New plane with retro paint scheme?
Posted by segal25@reddit | aviation | View on Reddit | 122 comments
Caught this at GSP a few weeks ago.
Posted by segal25@reddit | aviation | View on Reddit | 122 comments
Caught this at GSP a few weeks ago.
cyanide_sunrise2002@reddit
Yup. American are running a few aircraft with retro liveries right bow.
StevenSeagalsAnus@reddit
Or their Medal Of Honor livery on an airbus......
Jmann356@reddit
Too bad it’s down for maintenance for a tail strike
ps2sunvalley@reddit
Nah it’s back. I flew it back in September I think.
Foggl3@reddit
It's been back in service for a minute, I took this picture Oct 23 when it was in heavy and Airbus came over to finish the repairs for the tail strike
Fisheye4848@reddit
It’s back out flying. Saw it the other night at the gate here in Dfw
Jmann356@reddit
Oh ok. Just haven’t seen it out in the line but I haven’t been flying much the last month or so.
B_O_A_H@reddit
I thought that was strange, too. I love the honor flight program, but they have plenty of American built Boeings, yet they decided to allocate a German built plane for the cause.
Coliver1991@reddit
Boeing planes arent exactly safe these days.
wrongwayup@reddit
N167AN was built in Alabama ;-)
B_O_A_H@reddit
I never knew that, thanks for the correction, I thought they were all built in Hamburg.
StevenSeagalsAnus@reddit
I'd be willing to bet they wanted to diversify the one off livery fleet and some higher up in their infinite wisdom made the call without really thinking about it.
kgaviation@reddit
Just visited ATL last week!
hooahguy@reddit
I saw this one last week, it was neat.
JoePetroni@reddit
The TWA one is neat. I just wish they had done it with the globe.
PaddyMayonaise@reddit
Taking after the railroads, I see. Smart marketing move.
Epic_Phail505@reddit
If I’m not mistaken I was told that they fly at least one of the old livery’s to keep the trademarks alive or something like that
RollllTide@reddit
Yup, trademarks are use it or lose it
tylerscott5@reddit
Lazy nose cone replacement
pb_in_sf@reddit
PSA 🥹
rezilkas@reddit
I just saw this paint scheme as today, flying into DFW! I had to grab a couple shots, because that retro look was unique.
https://imgur.com/a/XEwqrNX
LVDave@reddit
Thats the old PSA (Pacific Southwest Airlines) that was eaten up by USAir, and then USAir was eaten by AA...
fd6270@reddit
Although AA is the surviving brand, I'd argue that AA was eaten by US Airways/America West.
Illustrious-Act9223@reddit
like how boeing was eaten by mcdonnell douglas even though boeing is the surviving brand
cuntbag0315@reddit
And both the airline and the manufacturer have suffered terribly from it.
TigerIll6480@reddit
Bullshit. Boeing sucked before the merger. The 747 has had as many problems as the DC-10, and the 737 has had far more mechanical issues than the DC-9.
C4-621-Raven@reddit
Curious you don’t mention the 757 or 767 which are both excellent or the 777 which is literal airliner perfection. Very curious.
TigerIll6480@reddit
Everyone can have good days and bad days. The point is that Boeing isn’t the saintly engineering company ruined by the eeeevil MD execs like the Boeing fanbois like to portray.
OD_Emperor@reddit
And sales numbers... And customer retention... And finances... And safety culture... And CEO/worker relationship...
TigerIll6480@reddit
Kings of marketing.
TigerIll6480@reddit
The 747 had just as many engine loss incidents as the DC-10 family, for example. And Douglas never had the “badly repaired fuselage damage causes the plane to fall apart” nonsense. 🤷♂️
Kungfu_Queso@reddit
No
cuntbag0315@reddit
My fault. My comment is on the leadership takeover, but the DC10 definitely killed McDs commercial side and regardless of mech issues both those airframes survived to continue mass production.
Nice_Classroom_6459@reddit
I don't know where this idea comes from MD was probably the better plane maker circa the merger. Boeing is not some testament to aviation greatness they survived on government contracts and a high tolerance for crashes and outlasted all their competitors. That John Oliver piece was total horse manure.
Kungfu_Queso@reddit
Yeah so true, often the better ran and reputable company is sold off to a lessor competitor 🤦♂️
Kungfu_Queso@reddit
McDonald Douglas remnants ( engineers and mgmt ) is what caused all the crap Boeing is dealing with now
ctn1ss@reddit
And United/Continental
Tyraid@reddit
You just see paint, USAir bought American and used the branding as it was stronger.
ZappaLlamaGamma@reddit
My favorite livery as the planes smile
Key_Limerance_Pie@reddit
Always loved the smile.
showMeYourPitties10@reddit
Worked this plane last week. My crew and I always take a picture of us with a stupid smile by the nose.
