In addition to the B777, American also has a recently delayed order for the Boeing 787 and a significant order for the Airbus A320 family of aircraft. It is believed that American will primarily order the A319 and A321 variants. These new airplanes do not have aluminum skins, but are constructed with composite materials that are essentially super-strong plastics that must be painted. Although American has owned and operated Airbus aircraft before (A300-600), it has been long rumored that the company will change its livery as it emerges from bankruptcy protection.
At this year’s Global Business Travel Association convention, American Chief Executive Tom Horton hinted at a new look when he stated “We're working on modernization of the American Airlines brand and we'll unveil something in the future. We're also thinking about the look of our airplanes, stay tuned on that.’’
Last week, I posted the following design from Anthony Harding as one of many suggestions for what the new American may look like. Like it or not, the video suggests this one may not be far off.
Below is video of American's first Boeing 777-300 undergoing high speed tests then taking flight. Clearly the paint is not complete, but it will most certainly lead to more speculation.
