Eurowhite and Malaysia

A popular trend towards an all white fuselage with basic titles and a tail began in the 1960's. To my knowledge, the first airline to introduce such a livery was Air West, a small San Francisco based carrier that was later bought by Howard Hughes. The airline believed the the all white fuselage was a major contributing factor to the inflight crash of a Hughes Air West DC-9 and USMC F-4 fighter jet in 1971, and, as a precaution, re-painted their aircraft banana yellow.

In 1974, Air France introduce their new livery on their first Concorde. The livery did away with the old fashioned cheat line and introduced a simple, plain white scheme. Air France, a true global carrier at the time, spread the trend throughout the industry, with other european carriers such as Sabena and Lufthansa following suit.

Several major airlines have adopted a euro white scheme. These include Qantas, Emirates, Delta and South African Airways. Each of these liveries are both clean and elegant. It is with this is mind that I reach the inspiration for this post. What on earth were Malaysia Airlines thinking when they threw this monster together?

What a bland, blank, boring livery! I would have at least expected something with a little color, similar to the Malaysia hospitality advertisements the airline is so well known for. Malaysia Airlines already have a solid livery design, albeit a little dated. Given their shaky financial history, one must ask whether rebranding their airline with a livery ill befitting a world class carrier, especially in the face of such tough competition from low cost carriers such as Air Asia is a prudent decision. I quick search on the internet finds this, what would have been a far better choice in my opinion.

So come on Malaysia, get it together.