It's not bad at all. At first I was skeptical, but now I'm really starting to like it. It has a very retro look to it, what with the blue fuselage and black "United" titles. The best part is that the livery is still distinctively United. Unlike Delta or Northwest who abandoned all reason, UAL's new livery still looks....United.

Note the similarity in the titles:


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Photo © David Schulman


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Photo © UAFlyer


Much closer than the Grey colors, though I will miss them.

Ramprat74- I just don't like it at all. I am saying this because I really like their current one. And I would hate to see it go.

tony lu,
a/c 9890 is the 37........

The new livery on the 737 looks okay, but the way the tail looks with the new colors is AWFUL!! Yes parts of the U are missing on the tail, maybe they need to shrink the design a little bit to give it a better look so that you can actually see the U. From my point of view, right now it looks like the letter J.

I really love the new Livery for United. I am wondering now if the interior will be changed.

I got a chance to see the 777 at JFK yesterday and she looked awesome in person! Nice job on the paint scheme UNITED!

Well, I have to say that it's still growing on me too.


The previews that UAL744Flagship posted in the weeks prior to the official unveiling were absolutely beautiful. I would say that I would like this livery MUCH better if it were closer to UAL744's concept.

It's pretty similar but there are striking differences:

1) The blue belly and engines of United's design are much darker than the brighter blue of UAL744's design.

2) The cheatline on UAL's design had thicker bands. Each shade of blue had a wider band, making the cheatline more pronounced and the livery itself much more colourful and bright. A very beautiful, eye-pleasing combination. United's official design has the cheatline too narrow, reducing the amount of colour in the livery.

3) The bands in the cheatline were a stronger blue in UAL744's design. United's design is more muted.

4) The tail logo in UAL744's design was positioned and sized much better on the tail. On all planes, the flying-U was clearly pronounced. The blue that surrounds the flying-U took up more space, perfectly framing the logo. United's design, however, doesn't border the U at all, instead cutting the U off and making the logo hard to recognize.

5) The U N I T E D font on UA744's design was blue, not black, further adding colour to the livery. HOWEVER, United's black font on the plane gives it a distinctly retro feel. When I look at it I have the sensation of being taken back to the 80s, a feeling I do not mind AT ALL, since everything in the world of aviation was better back then, like hopping a 744 from JFK to MIA.  


My impression of United's official design:


Retro. Instead of a step forward it is more a livery that echoes the past. That's not a bad thing. When I look at this livery, I do not see "21st century". This livery was supposed to be fresh and modern, instead it became fresh and retro. Again, not a bad thing.


When I look at it I see echoes of several time periods. The dark, bold United titles and the blue chealine remind me of the "Friendship" livery and did so long before N766UA posted that picture comparison here.  

The dark United titles also take me back to the 1980s. While the font is different than what was used back then, it's not too far off in appearance.

Because the livery is much less colourful than anticipated, it has less of a modern feel and more of a retro feel. Airline liveries with generous amounts of white were around long before "Eurowhite" was even a word. Alot of past airline schemes weren't done proper justice because too much empty space or bare white was left exposed. Interestingly, as much as we hate white liveries, we seem to have a nostaligic soft spot for unbalanced liveries of the past. The retro schemes. The ones that always seemed to collect alot of dirt that never seemed to be washed off. Ahh those were the days.

This livery brings that back. Yes, it's unbalanced. It may have too much white. It looks like a scheme that would show dirt quite prominently. It's exactly what many of the 60s, 70s, and 80s liveries were like. In fact all you have to do is paint that tail white or extend the cheatline up it and presto you have a bona-fide late 70's to mid-80s airline colour scheme.


For that, I like it.



As a 21st century scheme it leaves me cold. I expected a bit better, and I'm a bit disappointed.

As a retro scheme, I love it. Many elements of old and new, a "new" livery that feels old, feels nostalgic, feels good. I can't wait to see it in person, hopefully with a bit of dirt on it for old time's sake. It's rare that I've seen an airline come out with a new scheme, that looked like something that the previous scheme would have replaced. 

Looking good 

Cant wait to see a B744 in the colour scheme

running for barf bag.....
P-U-K-E!
The scheme is horrible.
How they went from top dog to trailer park is beyond me!
It makes JetBlue look positively exotic.

