The topic about Key Lime Air that was started here the other day got me to thinking about all the other badly named or branded carriers out there.

Key Lime Air (really stupid .. that's a fruit or a pie .. not an airline name) is definitely up there for me ... but so are:

- Delta SONG ... that never made any sense to me ... plus that big green sperm design on the side of the plane ... what was the logic?

- BMI Baby .. just too cutesy and silly

- Air Canada JAZZ ... how and when has "jazz" music ever been associated with Canada. .. or the TANGO, for that matter (another of their divisions)

- WOW Air .. seriously dumb name .. to say nothing of the hideous pink and purple livery. Nothing even suggests Iceland.


Seems like a dignified approach hasn't really been much of an issue for several years now .. any other names you folks wanna add to the list ?

How about WIZZ? "When you fly...Just Take A WIZZ"!!!

Joon, AF's new "LCC". The name means NOTHING.

I actually like WOW as a name. It markets itself

One of the worst is SCAT.

Song – although apparently it 'resonated well with women', whatever that means.

Go – had to go. A sort of low cost airline for the Waitrose & Whole Foods set that cannibalised BA's own traffic. Another airline that favoured lime green for uniforms and logo etc – amazing how quickly these things date.

Ted – low cost offspring Of United that got shut down as soon as it started. Maybe it was the name...

Vueling – portmanteau of 'vuel', Spanish for flight but minus the o in 'vuelo' and the English 'ing' (so something along the lines of fligt'ing. Very trendy in Barcelona around the mid 2000s but sounds as naff as the word naff outside Spain (hence why IAG created Level).

Most are low cost carriers whose idea of lower costs was just having all lowercase on the fuselage and some BS squiggles on the engine cowlings. When mgmt consultants run airlines, eh?

F27500 wrote:

- Delta SONG ... that never made any sense to me ... plus that big green sperm design on the side of the plane ... what was the logic?

It was hideous, yes.

F27500 wrote:

- BMI Baby .. just too cutesy and silly

Apparently people liked this one, but yes; another infantile project and another round of dumbing down.

F27500 wrote:

- Air Canada JAZZ ... how and when has "jazz" music ever been associated with Canada. .. or the TANGO, for that matter (another of their divisions)

Indeed. And someone probably got paid a lot of money to come up with that. Ha!

F27500 wrote:

- WOW Air .. seriously dumb name .. to say nothing of the hideous pink and purple livery. Nothing even suggests Iceland.

It looks very downmarket. They also have a HQ in the city that's pink. In any case, most people who fly Wow disagree it has the 'wow' factor no matter how much pink/purple paint they use.

FlyBondi, a new carrier in South America somewhere, a damn long way from Bondi Beach in Australia!

F27500 wrote:

- Air Canada JAZZ ... how and when has "jazz" music ever been associated with Canada. .. or the TANGO, for that matter (another of their divisions)

Same with the Utah Jazz basketball team. Nothing to do with SLC at all (I know, the team came from New Orleans, but they could have changed the name to something related to SLC).

SCAT and Wizz. WTF? Why name airlines after bodily functions?

Obviously WOW refers to its desired perception of low fares. Everything plays to that.

Song probably meant 'going for a song', i.e. going cheaply.

Often, those who don't understand the reasoning don't seem to understand the word or local meaning. E.g.:

In Europe Wizz is a great name: whiz off somewhere new. We don't really say 'we are going to take a wizz'. And wizz looks better than whiz.

FlyBondi effectively means 'FlyBus'. It is effectively competing with buses.

Air Seoul could sound totally normal or vulgar depending on how it's pronounced.

The best was Turdus Airways, quickly rebranded Trans Travel Airlines...

Another was the short lived Ankair. Might not think twice about it if one lived in Ankara, but they had a large bird with wings open as a logo next to it and it looked like a big W. Was awesome.