Eeebs-HI@reddit
US Airways eaten by America West which in turn eats AA (keeping the larger carriers name each time)
Flyby-1000@reddit
I just saw this one the other day in MCO. Neat retro livery.
truth-telling-troll@reddit
I miss the time when we had Desert Gold, Battleship Grey, Bare Metal, and Bowling Shoe flying around. The ones older than this were pretty great too (I just never saw them cuz I wasn't born).
I hope airlines try to stay unique rather than falling for the "minimalistic" crap that some airlines like Lufthansa and Korean have done.
OperaGrrl71@reddit
Southwest "baby shit brown livery" 737's. Taken a first ride onboard from San Antonio to Vegas...parental custody exchange in '91. Dad had my sister and I during that summer.
Texas_Kimchi@reddit
I rode on the previous PSA plane its my favorite retro scheme.
LVDave@reddit
Being from San Diego, PSA was my favorite airline. Used to fly them from San Diego to San Francisco to visit my grandparents, back when PSA still flew the Lockheed Electra and the fare from San Diego to San Francisco was a bit over $27...
shananananananananan@reddit
https://youtu.be/gdLITtZfvLA?si=Zw5sF-TE0GJBMoH1
Texas_Kimchi@reddit
The smiling 727s remind me of childhood.
shananananananananan@reddit
https://youtu.be/gdLITtZfvLA?si=Zw5sF-TE0GJBMoH1
Guardsred70@reddit
I think they do these to maintain the trademarks. Once per decade, companies have to renew trademarks and show proof of use.
I’ve had to do it for companies a few times early in my career. If the logo was registered for use on t shirts and mousepads….you had to send the trademark office a t shirt and a mousepad. If you couldn’t find a mousepad, you had to make one AND demonstrate its use in interstate commerce. It’s a huge pain in the ass, but makes sense by allowing unused trademarks to enter the public domain.
nqthomas@reddit
I’m surprised PSA the regional doesn’t do a special livery like this too
MetikMas@reddit
The current PSA regional has no connection to the original PSA
atomicdragon136@reddit
AA owns PSA regional as a subsidiary.
USAir and Pacific Southwest Airlines merged in 1988 with USAir being the surviving brand name. In 1995, USAir acquired Jetstream Airlines, and later renamed it PSA Airlines to protect the former PSA brand.
MetikMas@reddit
Yep. They were different companies and US Airways just used the name for vee Neal/Jetstream
nqthomas@reddit
They are still PSA airlines a wholly owned subsidiary of AA. So they could easily use this trademark stuff on it.
Important-Spring3977@reddit
Just hopping in to say I love GSP and I hope they can continue growing after their current updates. It's a very easy airport to navigate and fly to.
SoCallMeDeaconBlues1@reddit
OMG! PSA!
I actually love this.
FWIW if you didn't know, PSA was bought out by AA. PSA still operates a fleet of regional jets.
If you've been to the flight museum in San Diego in the past couple years, they had a big display about PSA. And if memory serves me correctly the first flight aboard a major carrier for me was a PSA 707 331 (it might've been an L188, kinda fuzzy nowadays).
Very cool
MetikMas@reddit
The regional PSA is completely separate from the original PSA. The current PSA started as Vee Neal Airlines and US Airways changed the name to PSA to protect the original PSA brand that didn’t exist anymore after they merged into US Airways.
SoCallMeDeaconBlues1@reddit
Learn something new every day! Cheers
CarminSanDiego@reddit
Poor marketing strategy and waste of money on paint job. The average passenger will only think “wow that is a really old plane … AA is going downhill “
legendaryjangles@reddit
American has a series of throwback liveries on a handful of their A321s and 737-800s in the style of defunct airlines that have eventually been absorbed into AAL. Pretty cool honestly.
3bugsdad@reddit
Smile does not look broad enough.
lorsteez@reddit
Just saw this plane at PVR
Racing_Fox@reddit
British Airways did this in 2019 for their 100th anniversary
Whirlwind_AK@reddit
People Scattered Allover
LVDave@reddit
Flight 182... RIP..
TwoAmps@reddit
All this accomplishes is to remind me how much I miss PSA and how much easier and more pleasant air travel was back then. You could go anywhere you wanted within California pretty much whenever you wanted, usually by just showing up at the airport and getting on the next flight. On a real airplane, to boot. The party was over after PSA and Air Cal got assimilated and their planes pointed East, ever since then, we’ve had to rely on Southwest, which was—past tense—ok, and a hodgepodge of little planes run by little airlines making occasional flights to some city pairs and charging a pretty penny to do it. Yes, I’m sure I’m just remembering the good parts, but it was actually pretty good.
LVDave@reddit
Oh yes.. Being a San Diego native, PSA was MY airline. Started flying them back when they were still flying the Electras. Never got a chance to fly with them during the time they had a couple of Tri-Stars.. LOVED their FA's uniforms...
SpecialistPlastic729@reddit
PSA, originally an intra-California only airline to escape federal regulations on setting airfares. Once Ronald Reagan deregulated airfares, PSA had to compete with national carriers like American Airlines.
