URL
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.
URL
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.
URL
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?
URL
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?
URL
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)
URL
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!
URL
Need a pocket guide to help identify the world’s airlines? Airline Finder is an iPhone app with illustrations of more than 700 airline liveries. You can sort by name, country, or tail colour. (via Flying with Fish)
URL
Landor’s New York Managing Director, Allen Adamson, has advice for United and Continental on their new brand: it will be their employees who make it succeed—or fail.
URL
The days of the Pan Am Worldport at JFK seem to be numbered, but if you’ve flown Delta out of JFK you might not be too sad to see it go. Even Delta’s president described it as “the worst facility that we operate.” Today, Delta and JFK announced a $1.2-billion expansion of Terminal 4, which will by 2013 handle all of Delta’s international flights. The announcement comes a day after Delta said it would upgrade dining options at LaGuardia. Delta isn’t the first airline to realize that the terminal experience is an important part of the brand experience.
URL
I doubt there are very many airlines in the developed world that still publish paper timetables—if I’m wrong, let me know—but before the Internet, they were ubiquitous. Airline Timetable Images has an incredible collection of hundreds of timetable covers. It’s amazing how you can trace an airline’s history through its timetables; you can watch as a failing airline goes from glossy, four-colour printing to one-colour on newsprint.