British Airways Olympic Special Livery

[tango234]

Well, I've seen the argument around that if we weren't hosting it, the French would be... I'll leave you to make up you minds over that one.
Far better that an area of London that still isn't that well off has vastly improved transport links and facilities that it would not otherwise have got. Yes, the shopping centre is a bit over the top, but its not the end of the world.

Besides, the Olympic park is not going to suffer the same fate as the Greek one-for a start there won't be bits sitting unused as part of it is temporary anyway. A waste of money? Maybe, I don't think so.

[Garry Russell]

They could give better transport without the Olympics.

Personally the French can have it

Why should the country spend so much on it

They claim the investment pays off but I doubt it when everything is taken into consideration like security costs and the disruption to ordinary lives.

It's just an ego boost for a few individuals..the French are welcome to it.

[tango234]

They could give better transport without the Olympics.

They could, but frankly its unlikely that that would happen in this day and age, especially under the last government who thought up most of the plans (this one seems to be leaning in a better direction from what I can tell, however anyone can be forgiven for not knowing what they are planning). Without the Olympics there would be no reason and no incentive to expand/improve the links, just as there is no reason right now for transport to be improved in Barking, despite such plans being on the table.

Why should the country spend so much on it

They claim the investment pays off but I doubt it when everything is taken into consideration like security costs and the disruption to ordinary lives.

Well, at least its on time and less over budget than it could have been. As for disruption, if that was taken as a reason not to do something, I don't think much would ever get done. Frankly arguing over whether it is worth it or not at this stage is pointless, as we don't even know how well its going to go. Heaven forbid, that extra security may actually be needed you never know.

[Garry Russell]

BA are looking to lay off at Gatwick to cut costs...well, their cost cutting can start with not painting anymore of these awful liveries

Everything seems to be done for the wrong reasons...that is done when image is concerned.

[tango234]

BA are looking to lay off at Gatwick to cut costs...well, their cost cutting can start with not painting anymore of these awful liveries

Everything seems to be done for the wrong reasons...that is done when image is concerned.

A small start, which if you think about the costs of painting a few A319s, compared to the costs of running an operation such as BA has at Gatwick, wouldn't make any difference. The only thing cutting those paint jobs and any future ones would change would be the companies image. Aircraft have to be repainted every so often anyway, I'm not sure the price would change much.

As for things done for images, BA did put their coat of arms back on their aircraft not long ago. That was certainly for image, is that a bad thing? No, it isn't, I think its actually quite a smart coat of arms .

[Garry Russell]

This special livery involves a lot of special masking so will be expensive and it's just for this one event.

I know it isn't much but it would give a far better impression instead of wasting money on a livery that few seem to like anyway.

It seems a shame, given normal repaint intervals, that we will have to wait six years to see the back of these.

[Chris Trott]

Considering that a basic white paint job on a Convair 240 cost $60,000 (almost half the value of the hull coincidentally) due to all the labor prepping the skin for paint and the need to bake the paint on for a day, I can only imagine what a special paint job using actual paint for an Airbus costs. At minimum, it'd pay the salary of an entry-level/field manager for a year including benefits or most of 2 rampies/gate agents for the same period. Repaints are figured into the cost of the plane's lifetime costs, but taking it out of order to give it a special scheme means that you take that cost out of sequence and thus you may not have the built up equity in your budget for it, meaning it comes out of somewhere else in your budget.