What do you think?

Are retro liveries only ‘applicable’ to the very first used by an airline or do you think we could see a ‘retro paint scheme’ in 20 or 30 years from now of one that’s in use today ?

That’s a great question, definitely gets you thinking.

I have a hard time seeing which ones might be considered “retro” in the future. So many of the now retro liveries pay homage to defunct/bought out carriers, or to an airlines “golden era.” And some were special because they were introduced alongside a new aircraft type. It’s hard to match the enthusiasm associated with a livery that was created to celebrate an airlines first jet aircraft, for example.

I think so many modern liveries are more of an evolution of their past livery that a retro wouldn't work. If LH, UA, or AF for example painted an aircraft in their "old" liveries, it would just look like they mispainted that aircraft.

On that note though, I do wish more airlines followed the AA style of honoring the airlines that put together modern AA. I love seeing the TWA retro...reminds me of years gone by where the terminal would be full of those tails.

I have a feeling that many of todays liveries won't be very memorable in the future. There are so many bland and forgettable liveries that have been introduced in the past decade.

I think the following could be contenders for future retro-liveries, 30-40 years from now:
British Airways.
The previous (but still widespread) Lufthansa livery with the grey belly and yellow crane.
Air New Zealand's black and white, or even the all-blacks.
Finnair.
Aeroflot.
Aegean.

Then you have some airlines with good liveries but who aren't going to deviate far from them (making minor modifications only), making it a somewhat mute point. Think ANA, Singapore, Qantas, KLM, Air France. Nobody is going to spend the effort painting a retro-jet that looks almost exactly like all the other jets.

As for the airlines for which the current livery will one day be retro, I don't think you should look at any of the airlines mentioned so far. They're all so old that there's nothing retro about their current livery.

However for the airlines that have only recently been founded, if they're still around in a few decades, the current livery will then be a memory of their early years. In fact, JetBlue once did a fictional retro livery because they didn't have any real retro to go on. They weren't around back then yet. However in a few decades they will be in a position to paint one of their aircraft in a real retro livery, a livery that is in use today.

In Europe you could think about Vueling, that's a livery that is one day going to be a classic. It was the very first Vueling livery ever, the livery that made Vueling big. Of course it won't last forever, in a few decades they'll have something different and the current livery can be used as a retro.

Yes

JetBlue’s fictional retro scheme was a bit of a weird idea


‘if we’d been around this is what we’d have looked like’

Cimber Sterling also went with a fake retro-styled paint job for its 737 fleet.

PatrickZ80 wrote:

As for the airlines for which the current livery will one day be retro, I don't think you should look at any of the airlines mentioned so far. They're all so old that there's nothing retro about their current livery.

You mean airlines will only retro their first paintjobs? That isn't the case out in the real world. BA had the 4 retro jets, 2 of them definitely were on the "younger side". The Lufthansa 747-8 and Condor 767 come to mind. In 30-40 years, some of the current liveries will be eventually be considered classics.

In 2074 British Airways will be able to mark their real centenary with a selection of retro liveries.

VSMUT is right most of the current liveries might struggle to be memorable. But fashions do change and who's to say once the bland euro whites are replaced cheatlines or something else becomes the trend. So in 20 years time a bland 2021 Lufthansa or Iberia livery is looked back with fondness.

n729pa wrote:

VSMUT is right most of the current liveries might struggle to be memorable.

I tend to disagree, certainly for younger people today's liveries can be quite memorable. In fact they often got nothing with the liveries that are considered retro nowadays as that was before their time. They don't remember the airlines looking like that, but they do remember them looking like they do now.

Take for example the United "Soul Bass Rainbow" livery that was in use from 1974 to 1988, or the "Low Stripe Soul Bass Rainbow" livery from 1988 to 1993. For many people this is a classic, for me it isn't. I never saw United in these colors, it's before my time. Battleship Grey is the earliest I can remember United, that's what I got memories to. Everything before that is not United to me, but the current livery certainly is. I can imagine folks that are a bit older than me remember the earlier United liveries in the same way I remember Battleship grey, which they might consider too recent to be classic. However for me even Rising Blue is already a classic, it's all a matter of perception.

For folks that have been around longer, the current livery might just be the so maniest. They're not impressed by it. However for people growing up now, this is it. This is how planes are painted, these are the liveries they have. To them it does make an impression. And in a few decades, the kids growing up now will be adults. They'll be the passengers the airlines will be targeting, not the old folks from now that might not even be around anymore by then.

I would love to see American's current livery as a 'retro' scheme, meaning it's been replaced by something better.

PatrickZ80 wrote:

Take for example the United "Soul Bass Rainbow" livery that was in use from 1974 to 1988, or the "Low Stripe Soul Bass Rainbow" livery from 1988 to 1993. For many people this is a classic, for me it isn't. I never saw United in these colors, it's before my time. Battleship Grey is the earliest I can remember United, that's what I got memories to. Everything before that is not United to me, but the current livery certainly is. I can imagine folks that are a bit older than me remember the earlier United liveries in the same way I remember Battleship grey, which they might consider too recent to be classic. However for me even Rising Blue is already a classic, it's all a matter of perception.

For folks that have been around longer, the current livery might just be the so maniest. They're not impressed by it. However for people growing up now, this is it. This is how planes are painted, these are the liveries they have. To them it does make an impression. And in a few decades, the kids growing up now will be adults. They'll be the passengers the airlines will be targeting, not the old folks from now that might not even be around anymore by then.

A good view on things. I would like to point out though that when CO put their 75th anniversary retrojet up to a vote for the employees in 2009ish, they voted for the 1940s livery we have today. Keep in mind there were the variations of the gold tail liveries and there were still plenty of people at CO who were there in those times, but not the 40s.

PatrickZ80 wrote:

n729pa wrote:

VSMUT is right most of the current liveries might struggle to be memorable.

I tend to disagree, certainly for younger people today's liveries can be quite memorable. In fact they often got nothing with the liveries that are considered retro nowadays as that was before their time. They don't remember the airlines looking like that, but they do remember them looking like they do now.

Take for example the United "Soul Bass Rainbow" livery that was in use from 1974 to 1988, or the "Low Stripe Soul Bass Rainbow" livery from 1988 to 1993. For many people this is a classic, for me it isn't. I never saw United in these colors, it's before my time. Battleship Grey is the earliest I can remember United, that's what I got memories to. Everything before that is not United to me, but the current livery certainly is. I can imagine folks that are a bit older than me remember the earlier United liveries in the same way I remember Battleship grey, which they might consider too recent to be classic. However for me even Rising Blue is already a classic, it's all a matter of perception.

For folks that have been around longer, the current livery might just be the so maniest. They're not impressed by it. However for people growing up now, this is it. This is how planes are painted, these are the liveries they have. To them it does make an impression. And in a few decades, the kids growing up now will be adults. They'll be the passengers the airlines will be targeting, not the old folks from now that might not even be around anymore by then.

One day your opinion with have the same response from a younger generation as well don't forget! No one will care about the things you grown up with and will target the following generation too. Human nature. We'll have this conversation again in 20-30
Years time ..lol!