I would like to pause and remember what a great special paint job for a sports team looks like:



This bird almost made me into a Seahawks fan.

AAvgeek744 wrote:

Hasn't AS already stated the Airbii will remain in the fleet into the 20's? I get the Seattle connection, but the world isn't going to end when Chester shows up on an Airbus.

And it didn't when Chester was on Mad Dogs for a while.

nine4nine wrote:

Chester sporting a Giants Hat on the tail would have made this plane perfect.

Would also freeze his head off when he goes home!

NameOmitted wrote:

The aircraft will be operated by Virgin America for the time being. The intent may be to leave the branding a little vague

Virgin Alaska or Chester the 40 yo Virgin

BoeingGuy wrote:

hOMSaR wrote:

formeraa wrote:

I'm very partial to Boeing and grew up a mile from the Renton Boeing plant. However, I love the Giants-branded A321 -- Boeing made a huge mistake by not anticipating the need for a 757-sized jet right now. Yes, the ever-stretched 737 MAX may come close, but the A321 actually feels more comfortable with the wider seats. A 757 MAX-sized aircraft would have sold like gangbusters.

If seat width is a factor, then why would a 757 be any better than a 737?

This is also a big fallacy that Airbus has done a really good job of propagating. What is the A32x series like 6' wider than the 737 and not even in an area that really affects seat width?

I've flown both and find the 737-800/-900 to be just as comfortable.

It's actually more like a foot than 6 inches and I've noticed especially near the floor. You did admit you're biased, maybe that got in the way of noticing the difference when you flew those planes or maybe you just aren't as picky as some of us are. The 737 is also much louder too which may make the A320 more comfortable for some.

As much as that team sours my stomach, I like baseball liveries so it's a for me

Devilfish wrote:

nine4nine wrote:

Chester sporting a Giants Hat on the tail would have made this plane perfect.

Would also freeze his head off when he goes home!

NameOmitted wrote:

The aircraft will be operated by Virgin America for the time being. The intent may be to leave the branding a little vague

Virgin Alaska or Chester the 40 yo Virgin

Well the cold Alaskan weather never withered his lei.

mooseofspruce wrote:

I was already saddened by how there's apparently going to be a wordmark that says "Operated by Virgin America" by the door as the only bit of VX. Since it's arriving in 2018 and the combined AOC isn't expected until 2019 I think it's safe to say it won't be delivered as an AS plane even if AS is the one doing the announcing.

The single operating certificate is on track for January 2018, not 2019. Virgin America's certificate will be retired at that time.

EA CO AS wrote:

The single operating certificate is on track for January 2018, not 2019. Virgin America's certificate will be retired at that time.

Will an "Operated by Alaska Airlines" decal need to be added to all of the unpainted Virgin America aircraft between when the single operating certificate is in place and when the aircraft get painted in house livery?

NameOmitted wrote:

EA CO AS wrote:

The single operating certificate is on track for January 2018, not 2019. Virgin America's certificate will be retired at that time.

Will an "Operated by Alaska Airlines" decal need to be added to all of the unpainted Virgin America aircraft between when the single operating certificate is in place and when the aircraft get painted in house livery?

Yes.

As a Giants fan, this plane looks sad, kind of like the Giants season.

My guess is that they will probably put Charlie on the tail since by next year I would imagine that they will start to integrate more of VA into Alaska Airlines. I could be wrong though. I imagine if they did not put Charlie on the tail, or VA's "V" a number of people who are not airline enthusiast will get confused when they see the airplane.

jeffrey1970 wrote:

My guess is that they will probably put Charlie on the tail since by next year I would imagine that they will start to integrate more of VA into Alaska Airlines. I could be wrong though. I imagine if they did not put Charlie on the tail, or VA's "V" a number of people who are not airline enthusiast will get confused when they see the airplane.

I think the vast majority of the traveling public pays little attention to the livery of the aircraft they're flying on. Most people only see the aircraft from the front as it's parked at the gate.

77H

jeffrey1970 wrote:

My guess is that they will probably put Charlie on the tail since by next year I would imagine that they will start to integrate more of VA into Alaska Airlines. I could be wrong though. I imagine if they did not put Charlie on the tail, or VA's "V" a number of people who are not airline enthusiast will get confused when they see the airplane.

Do you mean Chester?

BoeingGuy wrote:

jeffrey1970 wrote:

My guess is that they will probably put Charlie on the tail since by next year I would imagine that they will start to integrate more of VA into Alaska Airlines. I could be wrong though. I imagine if they did not put Charlie on the tail, or VA's "V" a number of people who are not airline enthusiast will get confused when they see the airplane.

Do you mean Chester?

Yes, Chester. I am sorry.

BoeingGuy wrote:

jeffrey1970 wrote:

My guess is that they will probably put Charlie on the tail since by next year I would imagine that they will start to integrate more of VA into Alaska Airlines. I could be wrong though. I imagine if they did not put Charlie on the tail, or VA's "V" a number of people who are not airline enthusiast will get confused when they see the airplane.

Do you mean Chester?

Yes, sorry.

Not sure why it took so long but N924VA has finally been delivered and got the San Francisco Giants livery applied:


https://www.instagram.com/p/BfSdjZuhclT/

NameOmitted wrote:

I would like to pause and remember what a great special paint job for a sports team looks like:

This bird almost made me into a Seahawks fan.

This aircraft served as my very first flight on AS from OAK to SEA.

KarelXWB wrote:

Not sure why it took so long but N924VA has finally been delivered and got the San Francisco Giants livery applied:


https://www.instagram.com/p/BfSdjZuhclT/

So they applied the Alaska billboard titles, but still nothing on the tail? I'm surprised. Was hoping for an orange Chester LOL.

So Alaska seems to be doing non-standard Alaska branding on every A321N, Most West Coast, More to Love and this. For a relatively small airline they seem to be creating quite a bit of brand confusion, Alaska isn't exactly a household name coast to coast, with the Virgin integration it seems like a key time to build solid brand recognition.

ACCS300 wrote:

So Alaska seems to be doing non-standard Alaska branding on every A321N, Most West Coast, More to Love and this. For a relatively small airline they seem to be creating quite a bit of brand confusion

Maybe, but i like this. Special liveries make the world a less dull place.

Jetmarc wrote:

KarelXWB wrote:

Not sure why it took so long but N924VA has finally been delivered and got the San Francisco Giants livery applied:


https://www.instagram.com/p/BfSdjZuhclT/

So they applied the Alaska billboard titles, but still nothing on the tail? I'm surprised. Was hoping for an orange Chester LOL.

Decals on the tail aren't an option due to the rudder assembly (AS has explained this before when Most West Coast arrived), this is just a plain white paint job with temporary stickers until the two A/C are repainted next year

The white tail looks really bad.

ACCS300 wrote:

So Alaska seems to be doing non-standard Alaska branding on every A321N, Most West Coast, More to Love and this. For a relatively small airline they seem to be creating quite a bit of brand confusion, Alaska isn't exactly a household name coast to coast, with the Virgin integration it seems like a key time to build solid brand recognition.

928 will be delivered in the standard AS livery, 924 and 925 will be painted next year

ACCS300 wrote:

So Alaska seems to be doing non-standard Alaska branding on every A321N, Most West Coast, More to Love and this. For a relatively small airline they seem to be creating quite a bit of brand confusion, Alaska isn't exactly a household name coast to coast, with the Virgin integration it seems like a key time to build solid brand recognition.

Sometimes you can’t win no matter what you do. Avnuts scream for special schemes, then when they get it, it was a mistake. Lol.

Soon enough it’ll be 220-ish identically painted birds and people will still b***h.

KarelXWB wrote:

Not sure why it took so long but N924VA has finally been delivered and got the San Francisco Giants livery applied:


https://www.instagram.com/p/BfSdjZuhclT/

Sorry, but this white tail thing AS had been doing lately is probably one of the strangest things I've ever seen. And even more weird is that there doesn't appear to be a concrete reason as to why.

Runway28L wrote:

KarelXWB wrote:

Not sure why it took so long but N924VA has finally been delivered and got the San Francisco Giants livery applied:


https://www.instagram.com/p/BfSdjZuhclT/

Sorry, but this white tail thing AS had been doing lately is probably one of the strangest things I've ever seen. And even more weird is that there doesn't appear to be a concrete reason as to why.

It sounds like it’s because they can’t put a decal on the tail. If the planes were rolled out in a special scheme prior to single operating certificate, they couldn’t/chose not to put the Alaska branding on yet. Obviously moving forward aircraft will be painted in the normal Alaska airlines colors and it won’t be an issue. Hopefully folks can get over a small handful of aircraft painted differently. I’m not gonna hold my breath.

I’m kind of curious. Do people have this much of a hang up every time Sun Country and Transavia trade planes? Or when American and Alaska used to do the interchange flights? I once flew on a Wien Air Alaska flight that was an ex-Frontier bird with just the Wien name slapped on. I don’t remember people losing their minds over it. Of course, there was no social media then so....

Pretty cool. They didn't paint a baseball on nose cone? And, perhaps, a baseball bat on tail. You can't play without a ball and bat...

PlanesNTrains wrote:

Runway28L wrote:

KarelXWB wrote:

Not sure why it took so long but N924VA has finally been delivered and got the San Francisco Giants livery applied:


https://www.instagram.com/p/BfSdjZuhclT/

Sorry, but this white tail thing AS had been doing lately is probably one of the strangest things I've ever seen. And even more weird is that there doesn't appear to be a concrete reason as to why.

It sounds like it’s because they can’t put a decal on the tail. If the planes were rolled out in a special scheme prior to single operating certificate, they couldn’t/chose not to put the Alaska branding on yet. Obviously moving forward aircraft will be painted in the normal Alaska airlines colors and it won’t be an issue. Hopefully folks can get over a small handful of aircraft painted differently. I’m not gonna hold my breath.

I have assumed this logic since the first 321 rolled out but then I was reminded that DL/AA/UA (esp. DL) started painting aircraft into the unified livery well before a single AOC was issued in their respective mergers.

There must be something else at play here there just waiting for the single AOC--which they have now btw. My guess--knowing nothing-- is it has more to do with wanting to be able to move these aircraft between brands before they have actually been combined. I've been on the "more west cost" 321 (back on New Year's Day) and there wasn't anything besides the VX first class seats and mood lighting that made the aircraft VX. There was no hard-product branding (e.g. bulkhead walls, livery, seat stitching, etc.) on the plane in anyway besides a "operated by VX" decal next to 1L door. Anything that said VX on it could be easily swapped out by a cleaning or catering crew.

Its nice design although I would have personally preferred the SF on the tail with standard AS sidewall livery.

Looks like something my son could draw.

KarelXWB wrote:

Not sure why it took so long but N924VA has finally been delivered and got the San Francisco Giants livery applied:


https://www.instagram.com/p/BfSdjZuhclT/

ACCS300 wrote:

So Alaska seems to be doing non-standard Alaska branding on every A321N, Most West Coast, More to Love and this. For a relatively small airline they seem to be creating quite a bit of brand confusion, Alaska isn't exactly a household name coast to coast, with the Virgin integration it seems like a key time to build solid brand recognition.

Keep in mind AS has never been afraid to have a large variety of liveries. They used to have 4 separate liveries on their 721 fleet before they went all Chester. More recently they had the Disneyland aircraft, AlaskaAir.com, Starliner 75, Salmon thirty Salmon, Portland Timbers, Employee Powered, Spirit of Seattle, and then all of the less obvious ones with just decals such as the Go Russel jet. There’s also the QX University aircraft and before then the comfortably greener aircraft and 25th anniversary aircraft. AS has never been afraid to paint aircraft in unique schemes. One thing that makes SEA such a fun airport compared to other hubs is all of the AS special liveries. They’ve done well in the past. Now they’re trying to promote themselves as a coastal carrier. These special liveries exemplify that goal.

This would look way better if the tail was black with the "SF" insignia on it. A revised Chester (maybe black with orange/gray in place of blue/green?) could look cool too. AS usually does a great job with their special liveries--i find this one confusing.

It looks like they ferried the aircraft to SFO base tonight.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N924VA

A Chester wearing a SF Giants hat on the tail should be what it is with Alaska titles in Orange with Black outline.

n7371f wrote:

Looks like something my son could draw.

KarelXWB wrote:

Not sure why it took so long but N924VA has finally been delivered and got the San Francisco Giants livery applied:


https://www.instagram.com/p/BfSdjZuhclT/

Don’t worry. I’m sure he’ll get better over time.

robt760 wrote:

It looks like they ferried the aircraft to SFO base tonight.
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N924VA

Apparently there was a small party:


https://twitter.com/annabelrchang/statu ... 1539833857

I guess they were considering a Mariners special livery, but the plane kept going tech all the time.

SonOfABeech wrote:

I guess they were considering a Mariners special livery, but the plane kept going tech all the time.

I guess that must be the reason why N924VA was delivered few months after N925VA?

KarelXWB wrote:

SonOfABeech wrote:

I guess they were considering a Mariners special livery, but the plane kept going tech all the time.

I guess that must be the reason why N924VA was delivered few months after N925VA?

Heh, I was trying to make a Mariners injuries joke.

I wish the tail had some mention of the brand.

Just saw it taxiing at DCA, god does it look ugly.

PlanesNTrains wrote:

Don’t worry. I’m sure he’ll get better over time.

Badoom-boom!

I generally like the look, but the white tail is odd. There are many good ideas in this thread - strange that AS didn't do something, or that the Giants didn't ask for something.
A Norwegian style Willie Mays (or Barry Bonds ).

Bricktop wrote:

PlanesNTrains wrote:

Don’t worry. I’m sure he’ll get better over time.

Badoom-boom!

I generally like the look, but the white tail is odd. There are many good ideas in this thread - strange that AS didn't do something, or that the Giants didn't ask for something.
A Norwegian style Willie Mays (or Barry Bonds ).

As said before by a few different people, decals on the tail simply are not an option. The plane will be painted into normal AS next year.