I’m writing to ask which airlines name their planes.

In my corner of the world, there is Virgin Australia and Qantas, and further afield there is KLM and CargoLux.

QF has traditionally named their first plane of a major type “City Of Canberra” (VH-EBA (707) & VH-EBA (747)) which is the capital city of Australia. My favourite one is VH-OJG “City Of Hobart“(the city I live in).

From the top of my head not counting your QF and VA examples

SAS - Longstanding Viking theme
Norwegian - They even dedicate the tail design.
BA - Historically did but I don't think they do anymore.
NZ - on the 744 fleet they did and I recall the 732 fleet had names.
FI - names their fleet after Icelandic volcanoes
FJ - after islands in Fiji
EI - Saint theme

Defunct airlines

Pan Am - Clipper theme
CP Air - Empress of (global locale) theme

Virgin Atlantic, KLM, SAS, Alitalia, Lufthansa, Icelandair, Norwegian, TAP Air Portugal, Sun Country (US airline, planes named after lakes in Minnesota), Thai Airways, Aeroflot, Bangkok Airways, Qantas, Virgin Australia, Iberia, JetBlue, Spice Jet, Turkish Airlines

These are some that I can think of off the top of my head.

vhqpa wrote:

From the top of my head not counting your QF and VA examples

SAS - Longstanding Viking theme
Norwegian - They even dedicate the tail design.
BA - Historically did but I don't think they do anymore.
NZ - on the 744 fleet they did and I recall the 732 fleet had names.
FI - names their fleet after Icelandic volcanoes
FJ - after islands in Fiji
EI - Saint theme

Defunct airlines

Pan Am - Clipper theme
CP Air - Empress of (global locale) theme

Icelandair has expanded their names to all Icelandic natural attractions with the arrival of the MAXes as the list of noteworthy volcanoes was shrinking due to the size of the fleet. Names of aircraft added to the fleet:

Thingvellir (753 in special indenpendence livery) - named after the beautiful national park where Iceland's first parliament was hosted back in the 900s
Jokulsarlon (737-8) - named after the glacial lagoon in the southeast of the country where the ski scene in the James Bond movie "Die Another Day" was filmed
Dyrholaey (737-8) - promonotory located on the south coast
Latrabjarg (737-8) - named after one of the largest bird cliffs in the world, located in the Icelandic westfjords

Another of Icelandair Group's subsidiaries, Air Iceland Connect, also names their aircraft. Their Dash 8s are all named after Icelandic female heroes in the old viking Sagas.

vhqpa wrote:

From the top of my head not counting your QF and VA examples

SAS - Longstanding Viking theme
Norwegian - They even dedicate the tail design.
BA - Historically did but I don't think they do anymore.
NZ - on the 744 fleet they did and I recall the 732 fleet had names.
FI - names their fleet after Icelandic volcanoes
FJ - after islands in Fiji
EI - Saint theme

Defunct airlines

Pan Am - Clipper theme
CP Air - Empress of (global locale) theme

Add Air France to the list with its B707 fleet named after famous Castles (Chanteau de Chantilly, Château de Fontainebleau, Château de Chambord, etc...)
and some of its A320 (the oldest ones) Ville de Paris, Ville de Lisbonne, Ville de Berlin, etc...

More recently KLM also named its MD11 after world famous women : Maria Callas, Audrey Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, Amy Johnson, etc...

Lufthansa names their aircraft after German municipalities and states, although some A380s are named after non-German cities. There's also an A340-300 named after two Canadian cities, Gander/Halifax, paying tribute to Operation Yellow Ribbon.

Hey guys,
I love planes being named, seems like a throwback to the golden age of railways!
TAA/Australian Airlines also used to name its planes, for example its A300B4s were named after famous European explorers of Australia's colonisation.
Also here in Australia, I seem to remember at least some of East West's fleet had names, but Ansett never did.
We could start a new thread on Qantas' name calling!!! For example, the Dreamliners : after a competition for the public to choose the names of the initial 8 787-9s, QF announced the winners but has subsequently used two names NOT on the previously published winner's list, with last week's unveiling of 'Jillaroo' being the second after the Aboriginal artist's name last year.
Cheers,
Bunumuring

AI planes except the 787 fleet have names. I am not sure what their NB themes are but here are some of the themes they have followed:

Earliest Constellations - Princesses (title not an actual name) of India's historical ruling dynasties eg., Maratha Princess
Super Constellations - Queens of Indian princely states / kingdoms eg., Rani of Jhansi
Earliest 747s - Kings and Emperors eg., Emperor Kanishka lost on 06/25/1985
Current 747s - Places history and tourism heritage eg., Agra
Current 777s - States of India eg., Maharashtra
A300s/A310s - Rivers of India eg., Narmada

I found this thread on ANet from 14 years ago!!
viewtopic.php?t=275735

Thai - Provinces of Thailand
Virgin America - Usually playful names
JetBlue - Anything with "blue"
PAL - Native flowers (on the DC-8 fleet)

Thai - Provinces of Thailand
Virgin America - Usually playful names
JetBlue - Anything with "blue"
PAL - Native flowers (on the DC-8 fleet)

Philippine747 wrote:

Thai - Provinces of Thailand

Also
-Names of Thai women(eg. HS-TGY:"Dararasmi")
-Municipalities of Thailand (eg. HS-TEF: "Song Dao")

bunumuring wrote:

Hey guys,
I love planes being named, seems like a throwback to the golden age of railways!
TAA/Australian Airlines also used to name its planes, for example its A300B4s were named after famous European explorers of Australia's colonisation.
Also here in Australia, I seem to remember at least some of East West's fleet had names, but Ansett never did.
We could start a new thread on Qantas' name calling!!! For example, the Dreamliners : after a competition for the public to choose the names of the initial 8 787-9s, QF announced the winners but has subsequently used two names NOT on the previously published winner's list, with last week's unveiling of 'Jillaroo' being the second after the Aboriginal artist's name last year.
Cheers,
Bunumuring

Agree, naming aircraft was and is a fine tradition, rightfully linking aviation to the grandeur of what was once exclusively maritime practice

VTORD wrote:

AI planes except the 787 fleet have names. I am not sure what their NB themes are but here are some of the themes they have followed:

Earliest Constellations - Princesses (title not an actual name) of India's historical ruling dynasties eg., Maratha Princess
Super Constellations - Queens of Indian princely states / kingdoms eg., Rani of Jhansi
Earliest 747s - Kings and Emperors eg., Emperor Kanishka lost on 06/25/1985
Current 747s - Places history and tourism heritage eg., Agra
Current 777s - States of India eg., Maharashtra
A300s/A310s - Rivers of India eg., Narmada

I found this thread on ANet from 14 years ago!!
https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=275735

The AI Boeing 707 fleet was named after Himalayan peaks

If you count cargo airlines, FedEx planes are named after their employees children. I believe the employees submit the names and when a plane enters the fleet they have a drawing to pick the name. This applies to mainline, not sure if the feeders, Caravans etc. are as well.

First post timed out on editing. Looking further, it appears the feeders or any other sub contracted aircraft flying in Fed Ex colors are not named. But all mainline are.

slcguy wrote:

First post timed out on editing. Looking further, it appears the feeders or any other sub contracted aircraft flying in Fed Ex colors are not named. But all mainline are.

The Caravans are named. I think the ATR’s are too.