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Great moments in brand management: Henan Airlines puts photos of its recent crash on its homepage—a crash that killed 42 passengers. The airline has sacked its general manager, and officials from Henan Province have demanded that the airline change its name.
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Air New Zealand follows up its naked safety briefing with a new one: crazy about rugby. (Via @witold)
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And now for my first-ever post from 24,000 feet as I fly to DFW: this funny livery from South Africa’s Kulula Air is a few months old now, but maybe it’s new to you, as it was to my mother, who sent it to me. Enjoy!
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From the Chicago Tribune, there’s this timeline comparing the logos of United and Continental over the decades.
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From Popular Science in 1947, a guide to the logos of America’s largest airlines. Of the 13 airlines included, only three still exist today.
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JetBlue just had its best quarter ever, and was just ranked best low-cost carrier by JD Power & Associates. Clearly, this is an airline in serious trouble. AdAge insists jetBlue is in a brand death spiral because of its handling of the Steven Slater incident. Some analysts get some press, including this chestnut: “JetBlue is a brand, whereas the names of other airlines are just that, names.” If anyone knows what that means, please tell me.
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Good news! United and Continental have announced slight changes to their new, merged identity, including a new logo and new livery. Bad news! The new typography is not much better; in fact, the type appears to be stretched. Couldn’t they use the type from United’s existing identity?
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Brand New reviews the updated Virgin Atlantic identity. The post includes a time-lapse video of the plane being repainted—it seems every livery update these days is accompanied by a similar time-lapse video. The next installment of “Tropes,” perhaps?
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A couple months ago I posted a family tree for Delta Air Lines. Now Dan Webb’s blog has a similar tree for the new United Airlines, assuming the merger with Continental will be approved. (via Airline Reporter)
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After yesterday’s post about sex in airline ads, this is… well, the opposite. Apparently BOAC hired its pilots based on the plumminess of their accents. Jolly good!