livery

JetBlue’s new livery honors Puerto Rico

liveries, , , ,

JetBlue unveils a new special livery dedicated to Puerto Rico and people of Puerto Rican descent.

The Airbus 320 aircraft – tail N779JB – is named “Bluericua” and blends JetBlue’s brand with the affectionate name for people of Puerto Rican descent.

The airline says this custom-designed livery is inspired by JetBlue’s admiration for Puerto Rico’s dynamic culture, stunning beauty and the passionate spirit of its community.

It also is one way JetBlue is reaffirming its committment to Puerto Rico and a way for the carrier to remind people to consider Puerto Rico for their next vacation – or to consider a trip home.

JetBlue got help on the Bluericua design from JetBlue crewmembers based in San Juan, Aguadilla and Ponce, Puerto Rico. They identified key cultural symbols to help promote Puerto Rico as Bluericua travels around.

First up: vibrant shade of blue – the brightest JetBlue has used in its fleet, in keeping with the vibrancy of the island.

Layered on that backdrop is the iconic Puerto Rican skyline near El Morro, where seven kites are being flown, representing seven symbols of the island’s culture that include:

  • A Single Star, as inspired by the Puerto Rican flag
  • A Hexagon Kite, in the traditional “chiringa” style for Puerto Rico
  • Dominoes, the ever-present game at gatherings, with the double 6 being the highest tile
  • A Coqui, the singing tree frog and the unofficial symbol of Puerto Rico
  • A Hibiscus, the national flower of Puerto Rico
  • An Iguaca, the parrot found exclusively in El Yunque National Forest
  • and a Tambourine, to celebrate the importance and popularity of music in Puerto Rican culture

Bluericua’s kites start out at the Puerto Rican skyline and “fly” in unison toward the aircraft’s tail fin, to evoke, says JetBlue “feelings of being carefree and happy – all emotions that a trip to Puerto Rico can deliver.”

(Photos courtesy JetBlue)

 

500 kids color a new livery for a Korean Air plane

Art, family travel, , , ,

On Saturday morning, 500 lucky kids (and their parents) poured into a Korean Air hangar in Seoul, Korea to help color a giant picture that will soon wrap one of the airline’s Boeing 777-200 planes.

Korean Air livery design - photo Harriet Baskas

Map of the design to be colored by children – photo Harriet Baskas

The event marks the 10th anniversary of a competitive drawing contest in which one child’s drawing is usually chosen to adorn a plane. This year, however, the airline commissioned its own design and created a festival where children worked together in teams to color and paint sections of the 64 X 40-foot image that were then put together to form one colorful whole.

Korean Air livery

Here are some more snaps from the day, which included live music, a magician, crafts activities and a chance to tour a 787 plane.

Korean Air coloring event

 

Participants in Korean Air kids coloring festival

 

Korean Air coloring event

Putting all the pieces together

 

Korean Air art

Finished artwork – courtesy Korean Air

 

My attendance at the children’s coloring festival in Seoul is courtesy of Korean Air and kicks off a week of touring some of the carrier’s operations throughout the country. Stay tuned for more images and stories from my visit.

Alaska Airline’s new Russell Wilson plane

Sports, , ,

Football season is starting and Seattle-based Alaska Airlines has unveiled a plane bearing a fresh image of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.

 

https://youtu.be/U4-Oy8rM478

The Boeing 737-800 has Wilson‘s tagline, “Dream Big. Fly High,” above the door.

In celebration of the Seahawks season opener against the Denver Broncos this Sunday, passengers flying on the plane to Denver on Friday, Sept. 7, will be treated to a tailgate party with food, a live DJ and a photo-booth. 

Better yet, during the football season, Alaska Airlines will once again be granted early boarding privileges to passengers wearing a Russell Wilson jersey (#3) on all Seattle-departing flights.

 

 

Airbus delivers 10,000th aircraft. Singapore Airlines got it.

Airplanes, , ,
10000th-airbus-plane

Courtesy Airbus

I was in Toulouse, France last week for my first visit the Airbus factory and the celebrations surrounding the delivery of the company’s 10,000 aircraft, which just happened to be Singapore Airline’s sixth Airbus A350-900 – and the plane the carrier will use to launch non-stop flights between Singapore and San Francisco next week.

Here are some snaps from the adventure. More details later as I put together a fact-filled slide-show on this event for CNBC.

sign-for-plane-delivery

EVE-1236-01

EVE-1236

Cake celebrating the delivery of the 10,000th plane by Airbus. Photo: Harriet Baskas

Cake celebrating the delivery of the 10,000th plane by Airbus. Photo: Harriet Baskas

Sadly, I couldn’t fly on the delivery flight to Singapore from Toulouse, but I did show up to wave goodbye…

plane-on-the-runway-to-take-off

Hobbit fan? Air New Zealand has a contest for you.

