JetBlue is painting its planes blue. Is that a good idea?
Redeem now - JetBlue announced on Wednesday it's going to paint its planes blue.
- The company says the new livery "reflects its role as an industry disruptor."
- But is it really such a good idea?
JetBlue is an airline that prides itself on its ability to march to a different drum.
Sometimes that drum is millennial-friendly marketing and puns, and sometimes that drum is a now-ruled-illegal tie-up with the world's largest airline.
On Wednesday, the drumbeat led the airline to announce that it will paint its jets blue.
"Liveries have always been a part of our identity. When you spot a JetBlue aircraft — whether on the ground or in the air — we want customers to recognize us as a travel brand that moves them differently than everyone else," Jayne O'Brien, JetBlue's marketing and loyalty head, said in a statement. "The new livery helps us stand out among a sky of legacy carriers, and is a stunning reflection of our role as a disruptor that uniquely combines lower fares and great service."
The new paint scheme — referred to as a "livery" in aviation parlance — includes an all-blue fuselage, an all-new tail design with a unique pattern that will run through the rear of the plane, contrast winglets, a larger JetBlue logo on the side of the plane, and the JetBlue logo featured on the belly of the plane. Each plane will be repainted as it undergoes standard maintenance.
While apparently fulfilling a long-held promise that dates back to whenever the name JetBlue was first conceived, it might not be the best idea in light of a changing climate.
Most planes globally are painted mostly white — known as "Eurowhite" in the industry. There are a few reasons for this, but one major one.
"The main reason why aircraft are painted white or light colors is to reflect sunlight and minimize both the heating and any potential damage from the solar radiation," MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics professor R. John Hansman told Insider in 2017. "It's basically the same as putting sunblock on."
Reflecting the sun could help keep the cabin cool on the ground and in the air, reducing the amount of energy it takes to cool down the plane. Dark paint could also lead to higher upkeep costs.
"Another thing that tends to happen with the paint is, over time it will oxidize," Hansman said. "So, if you're painting something red, after a while when it's exposed both to the sun and also environmental conditions, it'll tend to kind of whiten up a little bit anyway because of oxidization."
Still, there's nothing wrong necessarily with painting an airplane a dark color, Hansman said. And JetBlue does not foresee any of these problems being an issue.
"The refreshed livery design was extensively reviewed and researched across the organization to ensure we will maintain our standard of great service. We currently have several special dark liveries in our fleet that do not operate any differently than our current white-and-blue standard livery," the company told Insider in an emailed statement.
"We do not foresee any drawbacks that would disrupt our service or customer experience, and we are excited to introduce our new icons in the sky."
There are US airlines that don't subscribe to the Eurowhite philosophy. In fact, the aforementioned world's largest airline American paints its aircraft fuselage in a grayish silver color — a nod to the airline's history of not painting its planes, instead leaving the shiny metal flesh exposed.
Spirit Airlines earned its "school bus with wings" nickname because of its bright yellow planes as well. Southwest Airlines' paint scheme is the most similar to JetBlue's new one, with a blue fuselage and the airline's name in a large white typeface. They're also similar in the way the painted design on the tail design carries down into the rear of the fuselage with matching winglets.
Smaller airlines like Breeze and Sun Country also have colorful airplanes, but it remains true that the bulk of airplanes in the US are mostly white, like the ones from Delta, United, Alaska, Hawaiian, and Frontier. JetBlue will soon no longer be among them.
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