The new United livery, post-merger
Woody Allen once quipped that “you can’t ride two horses with one ass.” I can’t help but feel that this is exactly what the proposed United-Continental post-merger livery is trying to do. United was settled upon as the go-forward name because it was the stronger brand – certainly on the global stage – so why dilute the brand by cross-breeding it with Continental colors. Even in a “merger of equals” you’re not going to please everybody so why back this half baked livery? For my part I have to say this livery of equals seems like a disingenuous olive branch. To Continental pilots worried that they might get the axe during “right-sizing” does the color of the plane matter? Probably not, unless the Continental white was favored for reasons of cost (most/all of their fleet is uniform and would only need a quick pit stop for paint). If this is the case then fair enough but I’m not sure if that’s how they got there.
Perhaps Continental folks just take more pride in their paint. The last time I was in Newark I don’t recall seeing a single dirty Continental frame. United are… well a picture is worth a thousand words.
Without knowing the particulars it’s hard to be too critical but I have to say that the proposed livery is lazy at best. At the very, very least they could have capitalized “United” the way it has always been.
Old United 737-200
Old United 767-200
Old United Dornier 328
Old United L1011
Old United Viscount
Also, what happens if the new United’s relationship with Copa goes south? Will we have two disparate airlines buzzing around in the same livery? That could be nice and confusing.
Some of you will think that I’ve got my priorities wrong. After all airline mergers are a complex nightmare entailing labor issues, network optimization problems, fleet harmonization, crew base shuffling etc. “Aren’t those more important issues?” you ask. I would argue that they are more important but that this is a situation in which the order of problem resolution is not totally congruent to the importance of the problems themselves. The reason is simple the flying public doesn’t see or care about any of the operational side of things. They purchase tickets in the same way they purchase chewing gum; brand and name recognition, price point and past experience though not necessarily in that order. There’s no point creating the world’s biggest airline if there aren’t bums in the seats. Delta (and Northwest) got it right, maybe Tilton and Smisek can take a leaf out of their playbook.
