So what does United chief executive Jeff Smisek think of his carrier's new livery?With a laugh he jokes at an address in Sydney, "Well I created it so I like it a lot."
Replacing the name "Continental" with "United" in a new font on an otherwise Continental livery (above) has not proven popular with aviation fans. There's even a "Save the United Airlines Tulip" petition to bring back the tail logo of United Airlines.
At the request of one eminent aviation photographer Smisek gave insight into his thoughts on the livery:
What we wanted was a livery that reflected both the merger of equals and also took the best of both.
The Continental livery...the globe and colours are associated in the United States with very high quality service, excellent airline, great reliability.
Why?
Because Continental is an excellent airline with great reliability and with great service.
However the Continental name is not well-known off-shore. The United name is a wonderful brand, very well known off-shore. We preserved the brand identity as a power of the international brand of United with the vestige brand of [Continental].
Putting down my glass of Corporate Kool-Aid, I was amused to hear Jeff talk about unsolicited suggestions for the livery.
By determining the livery in advance, we stop ourselves from having all kinds of suggestions because everybody has lots of suggestions. Despite the fact we announced it and on day one had an airplane painted this way, I still have about 15,000 e-mails explaining how we could make it better.The pessimist might be tempted to suggest that if 15,000 people are e-mailing you, perhaps it is for a good reason.
on December 20, 2010 7:36 PM | Reply
Erm... I must admit that my first thoughts were : that looks quite ugly and old style to be honest and sincere but with time I think the new Continental-repainted planes have a business looking look despite the fact the livery is simple but neat. Everything in aviation has to take time before people get used to it and start liking it to at least a minimum level.
Frederick
on December 20, 2010 10:32 PM | Reply
I'm still unsure if I should call it "Unitinental" or "Continited". Otherwise it's ok...
on December 21, 2010 2:00 AM | Reply
OK, Continental is a VERY over-rated airline. Their colors are dated, the logo is ugly, and the whole package is just terrible. It's even worse with "UNITED" slapped on the side. The United name was chosen, therefore, use the United logo and livery. The Tulip is iconic and known all over the world. The generi-globe is garbage and needs to go. If so many people are saying it's crap, maybe you should listen.