[Anonymous]

[VintageKrug]

Don’t think BA have done this previously, aside from the 1998 BOAC 747.

This rolled out from the paintshop today:

http://www.airliners.net/uf/view.file?id=39878&filename=phpOq1STG.jpeg

[excessbaggage]

Is this to commemorate the retirement of the remaining 757-200 fleet?

[CharlieBrown]

According to BA’s Twitter account this is indeed to commemorate 27 years of B757 service. It will be seen flying to Barcelona & Madrid as well as Heathrow T3 from tomorrow. Looks beautiful indeed although I must say the Landor livery will always be my personal favourite.

[BAdboys]

A very expensive paintjob for a months flying……the 757 retires on the 31st Oct! Looks good, I agree, but doesn’t do my dividend much good……

[continentalclub]

Shareholders need not worry.

All aircraft leaving the fleet are stripped of company markings prior to being delivered to their new owners. Passers-by of the BA maintenance facility near Terminal Four at Heathrow will currently see a few other 757s which have been taken down to a base white.

G-CPET has gone through the same process, just a little bit before retirement with, I believe, the application of temporary vinyls to the tail plane and fuselage. These are very similar to the type used on some trains these days, and indeed to those day-glo prices slapped down the side of cars on dealer forecourts.

If there has been any paint used at all, it’ll probably have been on the engine casings.

Overall cost implication: tiny. Press interest: enormous.

I suspect also that the maintenance team will be very proud of their work, especially if it has been handed over to apprentices as part of their training (as these kind of jobs often are).

I must admit to being a bit biased though; that livery on an L-1011 is my all-time, absolute favourite.

*rubs misty eye*

[MartynSinclair]

I join BAdboys on this one. The front of the aircraft looks very dated and the tail fin is bland and boring. We are talking of a paint scheme a mere 20 years old (if that). I dont think that qualifies for “historic” status. Going a little further back to BOAC or BA (irrelevant to the B757-200) would be something else.

It concerns me to see BA providing a budget for this boderline PR excercise or whatever its purpose.

A total waste of money!

[RogerVictor]

BA aren’ t the only company to do this, in fact they are way behinf the drag curve. Regulars at Heathrow will see

Finnair
KLM
Lufthansa
Lot
and Thai

among others, all with retro colour schemes. Personally I think they are great – I remember the last B742 going out in BOAC colours and it created huge interest in the airline.

[MartynSinclair]

Roger Victor, spot on – they do look great and they deserve their place in the line up. However, an 80’s retro coloured 757-200, just has aboslutely zero significance in aviation history. It may look good, but a total waste of money in October 2010.

[VintageKrug]

I initially thought it was a waste of money, but having read continentalclub’s post, I now realise this didn’t cost BA very much at all; just a few decals and an engine cowling re-paint.

So there is no case to answer re: a waste of money.

And, as CC says, the press interest will be invaluable.

Also, Martyn, it is not true to say that this livery has no historical significance; BA was the launch customer outside the USA, and this was the first Boeing prototyped and launched with Rolls Royce (i.e. non US) engines.

As the launch carrier, Eastern, is no longer with us there is some historical significance in the retirement of the 757 by the only existing launch carrier, and it is fitting that this is celebrated in its launch livery; the end of an era.

[BlackTower]

Could they also celebrate with some decent catering from ca 20 years ago?

Should we walk off the plane weighed down with Champoo bottles still sealed?

Should we all don ventless suits and very large mobiles?

[Bunnahabhain]

Yeah wonder where those full size trays they used to serve breakfast on ended up!

I’m raising a glass of VK to my print of the 757 in the later “To fly to serve” livery, released around the time of the Super Shuttle branding, when the HST replaced the Deltics between King’s X and Edinburgh and the West Coast Main Line was quite good. Anorak on too! 10-minute check-in was the big card.

Can we have a budgie (aka HS748) in the same livery, it complemented the 757 perfectly between Shetland and Heathrow -apparently flew even when the seagulls were grounded! Full bar service continued too!

[NTarrant]

Those were the days! Was it really 27 years ago that livery was around? Acutually it is a bit more than 27 more 30. This was the time that BA decided to drop the “Airways” on aircraft, tickets, luggage tags and other items.

In my travel agency days, I recall attending a BA agents promotional evening where we were told that everyone knew it was and airline and they wanted to shout it was British. Can’t remember much else, BA knew how to host an agents promotion!

[Binman62]

Nice way to see the old girl out but I never liked the BRITISH Logo and boy it looks very dated now. Landor was so ahead of its time and marked the transformation of BA from state run monolith to world beating airline.
I was one of the very few who actually liked the ethnic tails. They too were ahead of their time, too much so for some, but I suspect that in time, a derivative of this idea will grace the tails of aircraft form the various alliances as national identities become increasingly blurred in the world of aviation.

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

Binman

I was the other person who liked the ethnic tails – it was a brilliant marketing move and sadly fell victim to xenophobia.

For the past 30 odd years, I’ve worked out of the UK and those ethnic tails really connected with people in a way that is very difficult to explain. The speed marque and colour scheme was distinctly BA and strong enough to carry the brand.

When they were all painted with the Chatham dockyard tail, a lot of people abroad felt it was a bit jingoistic and a sad day.

Also, I hated the British logo too, it reminds me of the PR reason for doing it, deleting ‘Airways’ saved paint and weight.

Shortly afterwards, King and co. started to knock the airline into shape for privatisation and BA became a real market leader for around 10-12 years, with the introduction of the ‘first’ flat bed perhaps representing the zenith. At that time, flying BA was a superb experience.

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