Odds and Ends: AirAsiaX plans A330 order; AA’s livery; vote for TWA heritage livery

AirAsiaX plans A330 order: AirAsiaX, the long-haul low cost carrier, plans a large order for the Airbus A330 this week, according to Bloomberg.

A380’s future: Bloomberg News talks about the future of the Airbus A380 with CEO Fabrice Bregier. Among his comments: no stretch anticipated until 2030.

American Airlines livery: Doug Parker, the new CEO of American Airlines, says employees will get to vote whether to keep the new American livery or restore the double AA/eagle livery to the tail. American will also add a TWA “heritage” livery airplane. US Airways has several heritage paint jobs in its fleet.

So…which TWA era would you like to see? Vote in the poll following the photos.

Mid-to-Late 1950s TWA livery

Source: FlightMiniatures

Boeing 707 delivery livery, 1959 (no twin globe on the tail)

Source: Photobucket

Late 1960s Livery, with Twin Globe

Source: Aviation Explorer

TWA 1980s Livery, seen here on a Boeing 747

Source: Wikipedia

TWA final livery, on a Boeing 757

Source: Planespotters.com

TWA reverse colors, on an MD-80

Source: Airliners Cafe

27 Comments on “Odds and Ends: AirAsiaX plans A330 order; AA’s livery; vote for TWA heritage livery

    • Seconded. That red flash along the fuselage is wonderful: it starts as a point at the nose and builds up width and speed towards the tail. Livery in motion. The simplest things can be the best.

    • I also agree that the Twin Globe livery looks best.

      However, I have to say that I think TWA’s 747-200 EEO (Extra Engine Option) is the bomb! 😉 I’ve always been a fan of asymmetrical aircraft.

    • Fully agree as well. Best TWA livery by far, with the mid-to-late 50s livery coming in 2nd place.
      At the time I really liked the “final” livery (in my defence: I was hardly 18 at the time) but that hasn’t aged at all well, I have to admit.

  1. Jaysus, Parker is really opening that can of worms again, now that 200 planes have been painted (and won’t be repainted, either) and everybody sort of quieted down on the whole matter?
    Mind you, he’s also only suggesting to change the tail, without changing the fuselage – just picture how boring (and disjointed) the current fuselage without cheatline would look with just the old AA logo stuck onto the tail.

    • I would repeat the new eagle symbol on the tail plane. Discreet, classy and the right shape

      • I’ve seen a few Photoshop images of that and none really convinced me, to be honest.
        The actual livery as it is, though, looks pretty cool IMHO, especially in person (seen a good few 777s in the new livery at LHR).

        Also, what you suggest isn’t on the table in the employee vote. It’s
        I) Current fusealge, current tail.
        or
        II) Current fuselage, old tail.
        Like so:
        http://jansaviation.com/news.php?art=american-employees-to-vote-on-surviving-tail-design

        Out of those two, I’d know which one I’d cast my ballot for.

      • Seriously ??? When there were early talks of Usairways merger, I read up on Usairways management…my first thought of learning of their “Vintage” plane paint jobs was..”wonderful, thoughtful, humbling & respectful of how Usairways came to be”. It gave me a good feeling about our future at AA…..(specifically because I’m former TWA, and I was hopeful someone would show us similar recognition of “our” legacy, hard work & dedication to our craft, compared to the brush under the carpet we’ve been accustomed to.) So, really, you think ONE SINGLE PAINT JOB, ON ONE SINGLE PLANE, SHOWING A LITTLE RESPECT TO A PREVIOUS AIRLINE THAT HELPED AA BECOME WHAT IT IS TODAY IS “Stupid” ??? sorry…..but can’t disagree more…..there’s alot to be said about “WE” v/s “ME” ……..WE hold each other’s hands in UNITY, ME is beside myself, alone & bitter. I CHOOSE WE .

  2. 3 weeks ago:

    “Malaysian airline AirAsia Bhd (5099.KU) is talking to Airbus about buying more of its wide-bodied A330 jets for its AirAsia X long-haul subsidiary, but would buy even more if Airbus decided to launch a version with more powerful engines, Chief Executive Tony Fernandes is quoted as saying in an interview in Tuesday’s edition of Les Echos.”
    http://www.4-traders.com/EADS-4637/news/AirAsia-CEO-Eyes-Airbus-Orders-Projects-with-Renault-Report-17500678/

  3. Former TWA employees in Israel escalate battle against American Airlines for rights estimated at the some of 60 million NIS.

