I was in PIT Monday and saw a 737 with a new paint scheme parked at the hangar. It was similar to the silver back paint scheme except had the blue tail and US Airways in blue on the top of the fuselage. Anybody know anything about it?
New Paint Scheme?
- Thread starter PoorPropDriver
- Start date
I heard from a fellow employee who's wife works in ccy that 10 aircraft are being stripped to silver and repainted with USAirways.com on the fuselage , similar to Easyjet in europe.
oldiebutgoody
Veteran
Wasn't there some kind of issue with the paint jobs some of the 737s received? I thought I read on this forum that the FAA was requiring the company to strip and inspect the 737s, since some of the repainting was done improperly. Maybe it was one of these airplanes you saw? I don't really know if the paint issue was real or something that was a figment of an imaginative mind.
- Thread Starter
- #4
I don't think so. This was a completely new livery. Maybe there will be an announcement sometime soon with the new Plan.oldiebutgoody said:
I saw one of these taking off in CLT today. I took a triple take trying to figure out what I was looking at. It was from the GA ramp so I didn't get a good look the specifics but boy was I confused. Silver top and blue tale. From far away and having heard nothing about U changing paint I thought maybe it was one that had been sitting in the bone yard a couple years and they hadn't bothered to repaint it. Thanks for the info. -Cape
ringmaruf
Veteran
As Oldiebutgoody said, it has to do with the planes being damaged with the new paint jobs and the repairs. I think they look similar to this old hybrid scheme here:
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/184520/L/
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/184520/L/
Yes it does.ringmaruf said:
Damage which was done who knows where? Some say back to piedmont days others says the vendors who stripped the paint off. Regardless, I saw it and it's there alright, even though I can't believe a few very minor scratches will affect the safety. They must now be checked at a certain time intervals.
oldiebutgoody
Veteran
With all the dents and patches I don't see how a few scratches, even gouges, would affect safety. I hope it's only a one time inspection, or management will want the workforce to work for less to pay for the work. Maybe this will be the next big company crisis. I guess we'll find out tomorrow or friday, after ALPA meets with Bronner. I can hardly wait. :down:
While we're talking paint schemes ... when is US painting its Star Alliance aircraft (I believe I saw they were using an A320 for this)?
That would be my take as well.ringmaruf said:
The hatchet job that ARA (Aviation Exteriors) of New Iberia La. did on some on the 737's was beyond un-acceptable. :angry:
Scraps and Scratches into the skins by not chemical stripping properly and resorting to using un-approved metallic scrapers and razor blades to get what was left , is clearly illogical. Thank God an FAA Inspector was there to catch them in the act.
Then we have the issue of how the scrapers and razor blades were used to dig into the jointing compounds at surface mating points. There's a real 3rd Party brainstorm for ya.
If these acft are in fact back in revenued service as is?...it's likely out of despiration due to the attrition in the narrow body Airbus fleet. I'm willing to bet that the company is in a search mode to find another 3rd Party bunch of hacks to re-paint these planes as well.
Maybe a return to a bare metal scheme is not all together a bad idea. Paint adds weight...dark paint increases heat retention in the summer months. All these things coupled to a revolving door policy with the hacks that paint them...have certainly added to our costs, whether it be in the form of lost utilization , added fuel burn from added weight...ot the cost of fuel and crews to fly back and forth to a non-revenue generating location such a New Iberia.
People fail to see how things like this add up quickly when they toss out the term "The Bottom Line"...well in a logical world , anything thing we do..or any flight we make from point A to B that doesn't generate revenue impacts the bottom line in a most negative way. Lost Utilization with lease and insurance payments stacking up on a monthly basis doesn't help either.
- Thread Starter
- #11
They do look similar however, the stripes look like American very thin not as wide as the old scheme.ringmaruf said:
Funny the stories one hears.AOG-N-IT said:That would be my take as well.ringmaruf said:
The hatchet job that ARA (Aviation Exteriors) of New Iberia La. did on some on the 737's was beyond un-acceptable. :angry:
Scraps and Scratches into the skins by not chemical stripping properly and resorting to using un-approved metallic scrapers and razor blades to get what was left , is clearly illogical. Thank God an FAA Inspector was there to catch them in the act.
We are hearing the damage may have been there since the piedmont days. But if they were indeed caught red handed with razor blade in hand, that blows that theory out of the water. The scratches are about .001 in depth, some anyway, not likely to bring to the entire aircraft down. If these aircraft were made that shaky where that little bit of damage would endanger the structural integrity, I wouldn't be caught dead flying in them.
After seeing the damage up close I agree with the post above about patches and dents. LOL
delldude
Veteran
that .001 gouge will in due time from constant press/depress turn into a convertable at the worst possible moment.thats the issue.safety....skin up around there is 0.050" neighborhood i think.....
what was it,hawaiian air??
what was it,hawaiian air??
BoeingBoy
Veteran
- Nov 9, 2003
- 16,512
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I don't know the details of the scratching or gouging in the metal but there is this to consider. Every time a pressurized aircraft goes through a "cycle" of take-off, climb to altitude, descend, and land, the fuselage expands & contracts slightly. Scratches & gouges can act as "focus" points for stress and the end result could be cracks forming. Definitely a no-no over time.
Jim
Jim
ringmaruf
Veteran
Apparently one of the birds like this is N573US. That's indeed ex-Piedmont, for what it's worth.
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