Like most of us here, I find the front logo great! Iwouldn't say that about the tail end, but it's not that ugly either. I just don't understand why they - as the flag carrier of the US - would either paint the complete Stars and Stripes, similar to BA's Union Jack or Austrian's Red-White-Red tail.

Straight from the CEO of American Airlines

 

And as you probably know, we have this big order of new airplanes coming. Many of those airplanes – the Airbus and now the Boeing Dreamliner – are made of composites or largely of composites. As a consequence, we have to paint the airplanes. The polished-metal look was no longer going to be an option. That presented us with an opportunity and a challenge.

 

http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/

 

Is this true or just a convenient excuse???

Straight from the CEO of American

 

 

 

Is this true or just an excuse???

 

It is true, there is a chrome paint they could use, but it would add too much weight to the aircraft. So their only alternative is a normal paint job.

I would have rather seen white instead of grey, metallic look was nice while pure grey looks just boring.

I like the front end but the tail... hmmmm... It's gonna take some time to get used to it. I would've preferred they incorporated somehow the AA into it...

 

I completely agree,

 

I prefer the flowing British Airways flag on the tail and the American tail is now too similar to Air France in my pov. I think the AA logo with the eagle gave them distinction and they should have kept that..

I think the AA logo with the eagle gave them distinction and they should have kept that..

 

My thoughts exactly

The livery will look good on *Some* planes......for others it just wont work.....

I would have rather seen white instead of grey, metallic look was nice while pure grey looks just boring.

 

It is not grey but silver mica. When you are close to it you can see the metallic flakes on the paint.

It gets some time getting used to it but it definitely it looks better in person.

The livery will look good on *Some* planes......for others it just wont work.....

 

I'm interested to see how this livery works on different planes. Now that Airbuses are in play for American this type of paint might not be so bad. It's growing on me especially if composite materials is why the they had to do away with the bar metal look.

I really do think that Eurowhite styles, in general, are an artistic abomination, and the AA one is just the latest addition to an endless sea of blah. I guess there is no accounting for taste. When you combine these bland schemes with the somewhat identical looking modern airplanes--a tube with 2 engines--I think it shows just how far past the golden age of air travel we have come. I guess the cheatline-based schemes are finally gone forever.

When you combine these bland schemes with the somewhat identical looking modern airplanes--a tube with 2 engines--I think it shows just how far past the golden age of air travel we have come.

Yes. It seems as if a similar creativity issue is occurring in the personal computing industry, in which many companies are moving towards the minimalistic style of Apple. While simplicity is good, companies should strive to find a balance between elegance, professionalism, and uniqueness in the designs of their products. While I admire Apple products, I also like the business-like and rugged look of my ThinkPad.

I have waited a few days to try a get used to the new livery before making a comment on it's design. The new livery is a big departure from the old livery that we were used to. I imagine that there a was similiar shock felt when Pan American Airlines rolled out the blue globe logo many years ago and became Pan-Am. The Pan-Am blue globe is my favorite airliner livery of all time, but the new AA livery is just awful. The eagle logo on the nose would look great on the tail instead. Maybe if they had carried two red stripes forward along the fuselage to meet word "American", it would look better.

One nit-picking final observation - If the design is supposed to mimic the American flag, the designer should know that there are thirteen stripes, not eleven, on Old Glory.

 

Bill

Using stars, circles, or even squares in a plaid pattern instead of white stripes on the tail would help relieve the design of its overly present linearity. I was able to accept and like the new United livery, but this one seems too different to be likable.

I know that a lot of the American employees are less than enthusiastic about the new livery. My brother is a retired American Airlines employee and I called him Friday morning to get his take and to poke him a little about the new paint job. I work for US Airways and may become an AA employee in the near future. He said he was so angry about the livery that he sent Horton (AA's CEO) an email voicing his displeasure. Now he knows that Horton won't ever see it but he felt he had to say something. The eagle was/is such a large part of American's culture and history, that it angers some of the employees that it's been trivialized in this new look. I'm waiting for an opportunity to see it in person to really make a judgement.