Why are commercial airliners always painted white?

Answer 1

Contrary to the Above answer, American does not have the cheapest. Because the metal is bare, it has to be treated by special liquids, polished etc.

White or eurowhite as it's known is cheaper. It also helps keep the airplane a few degrees cooler.

Many above said that US airways was not white, ironically there new scheme is.

Here are a few carriers that dont incorporate white-

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1242162/L/
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1242521/L/
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1242506/L/

Answer 2

They're not!
American Airlines has a polished skin (Alclad, a thin layer of polished aluminum over an aluminum skin) with just a red/white/blue stripe running down the cusp line.
They're reason is fuel economy. The polished skin is smoother than a painted surface (more aerodynamic), and weight savings (pick up a 5 gallon bucket of paint, and multiply that by how many you'd need to paint an aircraft!).

Answer 3

It does seem like many airlines have white as background color but lately colors have been used more and more in the livery designs of the worlds airlines. Check out this web site to see hundreds of pictures of aircraft in all colors and some with some really strange paint jobs. You can choose airliner type or airline and then see pics of the various aircraft in various colors. You'll see that more and more white is the exception rather than the rule.

Hope you enjoy it.
Eric

http://www.airliners.net/search/
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Answer 4

They are not "always" painted white....Just to name a few, US Airways, Southwest, Northwest (although they are in the process of switching over to a lighter paint scheme), and KLM are just a few of dozens of other airlines that do not have a white paint scheme. American has the cheapest with only the red, white, and blue stripes painted onto the aircrafts natural aluminum.

Answer 5

They can be painted any color. They often come from the factory painted white. The white has an advantage of keeping the aircraft cooler in the sun. Also just keeping it white and putting your name on it is cheep. I have seen many aircraft paint jobs from plane white to painted to look like whales.

Answer 6

As far as paints go, white is the cheapest to apply, and since we're talking about planes, it takes a lot of paint to coat one. Airline companies do this in order to save themselves money, which I wouldn't blame them, who'd wanna pay twice as much for a color like red perhaps? Well, maybe on your car you would, but that's sorta outside the topic. Yep, paint with white, save some green!

Answer 7

MOST airliners are a base white, mostly because of the savings of $ (white paint is cheaper). Also for safety, a white plane is believed to(not necessarily so ) be easier to see .

Answer 8

paint isn't just for looks. It protects the aircraft metal from corrosion and the elements. Without it all the aircraft today would have much much shorter lifespans. I'm not sure what AA does with their planes but they must treat the metal with something.

Answer 9

because white it's a basic color can be mixed with other ones and always look nice! Also cuz' they're easy to see.
of course....... it's cheaper too

Answer 10

The more paint on the plane, the more it weighs.