddit?