If you were to start an airline today, what name from the past would you consider? For the sake of discussion, let's assume that you can't use names of airlines that disappeared via merger after 2000. So, no TWA, Continental, Northwest, or US Airways. Let's also agree that the many attempts to reuse Pan Am and Braniff have ruined those names for good.
If I planned to start an airline in the western U.S., I would certainly consider Air West. And I probably would have some yellow and purple in the logo and livery. Hughes Air West was sold to Republic in the early 1980s, so anyone born after 1975 or so would not have a strong recollection of RW, proclaiming itself as, "Top Banana in the West."
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Re: If you were to re-use an airline name
American TransAir.
come on home, baby.
come on home, baby.
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- PatrickZ80
- Posts: 5801
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Re: If you were to re-use an airline name
I'd say Air Holland. Could have been a fabulous airline if it hadn't gone bankrupt.
Re: If you were to re-use an airline name
I have 2.
1. In Costa Rica: Líneas Aéreas Costarricences S.A., aka Lacsa. But that would take more than a bundle to buy back those name rights from Avianca.
2. In Germany: LTU International Airways. If that brand could be bought out from the assets to be liquidated from AB, then maybe in some way, LTU could be reactivated.
1. In Costa Rica: Líneas Aéreas Costarricences S.A., aka Lacsa. But that would take more than a bundle to buy back those name rights from Avianca.
2. In Germany: LTU International Airways. If that brand could be bought out from the assets to be liquidated from AB, then maybe in some way, LTU could be reactivated.
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- bunumuring
- Posts: 2849
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Re: If you were to re-use an airline name
Hey guys,
Here in Australia, 'Ansett', given the right circumstances. After the original Ansett went under after 9/11, there was an attempt to resurrect the airline by the 'Tesna' consortium (that's Ansett spelt backwards, lol) but it failed to get off the ground. There were even rumours that Branson et al looked at reviving the name when Virgin Blue was being 'metamorphosed' upmarket into Virgin Australia, and when V Australia was created to operate transpacific.
'East West' might also be a good suggestion especially in rural areas on the eastern seaboard. There is one surviving East West sign in Sydney, if you know where to look!
Cheers,
Bunumuring
Here in Australia, 'Ansett', given the right circumstances. After the original Ansett went under after 9/11, there was an attempt to resurrect the airline by the 'Tesna' consortium (that's Ansett spelt backwards, lol) but it failed to get off the ground. There were even rumours that Branson et al looked at reviving the name when Virgin Blue was being 'metamorphosed' upmarket into Virgin Australia, and when V Australia was created to operate transpacific.
'East West' might also be a good suggestion especially in rural areas on the eastern seaboard. There is one surviving East West sign in Sydney, if you know where to look!
Cheers,
Bunumuring
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- TheFlyingDisk
- Posts: 2959
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Re: If you were to re-use an airline name
Flying Tiger Line.
I don't know but that name has some strong imagery.
I don't know but that name has some strong imagery.
Re: If you were to re-use an airline name
Compass Airlines 
Slogan would be "We'll get you there... Third time lucky!"
Just kidding. While I certainly don't like it when upstarts resurrect old airline names especially when they also take on their old branding. As much as I liked the old Ansett, if were to resurrect an old name I'd stay clear of (a) something from the last twenty five years, (b) something that had a high profile demise, and (c) something that was named after a person/family that I have nothing to do with. Ansett fails on all three points.
My choice would be "East-West Airlines" but I definetely wouldn't use green and gold. Such a name would suit an airline that predominantly does transcon routes.
Slogan would be "We'll get you there... Third time lucky!"
Just kidding. While I certainly don't like it when upstarts resurrect old airline names especially when they also take on their old branding. As much as I liked the old Ansett, if were to resurrect an old name I'd stay clear of (a) something from the last twenty five years, (b) something that had a high profile demise, and (c) something that was named after a person/family that I have nothing to do with. Ansett fails on all three points.
My choice would be "East-West Airlines" but I definetely wouldn't use green and gold. Such a name would suit an airline that predominantly does transcon routes.
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- DocLightning
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Re: If you were to re-use an airline name
I'd probably go with Eastern or National. Both are pretty nondescript. I would not, however, try to resurrect either carrier.
This was a major problem with the attempt at EA. The zombie EA had nothing to offer that differentiated it from the rest of the market. B6 and VX both had their specific branding and perks (IFE for VX, snacks for B6) when they started up. WN has its special operations methods. AS had its regional market and now has grabbed VX. The three ULCCs are ULCCs and then the three majors are majors. So if you're going to start a new airline, you need to figure out which space you're going to step in. The three majors have the market pretty neatly divided up. The idea of an upstart small carrier booting UA out of business is pretty laughable (except that podunk little America West Airlines wound up absorbing American Airlines, the current largest carrier in the world...but AA still exists).
So irrespective of the name, it is the product that will make or break an airline.
This was a major problem with the attempt at EA. The zombie EA had nothing to offer that differentiated it from the rest of the market. B6 and VX both had their specific branding and perks (IFE for VX, snacks for B6) when they started up. WN has its special operations methods. AS had its regional market and now has grabbed VX. The three ULCCs are ULCCs and then the three majors are majors. So if you're going to start a new airline, you need to figure out which space you're going to step in. The three majors have the market pretty neatly divided up. The idea of an upstart small carrier booting UA out of business is pretty laughable (except that podunk little America West Airlines wound up absorbing American Airlines, the current largest carrier in the world...but AA still exists).
So irrespective of the name, it is the product that will make or break an airline.
Re: If you were to re-use an airline name
Nobody starting a restaurant chain today would ever name it Howard Johnson's, Sambo's, Burger Chef, Sbarro, or Chi Chi's.