Juneyao Airlines. Its Chinese name effectively mean Auspicious Airlines and is pronounced Jixiang, but for some reason they decided to use their parent corps' name for english translation and call itself Juneyao. I wonder how many people know it is the same airlines when reading it in English vs in Chinese

Spirit is a good name for an airline, but the Spirit Airlines name has acquired negative connotations with its poor customer service, its ultra-low cost carrier business model, and customer dissatisfaction.

F27500 wrote:

Key Lime Air (really stupid .. that's a fruit or a pie .. not an airline name) is definitely up there for me ... but so are:

What really gets me is that the airline is based in Colorado of all places. It wouldn't necessarily be a bad name for an island hopping outfit in Florida, but what on earth is the relationship between Colorado and Key Limes?? I guess 'Rocky Mountain Oyster Air' wouldn't have gone over well. The name they fly passenger flights with, Denver Air Connection, is boring and uncreative but at least it makes sense.

I will add a couple Puerto Rican airlines here....Air Flamenco just sounds silly to me...its a flamingo!!! Air Culebra..named after the city it flies from, Culebra...but a Culebra is a snake in Spanish...MN Aviation...who is/are M and N?

Don't forget Suckling Airways

F27500 wrote:

- Air Canada JAZZ ... how and when has "jazz" music ever been associated with Canada. .. or the TANGO, for that matter (another of their divisions)

- WOW Air .. seriously dumb name .. to say nothing of the hideous pink and purple livery. Nothing even suggests Iceland.

To each their own. I think WOW's livery is sharp and prominent in a great way, and their branding materials are on point. Further more WOW is aiming connecting passengers over O&D flights, so involving Iceland in it's brand isn't necessary.

Also Montreal (AC's Base) is famously a Jazz town... definitely research before assuming!

Darwin Airline perhaps means something reasonable to its Swiss owners but I think Darwin Award every time I see the name.

Alas Uruguay.

Alas means wings in Spanish but in English it sounds like you are saying it's a shame you have to visit Uruguay, lol.

This post will easily reach the hundreds because there have really been some pathetic names over the years! How about Peach of Japan and its colours are purple... Or Vanilla which is yellow... my favourite was Hooters Air named after the restaurant. It was really operated by Pace Airlines as a public charter. They actually served buffalo wings too.

SkyBus Airlines was quite a foolish name for an airline.

F27500 wrote:

The topic about Key Lime Air that was started here the other day got me to thinking about all the other badly named or branded carriers out there.

Key Lime Air (really stupid .. that's a fruit or a pie .. not an airline name) is definitely up there for me ... but so are:

- Delta SONG ... that never made any sense to me ... plus that big green sperm design on the side of the plane ... what was the logic?

- BMI Baby .. just too cutesy and silly

- Air Canada JAZZ ... how and when has "jazz" music ever been associated with Canada. .. or the TANGO, for that matter (another of their divisions)

- WOW Air .. seriously dumb name .. to say nothing of the hideous pink and purple livery. Nothing even suggests Iceland.


Seems like a dignified approach hasn't really been much of an issue for several years now .. any other names you folks wanna add to the list ?

Air Canada Jazz was named such because the major Air Canada regional operator is Jazz Aviation (and until 2011, the exclusive one). bmibaby was the LCC division of British Midland International. (The real story is why bmi regional doesn't go fully to bmi.)

As for airlines like Darwin Airlines, that's now Adria Airways Switzerland. Likewise, Jetarfly (calllsign Beauty) is now TUI Belgium. But what about Arkefly (now TUI Netherlands)? Or Jet2.com?

As for WOW air, not really a problem. SCAT does have a negative connotation, but it generally goes under Sunday Airlines now. Also, Virgin Australia when it was called Virgin Blue only had one plane painted blue.

Level is a stupid name, not sure what IAG was thinking.

Super80Fan wrote:

Level is a stupid name, not sure what IAG was thinking.

As in "upper" Level perhaps?

