In this video, we examine the new, blue livery of United Airlines and witness the unveiling ceremony of this striking, new, somewhat electric livery which took place at the O’ Hare international airport in Chicago recently.

Before the unveiling of the new livery, we hear inspiring and informative speeches surrounding the history of United Airlines liveries, their designers and the design process from Mike Hanna, vice president of O’ Hare operations and the CEO of United Airlines, Oscar Munoz.

We are reminded of the legendary saul bass livery which adorned the outside of United Airlines fleet for 19 years between 1973 and 1984, consisting of the infamous United Airlines tulip logo and red, orange and blue stripe pattern on the fuselage and the “summarise and symbolise” philosophy of Saul Bass, which has underpinned the design of this most recent, new, blue United Airlines livery.

We also hear from the vice president of marketing at United Airlines Mark Krolick, in a documentary film broadcast at the unveiling ceremony regarding the specific design elements of the new United Airlines livery including the blue globe, new blue cheat line, the new billboard style “United Airlines” lettering on the outer fuselage and the new slogan – Connecting people, Uniting the world. There is also a discussion of the derivation of the specific shades of blue used in the design from nature.

After the unveiling moment, we speak further with other United Airlines employees regarding the new livery and also have a detailed discussion with Mark Krolick in the flesh regarding the new design and the rationale behind keeping things simple and the exclusive use of the colour blue.

Finally, we give our own honest and open opinion about the new United Airlines livery and consider how this new livery will play a part in United Airlines mission to become the number one, premier US airline. Livery has always been a subject of emphasis and even of controversy throughout the history of United Airlines. It was in 2010, when United Airlines merged with Continental airlines, that the globe aspect of the logo and livery was inherited by United from the latter. The globe replaced the tulip logo which caused many to take to social media to demand the reinstatement of the tulip – professional graphics designers at the time criticised the removal of the tulip aspect of the livery, citing it as a much stronger source of brand recognition than the new globe. It was also revealed that this new livery of 2010 had been thought up exclusively by the CEO at the time, Jeff Smisek, and the CEO before him, Glenn Tilton, without any help or input from anybody else.

What did you think of the new livery? What has been your favourite design of United Airlines livery so far? Let us know in the comments and, as always, thanks for watching!