Nobody manufacturing a new car today would ever name it Chevette, Cimarron, Pinto, Gremlin, or Edsel.
There must be something unique about airlines and this board that makes people think it's a good idea to revive names associated with bankruptcy and failure.
Nobody manufacturing a new car today would ever name it Chevette, Cimarron, Pinto, Gremlin, or Edsel.
There must be something unique about airlines and this board that makes people think it's a good idea to revive names associated with bankruptcy and failure.
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- PanzerPowner
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Re: If you were to re-use an airline name
Spirit of Manila Airlines, revive the whole damn thing, potential 747 fleet n all.
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Re: If you were to re-use an airline name
IPFreely wrote:Nobody starting a restaurant chain today would ever name it Howard Johnson's, Sambo's, Burger Chef, Sbarro, or Chi Chi's.
Nobody manufacturing a new car today would ever name it Chevette, Cimarron, Pinto, Gremlin, or Edsel.
There must be something unique about airlines and this board that makes people think it's a good idea to revive names associated with bankruptcy and failure.
Actually, sometimes a restaurant name does get revived. There used to be a chain of steakhouses called Steak 'N Ale. It went under after the financial meltdown of 2008. The company that kept the Bennigan's franchisees in business bought the name and is trying to revive it. Some times, a name can't be revived, because someone still owns the rights to the name. I think Marriott still owns the rights to the Howard Johnson name. So reviving the restaurant name would mean paying Marriott quite a sum of money.
By the same token, the Big Three do revive names every now and then. Buick revived the Roadmaster in the mid 1990s, after the name had been dormant since the 1950s. Chrysler killed the Pacifica name, when it's CUV was a sales failure. Now, the name has been revived with a mini-van.
I think airline names get revived, because they tend to have national name recognition, and names often denote where they operate. The second Midway Airliens, like the first, was based out of MDW. The second Ozark Airlines served the same region, the central U.S, as the first Ozark.
The fact that a business wound up in Chapter 7 bankruptcy does not mean that the business was a failure. It usually means that it was the victim of bad financial times. For instance, the first Midway Airlines got in trouble, because it had just bought the old Eastern Airlines hub at PHL, when the Gulf War broke out, leading to a decline in air travel. If ML had not taken on debt to buy the hub, it would have had the finances to survive the downturn in travel. The airline had been making money and undertaking growth, but not adding so many seats that AA and UA felt the need to dump seats into the ORD hubs to teach ML a lesson.
Re: If you were to re-use an airline name
ckfred wrote:The fact that a business wound up in Chapter 7 bankruptcy does not mean that the business was a failure.
This made me literally laugh out loud. Thanks for the funny.
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- frankfurtfun
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Re: If you were to re-use an airline name
Northwest Orient------I loved that name when seeing it here in Frankfurt. It has something from the nice touch of flying globally back in the 70´s.
Re: If you were to re-use an airline name
„Interflug“ Gesellschaft für internationalen Flugverkehr mit beschränkter Haftung
Re: If you were to re-use an airline name
Personally I think if you are doing a start up bussines from zero, you should go with your own, new and imaginative Brand and image. That being said, if I´m obligated to choose a couple of defunct Airline names from the past, my vote will go to Canadian and Avant. Canadian was great, and immediately refers to a nation that is known in all the world for being a modern, developed and well run country. The small chilean airline Avant had a very short life but the 732 were painted with a luminous livery and the word Avant is also friendly and easy to remember. Flew only once with them, nothing out of the world but at least a different experience.
Re US airlines, PSA and Piedmont will be my choices.
Rgds.
G.
Re US airlines, PSA and Piedmont will be my choices.
Rgds.
G.
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- TheFlyingDisk
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Re: If you were to re-use an airline name
IPFreely wrote:Nobody manufacturing a new car today would ever name it Chevette, Cimarron, Pinto, Gremlin, or Edsel.
China's SAIC bought the rights to the defunct British MG brand and reused it. Mercedes-Benz bought Maybach in the 1960s and revived the brand to become its ultra luxury arm. Bugatti was basically dead and after an aborted attempt at a revival, Volkswagen took over and actually made it a household name again with its ultra-high performance cars.
So there is a case for reviving a failed brand name.
Besides, a lot of the airline bankruptcies happened ages ago. I bet you that not many people of the current generation knows much about Pan Am or Braniff or Northwest Orient etc etc unless he or she is an avgeek.
Re: If you were to re-use an airline name
IPFreely wrote:ckfred wrote:The fact that a business wound up in Chapter 7 bankruptcy does not mean that the business was a failure.
This made me literally laugh out loud. Thanks for the funny.
That wasn't meant to be funny. Some businesses wind up bankrupt, because of bad business models, poor execution, and/or incompetent executives. The original Braniff went under, because it overexpanded after deregulation. It wasn't that well known outside of the central U.S. and Latin America, but they expanded in Asia and Europe, thinking that the Braniff name was a global brand.
The problems at TWA for the many years stemmed from Carl Icahn first being clueless as to the operations of an airline, followed by the deals that TWA was forced into, selling very cheap seats on Icahn's on-line travel agency. Even today, when Carl Icahn starts a proxy fight because of some company's supposed bad management and business model, I still cough and say "TWA."
As I mentioned earlier, if the original Midway had passed on buying Eastern's hub at PHL, it would have survived the downturn in traffic due to the Gulf War. Creating a second hub at PHL made a lot of sense, especially with the amount of flying up and down the East Coast.
When you think of all of the airlines that went broke after 9/11, do you blame management, or do you blame the fact that travel dropped significantly after the attacks?
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