Retro Liveries Pay Tribute to History

On a Monday afternoon in July, Condor Flight 2098 touched down at Pittsburgh International Airport, one of the airline’s usual twice-weekly direct flights from Frankfurt, Germany.

However, this was no typical bird.

The Boeing 767, tail number D-ABUM, depicts Condor’s original livery (or paint job) from the 1970s. After being acquired secondhand by the airline in August 2012, Condor decided to give the aircraft a retro-style look and named it “Achim” for a city in northwest Germany.

Generally, Condor’s fleet features paint jobs with a large yellow heart on the tail and modern billboard titles on each side of the fuselage.

Achim features a blue cheatline – a long line running across the side of the fuselage – a common trend among older airline liveries. Also, the plane’s nose is painted black and the tail sports one of Condor’s first logos.

Condor’s retro livery is just one example of airlines paying homage to their pasts. Other carriers, including American and United, operate multiple aircraft with liveries representing different stages of their company’s histories.

American has nine “throwback” aircraft in its fleet, each paying tribute to the airlines that eventually became a part of the American Airlines network, including Allegheny, Piedmont and TWA.

A few of United’s throwback paint jobs can be seen on aircraft flying in and out of Pittsburgh International. One is called “A320 Friendship” and displays United’s livery from the 1970s. Another represents Continental Airlines’ scheme from the 1950s (Continental and United merged in 2010).

Other carriers with retro liveries include Southwest, JetBlue and British Airways. So next time you fly, keep an eye out for one of these unique throwback planes, which can also be tracked on Flightradar24.com.

Here’s a few to