So did international carriers, like the old Northwest Orient and Pan Am.
Every time I see the PSA livery I’m reminded of the Cerritos mid-air and ensuing crash. Someone took a picture of the PSA jet going down and the smile is haunting.
Aggravating_Plant848@reddit
Ahhh, the 70s pretty colors!
cloneman88@reddit
N582UW?
cloneman88@reddit
I was on this plane a year ago when it had a compressor stall on the runway. Odd seeing it again!
https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/s/o3Dg6tbFaa
esposimi@reddit
My favorite AA retro livery brings back a lot of memories https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/11863860 https://imgur.com/8Ct3d6d
C4-621-Raven@reddit
Curious you don’t mention the 757 or 767 which are both excellent or the 777 which is literal airliner perfection. Very curious.
eci5k3tcw@reddit
Reminds me of Empire airlines from upstate NY.
Taptrick@reddit
Of course it no longer has the painted nose cone. Too bad.
kgaviation@reddit
If the normal one is damaged, I wish they would at least paint the white nose cone to match. It’s been bugging me.
wrongwayup@reddit
There are a lot more nose cones than paint booths.
nqthomas@reddit
Easier to hot replace.
cyberentomology@reddit
So very boopable.
NeedForM654@reddit
A321?
Jmann356@reddit
Yes it is
Granny-Smith-Apple@reddit
specifically, N582UW. has been painted in the livery since September 2023
NeedForM654@reddit
Thx
Jmann356@reddit
Forgot the tail number but know I’ve flown it a few times
kgaviation@reddit
They really need to replace the nose with the matching cone. That mismatched white one bugs me and it’s been that way for a while.
GrouchyCantaloupe806@reddit
Reminds me of AirCal in the 60s. But definitely PSA as well. Just needs a smile.
penelo-rig@reddit
Yes. PSA was gone for about 2 years by the time the A320 came out.
DRYGEOLOG@reddit
TAAG?
Billy-54-@reddit
Looks like the PSA livery, even has the smile under the flight deck.
GroundedGerbil@reddit
American has all their conquest’s liveries out there. TWA, Allegheny, US Air, America West, Peidmont, PSA. I’m sure I’m missing some?
wsh3dvector@reddit
One of the many they have, A321s are all LUS aircraft and wear they airlines US Airways merged with. The 738s are LAA aircraft and have the airlines AA merged with. And now a retro 77W for the 100 years.
Veraciraptor7@reddit
No that's original has a functioning smoking section and everything
amessmann@reddit
So the aviation community is getting heritage units?
nqthomas@reddit
This has been around for as long as I can remember. Use to be on the A319s. They swapped all of them to 321s
Daniel_JacksonPhD@reddit
iirc, planes have been doing these kinds of things before locomotives, so technically we had Plane Heritage units first. I could be wrong but that's just what i remember reading ages ago.
bestnicknameever@reddit
Iberia?
nqthomas@reddit
PSA retro
nuvo_reddit@reddit
Wish such bright colours would make a comeback everywhere. Looks so cheerful in this gloomy world.
nqthomas@reddit
PSA has been on the 321 for a couple years now
AlaskanPotatoSlap@reddit
Is that GSP?
CapitalRadioOne@reddit
Catch Our Smile!
Polly1011T121917@reddit
That’s not a new aircraft, that plane is 11 years old. The livery is 🔥 tho!
cyberentomology@reddit
New? no. retro? Definitely.
dpaanlka@reddit
This has been around for quite a few years.
ekkidee@reddit
PSA livery, circa 1980.
Belfastscum@reddit
Sexy. Fuckin' sexy
airpab1@reddit
PSA’s tagline was….”Catch Our Smile”
looper741@reddit
American has retro liveries for each airline that they have acquired/merged with. This one is PSA.
Fit-Bedroom6590@reddit
With one exception Trans Caribbean Airways, flag carrier, a DC and JFK DC8, 727, operation acquired in 1970 allowing AA's first foray into the Caribbean.
7stroke@reddit
Personally I can’t wait for the selvedge denim wraps to come out
airport-codes@reddit
I am a bot.
^(If you are the OP and this comment is inaccurate or unwanted, reply below with "bad bot" and it will be deleted.)
Thatguy7242@reddit
Good bot
Hot_Net_4845@reddit
Been around since 2023
Sasquatch-d@reddit
And that’s just the A321. American/US airways have had an A319 in the PSA livery for almost 20 years until this aircraft replaced it.
Sasquatch-d@reddit
And that’s just on the A321. They had it on the 737 for over a decade.
imnoherox@reddit
Looks so cool!
CarrDaPorice@reddit
TAAG Angola xerox'd this livery?
shananananananananan@reddit
Pretty underwhelming execution of the PSA smile.
Thin_Caterpillar6998@reddit
Oof. Not a fan of nostalgia.
TaskMastered92@reddit
That’s the PSA livery. It’s been around for a minute.