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In 1997 British Airways adopted a new livery. One part of this was a newly stylised version of the British Airways "Speedbird" logo (right). The major change, however, was the introduction of a wide range of tail-fin art. Also known as the Utopia or world art tailfins, they used art and designs from international artists and other sources to represent countries on BA's route network. While almost all are clearly related to a country, each aircraft also carried the name of that country on the rear of the fuselage.
The new corporate logo was created by the London-based design agency Newell and Sorrell, who also oversaw the implementation of the tailfin designs.
The large number of German designs are a result of the existence of the BA subsidiary Deutsche BA, and the numerous Australian designs can be attributed to the airline's alliance with Qantas and the importance of the kangaroo route.
Criticism
The adoption of this livery was seen as a move away from the traditional and strictly British image of the carrier. BA suggested that the previous "Landor" scheme carried an air of arrogance and detachment, and insisted that the new tailfins were very popular with international travellers. However they were never popular in the UK, despite nine of the designs being inspired by either England, Scotland or Wales (and one Irish scheme). Margaret Thatcher showed her displeasure at the designs by covering one of the new tailfins on a model 747 with a handkerchief. She declared, "We fly the British flag, not these awful things."
Virgin Atlantic took advantage of the controversy by applying a Union flag scheme to the front end of its aircraft. In their own 1999 relaunch, the flag was also applied to the vertical winglets of Virgin Atlantic's aircraft.
Review of use
While the majority of the designs were applied to a variety of aircraft, one scheme (the stylised version of the Chatham Dockyard Union Flag) was reserved for use on Concorde only. By 1999, BA had repainted around 170 aircraft in its new colours but then Chief Executive, Bob Ayling, announced a review of this process. The aircraft already repainted would keep the new designs, but the remainder of the fleet (still sporting the pre-1997 union flag design) would receive a variant of Concorde's Union flag design. The timing of the announcement was designed to divert some attention from Virgin's relaunch.
Finally in May 2001 the new Chief Executive, Rod Eddington, announced the entire fleet would receive the new Union flag livery. Eddington argues that while an attempt to increase the airline's appeal was not a bad thing, the exercise hurt the image of the carrier among its core customers — those that are attracted by the British identity, which the ethnic tailfins diluted somewhat. The removal of the ethnic tailfins is a slow process for the hundreds of aircraft in BA's fleet; some aircraft continue to wear the world tailfins.
| Name | Summary | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Chatham Dockyard Union Flag | Introduced on Concorde for relaunch, now the livery for entire fleet | United Kingdom |
| Animals and trees | Art of a tribe in the Kalahari Desert | Botswana |
| Avignon | Jim Avignon design, contemporary German art | Germany |
| Bavaria/Edelweis | German art | Germany |
| Benyhone | Anglicized Gaelic for "Mountain of the birds", a Scottish tartan design | Scotland | Blomsterang/Flower Field | Colourful motif of hearts and flowers | Sweden |
| Blue Poole | Pottery design | England |
| British Blend | Coffee cup design, result of New Britain competition, used on a single A320 | United Kingdom |
| Chelsea Rose | Modern representation of the English rose | England |
| Colour Down the Side | Abstract cornish art, used on a single Dash 8 of Brymon Airways (BA Citiexpress). | England |
| Colum | Anglicized Irish for "Dove": this is a Celtic design and one of the most adventurous | Ireland |
| Crossing Borders | Egyptian scroll | Egypt |
| Delftblue Daybreak | Delft pottery design | Netherlands |
| Golden Khokloma | Representation of art on pottery and utensils | Russia |
| Gothic/Calligraphy | German art | Germany |
| Grand Union | Result of a Sunday Times competition, based on traditional English canal boat art | United Kingdom |
| Koguty Lowickie | Polish artist's print of cockerels, peacocks and flower | Poland |
| L'esprit Liberté | Celebrating human rights movement | International |
| La Pyramide du Louvre | One aircraft painted with image of central courtyard of Louvre museum | France |
| Nalanji Dreaming | Aboriginal art, originally designed for Qantas | Australia |
| Ndebele Martha | Vibrant, geometric art. By Martha Masanabo | South Africa |
| Ndebele Emmly | Similar to Ndebele Martha, by Emmly Masanabo | South Africa |
| Pathania | Textile print | India |
| Pause to remember | Poppy design, used around Remembrance Day. Now applied to fuselage | United Kingdom |
| Rendezvous | Chinese/Hong Kong calligraphy | China |
| Spring | Images of Romania | Romania |
| Sterntaler/Bauhaus | Antje Brüggemann's 3-D 'ceramic objects' art | Germany |
| Teaming up for Britain | Adopted for 2000 Summer Olympics, features British Olympic Association logo | United Kingdom |
| Wunala Dreaming | Like Nalanji Dreaming, this livery was designed for Qantas | Australia |
| Water Dreaming | Art representing northern Australian terrain | Australia |
| Waves and Cranes/Nami Tsuru | Montage of a Japanese artist's depictions of waves and cranes | Japan |
| Waves of the City/Floating | Simple and modern | United States |
| Whale Rider | From wood carving representing the whaling tradition of the artist's community | Canada |
| Wings | Colourful art representing seagulls in flight | Denmark |
| Youm al-Suq | Art representing an Arab market | Saudi Arabia |
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"British Airways ethnic liveries"