Jet Airways

Etihad Regional was odd in my opinion. Would be fine if they were based in AUH, but being based in Switzerland it never made sense to me. Now they are changing name to Adria Airways Switzerland... I mean that is a mouthful, and also again Adria brings thoughts to Adriatic Sea, not to a landlocked alpine country.

B752OS wrote:

SkyBus Airlines was quite a foolish name for an airline.

A fantastic name for a ULCC! They effectively are buses of the sky and want to be known as little more.

I actually like WOW Air
Very clever and suits them perfectly

I think 'Endeavor Air' is stupid too .. that means "to try" .. or "to take a stab at it" ... that's NOT what you do as an airline!

yycdel wrote:

Jet Airways

especially since they fly ATRs !

BMI Baby - Be My Baby - I thought it was at least quite clever.

aemoreira1981 wrote:

F27500 wrote:

Also, Virgin Australia when it was called Virgin Blue only had one plane painted blue.

They had red planes and Blue is a common nickname for redheads in Australia

I'll second Jet Airways. I'd also add Air Tran (absolutely no creativity in either one). For a major branding fail is United using Continental's colors and logo. Awful. They had an opportunity to completely rebrand and missed it.

pbody wrote:

aemoreira1981 wrote:

F27500 wrote:

Also, Virgin Australia when it was called Virgin Blue only had one plane painted blue.

They had red planes and Blue is a common nickname for redheads in Australia

Blue is a common nickname for Red in Australia? OK that makes ZERO sense!

AntonioMartin wrote:

I will add a couple Puerto Rican airlines here....Air Flamenco just sounds silly to me...its a flamingo!!! Air Culebra..named after the city it flies from, Culebra...but a Culebra is a snake in Spanish...MN Aviation...who is/are M and N?

Air Flamenco is named after Flamenco beach in Culebras, the airline is headquartered in that municipality.

Mint Airways:








Wamos Air:

Unpopular opinions incoming...

I think in the long run Alaska Airlines is going to regret their name. I understand they started in Alaska and they do a lot of business to and from Alaska, but as they expand I think they're going to regret it. Why on earth would a potential customer from Texas or Illinois or Massachusetts ever think to look at Alaska Airlines when planning travel to, say, Florida or Mexico? Beyond that, their branding just looks cheap and dated.

Not an airline, but the name Airbus is one of the dumbest names in aviation. Buses have such negative connotations (hot, cramped, rickety, take forever, get in crashes all the time, plus they're full of smelly, rude, destitute, and just generally unpleasant people), so to embrace the image of "a bus in the sky" seems downright stupid to me. I get that it's descriptive, but it's pedestrian, and again it has such negative qualities associated with it.

As far as branding, I know I sound like a broken record here but good God, United. Get it together, Oscar and Co. I know there were reasons behind it (placating the Continental staff, who got screwed in the merger and are still getting screwed years later), but what a disaster. They picked the ugliest typeface they could find, which had no real association with the United brand to begin with, and just slapped it on a decade-old Continental livery. The Continental livery is now more than 25 years old, Continental is long dead, and United keeps the rotting corpse of the branding alive. Start with a blank sheet of paper (or a blank CS page) and build a totally new identity from scratch.

Copa airlines LCC: Wingo..... ridiculous name... sounds like pimp`s name to me...
LATAM... in portuguese sounds like Latão, poor quality tin can....
Tortug`air of Haiti, if you say it quickly sounds "torture air" lol

csturdiv wrote:

One of the worst is SCAT.

Agree. sounds like a bug spray. Years ago, there was a commuter in Mississippi (US) called SCAT (South Central Air Transport). Lasted about six months. Plus the "other" meaning of SCAT, and the current airline.

F27500 wrote:

pbody wrote:

aemoreira1981 wrote:

They had red planes and Blue is a common nickname for redheads in Australia

Blue is a common nickname for Red in Australia? OK that makes ZERO sense!