Contests, Fun Stuff, liveries, , , ,

Hobbit fan?

Air New Zealand, which calls itself “the official airline of Middle-earth,” is holding a contest to send three Hobbit fans (and their friends) to the red carpet premiere of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in Hollywood on December 2 and to send one big winner (and a guest) to New Zealand (aka Middle-earth).

Sound like fun? Here are the details:

1. Watch the fun video above.
2. Then go here to enter.
3. Entries must be in by Tuesday, November 26, 2013

AIR NEW ZEALAND HOBBIT

On December 2, Air New Zealand will also be unveiling a Boeing 777-300 aircraft with a special Hobbit film-inspired livery. The plane will start out in Auckland and arrive in Los Angeles in time for the premier of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

Perhaps they’ll reprise this Middle Earth briefing video – or offer up something new.

New uniforms for new/rebranded Fiji Airways

liveries, ,

Last week, Fiji’s national airline officially retired its Air Pacific brand and returned to using its original name: Fiji Airways.

Fiji Airways new plane

In addition to new livery, there are loads of other changes, including a new website, new routes, new airplanes (A330-200s; two of which have already been delivered), and new service classes: Pacific Voyager (economy) and Tabua Class (business) are out; Fiji Airways’ Economy and Fiji Airways’ Business Class are in.

The in-flight crew also has new uniforms.

FIJI Airways new uniforms

According to Fiji Aiwarys, the outfits are styled in accordance with the Fijian attire of Sulu Jaba and Bula wear and have aqua colors that contrast well with the earthy brown colors featured in the cabin. The uniforms feature three different masi motifs created by Fijian masi artist Makereta Matemosi: the Qalitoka symbolizes the unity of people to complete a task, Tama symbolizes friendly service and Droe, which means clear blue skies and cool breeze on beaches.

Fiji Airways uniform

What I’m watching, reading..instead of working

Air Travel, Airlines, Airplanes, aviation, Aviation history, Exhibits, Fun Stuff, History, Kids, Museums, Space, Sports, Unusual places, , , , , , , , ,

Don’t tell me this hasn’t happened to you.

You have stuff to do.  Deadlines.  Work someone will pay you for if you just, you know, do it.

So you pour a cup of coffee and sit down at the computer.

But then, dang, the Internet happens.

Here’s a bit of what got me distracted today.

Air New Zealand posted time-lapse video footage of its first new domestic A320 being built and painted with all black livery.

The paint job has something to do with the All Blacks rugby team, so of course I had to visit that site and then the Small Blacks site as well.

As long as I was visiting the Air New Zealand site, I had to check in on what that wild and crazy furry creature, Rico, was up to. I found this reel of bloopers.

A quick check of email and Twitter sent me off in new directions.

Florida’s Dali Museum was opening in its snazzy new building in St. Petersburg, FL. And as someone who first came upon that museum collection, by accident, when it shared space with a factory in Cleveland, Ohio, I of course had to visit.

While there, I came across this clip of Salvador Dali as a guest on the old TV show, What’s My Line?

Then, of course, it was time to check email and Twitter and catch up on my RSS feed.

A blog post by the folks at the  Smithsonian Air and Space Museum – 5 Cool Things at the Udvar-Hazy Center You May Have Missed – caught my eye because the Udvar-Hazy Center is just down the road Dulles International Airport.

And then I really got tangled up in the web. A comment on the museum blog post mentioned Anita, “the spider from Skylab.”  I didn’t know about Anita so had to follow that thread.

It turns out that Anita and a companion spider, Arabella, were part of an experiment flown on Skylab, a space station launched in May 1973.

According the Smithsonian website:

Scientists and students interested in the growth, development, behavior, and adaptation of organisms in weightlessness provided a variety of biology experiments for flight in the orbital research laboratory. A common Cross spider, “Anita” participated in a web formation experiment suggested by a high school student. The experiment was carried out on the Skylab 3 mission, which lasted 59 days from July 28-September 25, 1973. Astronauts Alan Bean, Jack Lousma, and Owen Garriott carried out the scientific research in space, reported the results, and returned this specimen at the end of their mission. NASA then sent Anita, a companion spider “Arabella,” and the experiment equipment to the Museum.

Anita is on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center.

Anita Skylab Space Station spider

Arabella is in storage.