On this forum, I often see questions asking how much it costs an airline to adopt a new livery ... The answer to this and other questions can be found at the following website, courtesy of America West / US Airways.

http://www.americawest.com/awa/conte...mpanyprofile/usair/livery_faq.aspx

I did a search and did not find this posted, so I hope this topic is not a duplicate.

Enjoy ...

Some excerpts:

How much does it cost to paint an airplane and how long does it take?

As you can imagine, painting an airplane is a big job. It takes about seven days to paint and costs more than $50,000 in time and materials, plus out-of-service time.

Why is the new airline getting a new look if the name will still be US Airways?

There are several reasons to go with a new paint scheme even if the name of the new airline remains the same:

This plan accomplishes a lot of painting that would have been required anyway. America West aircraft, which were last painted in 1996, need to be repainted, and many US Airways planes are in need of painting because some painting had been deferred.

This plan creates a look that will work well alongside US Airways planes that have yet to be painted. Planes will only be repainted through the normal course of their existing, required maintenance schedules.

This plan saves money, which helps contribute to keeping fares low. If we’d decided to repaint and take a new name for the new airline, there would have been the additional expense of changing US Airways signs at airport ticket counters and gates. By keeping the US Airways name, this is not something we'll need to do. Additionally, lighter paint on the top lasts longer than darker paint, which tends to fade faster, plus lighter-colored aircraft are easier to cool during the hot summer months.