V-Flyer

What does a 'repaint' of a plane cost? Must be a pretty scary amount of money given that repainting a plane won't sell more tickets, so has no tangible value.

WOW - kinda makes me wish VS had saved on the repaint and put decent IFE on V-ROY!

Given the weight of the paint, I wonder if American Airlines chose to make their planes silver to save on fuel costs!!!

Fantastic reply there - thanks!

BRAIN

Originally posted by GrinningJackanapes

Originally posted by musicmanbrain
I wonder if American Airlines chose to make their planes silver to save on fuel costs!!!

I have wondered exactly the same thing. I think it looks great, too!

Cheers,

GJ

The answer is yes, the bare aluminum saves them money not only through not having to pay for the paint, the fuel cost in moving that paint around but also the bare metal reflects heat from the sun keeping the plane cooler on the ground...and yes it looks cool.

Other airlines, namely Air Canada and Cathay Pacific, have tried/are trying out bare-metal color schemes but it seems for them the cost savings aren't significant enough.

I would guess the greatest associated cost of re-painting something like a 747 is lost revenue, although I don't know whether paints can be combined with essential maintenance.

45.

CX said the Boeing 747F with a polished silver fuselage is around 200kg lighter and this will help it save around HK$1.5 million ($195,000) per year in fuel costs!!!!!

I wonder if they could save even more by putting in compulsory toilet usage prior to boarding... [:w]

Compulsory toilet usage before boarding may help with ontime departures. It never fails to amaze me how many people head straight to the lav once they have located their seat / stowed their carry-on. Surely they weren't in the boarding queue that long!

Originally posted by Kraken
Compulsory toilet usage before boarding may help with ontime departures. It never fails to amaze me how many people head straight to the lav once they have located their seat / stowed their carry-on. Surely they weren't in the boarding queue that long!

Guess you have never heard of VS priority boarding then [:I][:p]

Are you the new union rep for the CC????

Getting back to the original, it certainly does have value if it prevents corrosion. Some airlines even wax polish the aircraft on a regular basis.

Kinda makes it weird that VS went to the trouble of painting their planes grey/silver when it would have been much cheaper to leave them metalic! .... and would have probably looked smarter![i]

Originally posted by GrinningJackanapes
I knew you'd rise to the worm, denzie! LOL

Bottom line for me is I think the unpainted, silver jets are so beautiful...it's like the Delorean of the skies.

GJ

JAL's 744Fs even have a gullwing door.

It was Mrs D that noticed GJ, she also wondered if
a) The not wearing of make-up also applied to the boys.
and
b) If you REALLY want to see all the girls minus make-up.