Richard Branson says in his 2012 autobiography, Like A Virgin: Secrets They Won’t Teach You at Business School:

"In the 1850s, a large influx of immigrants arrived in Australia, hoping to make their fortunes in the gold fields. The Irish, many of whom were redheads, soon gained a reputation as hard drinkers and fighters. A fight, in local slang, was a 'blue'. When a redheaded Irishman passed by, people would say, 'There goes a blue', and to this day, Australians often give their redheaded friends the nickname 'Bluey' while 'blue' is the general equivalent to 'pal', 'mate' or 'buddy'.

In 2000, when we were preparing to launch the airline in Australia, an Australian chef on Necker said to me 'Why not call it Virgin Blue?'. He suggested that Aussies would connect our upstart nature and the traditional red logo with the name Virgin Blue. To highlight the play on words, we painted the planes a bold red."

AntonioMartin wrote:

I will add a couple Puerto Rican airlines here....Air Flamenco just sounds silly to me...its a flamingo!!! Air Culebra..named after the city it flies from, Culebra...but a Culebra is a snake in Spanish...MN Aviation...who is/are M and N?

Flamenco is a type of Latin American dance. MN AViation. Is it based in he state of Minnesota by any chance? MN is the state's initials.

StrandedAtMKG wrote:

Unpopular opinions incoming...

I think in the long run Alaska Airlines is going to regret their name. I understand they started in Alaska and they do a lot of business to and from Alaska, but as they expand I think they're going to regret it. Why on earth would a potential customer from Texas or Illinois or Massachusetts ever think to look at Alaska Airlines when planning travel to, say, Florida or Mexico? Beyond that, their branding just looks cheap and dated.

I always felt the same way about America west and Reno Air. From a marketing perspective the names seem to limit the nationwide appeal. I guess you cant argue with the success HP and Reno are now AA.

Always thought "Jet Airways" was just a tad bit redundant....

AntonioMartin wrote:

Super80Fan wrote:

Level is a stupid name, not sure what IAG was thinking.

As in "upper" Level perhaps?

I always thought that LEVEL was a play on LEBL, the ICAO code for Barcelona-El Prat Airport, its home base.

F27500 wrote:

The topic about Key Lime Air that was started here the other day got me to thinking about all the other badly named or branded carriers out there.

Key Lime Air (really stupid .. that's a fruit or a pie .. not an airline name) is definitely up there for me ... but so are:

- Delta SONG ... that never made any sense to me ... plus that big green sperm design on the side of the plane ... what was the logic?

- BMI Baby .. just too cutesy and silly

- Air Canada JAZZ ... how and when has "jazz" music ever been associated with Canada. .. or the TANGO, for that matter (another of their divisions)

- WOW Air .. seriously dumb name .. to say nothing of the hideous pink and purple livery. Nothing even suggests Iceland.


Seems like a dignified approach hasn't really been much of an issue for several years now .. any other names you folks wanna add to the list ?

I never felt Jazz was ment to ply on a small plane no space to dance. Also we should never take a WIZZ in public.

Jazz, Tango, Rouge, Air Canada Express, etc., silly as they may appear, were all so named as the name is bilingual. In fact Trans-Canada Air Lines was officially changed to Air Canada as it was bilingual. (TCA used the unofficial "Air Canada" for years in French Marketing.)

Language laws are very strict in Quebec. Not only must everything be in both languages, but French must always be more prominent. It's just easier to use a bilingual brand.

ual722 wrote:

AntonioMartin wrote:

I will add a couple Puerto Rican airlines here....Air Flamenco just sounds silly to me...its a flamingo!!! Air Culebra..named after the city it flies from, Culebra...but a Culebra is a snake in Spanish...MN Aviation...who is/are M and N?

Flamenco is a type of Latin American dance. MN AViation. Is it based in he state of Minnesota by any chance? MN is the state's initials.

Actually I just double-checked its M&N not MN , its based in Puerto Rico. Featured prominently on a movie with Justin Timberlake and Ben Affleck actually...Flamenco's also a beach in the city of Culebra.