    It was recently reported that American Airways and US Airways will be merged with the world’s biggest airline and that the company intends to operate flights from the US to Israel. This significant change in the civil airline field harbors a bitter truth: American Airlines, which acquired TWA in 2001, demonstrably and deliberately ignored 80 Israeli employees who operated flights in Israel, and were fired immediately after TWA was acquired. “The move left the company’s workers without wages, severance payments and other rights according to collective work agreements that were signed with the Histadrut,” explains attorney Yoni Abadi, who represents the workers.

    American Airlines acquired TWA in 2001. At the time, TWA was the eighth biggest airline in the world and it was undergoing bankruptcy. The acquisition included all 20,000 of its employees worldwide, including TWA’s flight routes all over the world and TWA’s debts, which were estimated at some $4.5 billion. In the acquisition process TWA’s station in Israel was completely ignored. The station has been operating since 1946 and eighty of its employees were immediately fired. The eighty employees who were fired were at an average age of over 50 and together they had collective seniority of 25 years in the company. The employees launched legal actions immediately in order to get the funds they were entitled to by Israeli law. These legal proceedings went on for over nine years and only four years ago a settlement was signed, though it has not fully been implemented yet. So far the employees haven’t received the full payments that were set in the settlement, as the agreement regarded only 14% of the total funds the employees were entitled to, which today are estimated at tens of millions of shekels. Now a representation of the former Israeli TWA employees is being formed for another battle against new American Airlines.

    “It would be most appropriate if American Airlines cared to fix its wrongdoing against the Israeli employees of TWA, which it acquired in 2001, and pay the Israeli workers the funds and the rights they are entitled to, according to collective agreements that were valid at the time,” explains Meir Knobel, a former manager of the TWA station in Israel. “This will demonstrate a positive approach by the airline toward Israeli citizens and the people who work in it, and will definitely create a positive business atmosphere for new American Airlines as it begins operation its flights to Israel.” Knobel also added that “the ongoing discrimination and alienation toward Israeli employees will certainly and justifiably bring about a negative public campaign against American Airlines in Israel, due to its actions and especially due to its failures throughout the years, as well as its reluctance to pay TWA’s Israeli employees the full wages for their work and discriminate against them compared to the rest of TWA’s workers around the world.”

    Attorneys Yoni Abadi and Dor Nachman, who represent the group in the legal battle, add: “It was explicitly decided in the bankruptcy case verdict held before Honorable Judge Varda Alshech in the Tel Aviv District Court, that American Airlines discriminated against the Israeli employees, alienated them and considered a workforce that’s protected by social rights as a “burdensome asset” or as a “negative economic factor,” while in the US and in all of TWA’s representations around the world, employees continued to work or were fired but received the full wages, other social rights and severance payments that they deserved. In Israel, the collective agreements that were signed between the Histadrut and TWA in Israel weren’t honored. The station in Israel was closed, workers were fired and their wages were not paid. They also didn’t receive severance payments and other rights and conditions they were entitled to by the relevant agreements and according to the law. In light of this, TWA employees in Israel are currently looking into all of the options that stand before them in order to act to receive the funds that American Airlines has deliberately refused to pay them for many years. It should be made clear that American Airlines decided not to operate flights in Israel for many years, starting in fact from the date TWA was acquired, and now the company’s employees have a window of opportunity and they consider it to be their last chance of getting their hard-earned money and lawful rights.”

    • [Edited] [G]et over it. American left hundreds of employees at KCAC out on the street. Not to mention the scale down of the STL hub, the closing of the overhaul base and many other employee groups being furloughed. And you needed 80 employees to work 1 flight??? Thats why AA pulled out of TLV. Economics my friend.

  4. I hope they go with the reverse red on the MD-80 or the one on the 747.

    And Fernandes should know that unless he’s going to order enough A330s to cover the cost of getting a new engine under the wing, the best he can hope for is sharklets or something.

  5. Well Fernandes is not the only one. There are 100 A330 operators, the A350-800 isn’t too hot, new engines wouldn’t hurt A330F sales and keeping the line open for another 10 years requires IMO a credible update.

  6. There are multiple retro America West schemes in the USAir fleet, so they can do multiple TWA schemes too.

  7. As a retired TWA employee I’m sorry USAirways saved American Airlines. My desire was for American Airlines to cease operations and die, so the rest of the industry could pick it’s carcass clean. It deserved no better.

  8. Agree with Ted…they were a very pompous group…especially the flight crews!!!!!

  9. I agree with Ted about them getting their carcass picked clean, one can only hope and pray.

  10. i STARTED IN 1962, AND I HAVE ALWAYS LIKED THE TWIN GLOBES After all TWA was the first American Flagship Carrier to go around the world, with stops in the United States. Trish tricor25@aol.com

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