BOOORING........and certainly not the modern sleek and sexy look they were going for.....but alas boring seems to be the downward trend liveries are taking these days. The tail design is completely pointless and holds no meaning to anyone beyond airline junkies (much like NW's new tail and Deltas which drive me crazy, and yes I know the arguments for NW's choice) And white?? what were they thinking? Hopefully others can appreciate it more than I.

Flynavy,a UA 744 has visited LAS !

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Photo © Mark Abbott


Has anyone else noticed that 'Worldwide Service' sticker is gone ??????

Thats because unless your in 1st there is NO service.

"alot nicer tha the 777" - Pilot kaz

"Im not sure why but those c/s look much better on the 737 than the 777" - Futureualpilot

"Yup, on the 737 it looks very nice! A lot nicer than on the 772" - ND

I think this new UAL livery can be compared to Delta's wavy gravy in the sense that it looks great on smaller a/c, but on the large widebodies there's just too much white.

Ok I admit it, there sexy.

from what i understand the worldwide service logo was taken off when UA stopped their Hong Kong or Tokyo to Delhi flights, but then they resumed the flights which gave them back their "around the world service" or something like that...can't recall exactly what it was...

in the 757 screen shot from FS above, it's interesting that the nosewheel is turned in mid-air  

jonathan d.

I saw the 737 parked in front of the hangars in DEN this evening. I must say that it looked very good. My only gripe was the 2.5 stripes of the tulip on the tail. I liked TED's livery better  

__TJ__

Looks a HELL of a lot better than that boring gray paint....but nothing beats this livery..................
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Photo © Paul Morley

Aloha717...

Thanks for your comments. I would have preferred to see the logotype in blue as well... but I can understand the reason for choosing black. The U N I T E D font is seen in black most of the time, especially on white backgrounds. The only time it is seen in blue is in one-color applications, such as on napkins, when the tulip in front of it is also a solid "United blue". When paired with the classic, two-clor tulip, it is either black or white though -- never blue...

FYI -- the dates for the first 757s and 747s in the new schemes are up on my website.  

We're gonna have to wait a while for the first 744... so until then all we have are FS2K4 previews...  

I can't wait to see the new livery on the 757-200 and 767-300(ER).  

I think it'll be a while before we see the new livery on the 747-400, though. When will we see a UA 744 go to D check heavy maintanence so it will get the new livery?

United fan,

Nice pic, wish that was real! 747 with the MGM Grand in the back round, just got back from there. Vegas is the town! I have never been a big fan of United's color schemes but that one is nice.

United_fan...

Just curious... did you download the n/c preview 744 aircraft from my website or from avsim??

Reason being if it's on AVSIM, no one from there asked me permission... and I will contact them ASAP.

FlyNavy and United Fan...


Just a few years ago we ran scheduled service to LAS with the 747-400.


For the UA employees...

Is there a way to see the paint schedule in unimatic? I havent seen that before.

Thx!

Jc5280, look at DIS/2000 in Unimatic. That is the index for the different fleet types and scheduled work for aircraft with the fleet. While much of the information concerns more routine checks, it does include plans to send planes into the paint shop in AMA. Although I didn't have a chance to look through all the equipment types, there is a definite emphasis on the 737s (esp the Shuttle ones). I asked someone at OPB if there is a way to track progress within the fleets, and he said he didn't think so. I'll keep checking!

Personally, I can't wait to see the 757. Can't explain why, as the 757 is not my favorite plane (the 747 holds that top-spot!), but I think it will look very good when it finally comes out.

UA744Flagship, I heard that also regarding the 72 aircraft including new deliveries to the express carriers. Hopefully we'll be seeing some variety soon. The 737 does look great, though. Definitely not a bad plane to see a lot of in the new livery!

I have to say, at first I was very reluctant of these colours, but now its starting to grow on me!

Thanks for the update UA747Flagship!!

-Mike

JC McGill is that you?

UA744flagship,I downloaded it from your site .
I wish UA would put the 744 back into LAS  

Saw it in DEN on Sunday night. Looks real sharp. The only thing that bothers me is how with the dorsal of the B737 tail, the logo is cut strangely. Looks good though.

Dan

Thank you Ssides:

I didn't want to be the first to say it. Looks like some art school student from the 80s dipped an airplane in a deep blue sea (half-way).