Airline companies are huge enterprises, each striving to gain customers in the face of strong competition from powerful rivals.
Marketing strategy in airlines is one of the most complexes in the world. And branding appears to be one of the most important parts of marketing. When just a glance at the company’s logo, the passenger can choose one direction or another.
You won’t see explicit images of airplanes in most of the logos of airlines around the world. But all the lines and layout of the emblems are subconsciously represented by flying machines.
There is a huge variety of colors used, but you can see that blue and red are preferred. These colors stand for professionalism and reliability and evoke a sense of protection and confidence. Plus they do look great on a white background, which is most often used for airplanes.
As you look through the airline logos, you’ll probably notice some patterns. Many of them have traditional symbols and national colors. Airlines like to use flight and bird motifs in their logos to send the message that you can travel with them quickly and safely.
Aircraft coloring is an integral part of any air carrier’s image. It is necessary to identify the airplane and to promote the corporate values and image of the airline. The airway coloring scheme often includes elements of the country’s flag or coat of arms and other national symbols. Look, for example, at the logo of British Airways or American US Airways.
The color scheme and emblems on the aircraft are called livery. Each airline has its permanent livery, but from time to time carriers put on unique liveries. The modern approach to the painting of airliners, called European white, appeared in the 1970s. The meaning of this concept is that the entire body of the aircraft is painted white, and the inscription and logo of the carrier are applied on top. The paint protects the airplane hull from environmental hazards, increases surface smoothness, thereby reducing friction against the air. If it is light, it somewhat reduces the heating due to the reflection of sunlight.
Bet, you have never even thought of it, but it takes about 450 liters of paint to paint one Boeing 747, and the cost of the procedure on average is from 50 to 200 thousand USD.
The inscriptions and signs painted on the aircraft not only promote the image of the air carrier but also help ground services to recognize the aircraft. This is especially important in large hubs, where it is important for employees of various services, dispatchers, and crews to quickly determine the location of a particular aircraft. So this is when design works for practical needs as well.
When choosing which airline to fly with, the passenger pays attention to the livery design, which is based on the logo. Usually, the text logo is located along the side of the ship, and its branding is on the tail or wings. As can be seen from the above examples, most of these logos do not have the image of an airplane but use images of birds and animals, as well as curved shapes that resemble wings.