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How airplanes get painted (A look at the $18.5B per year industry)

Posted on 1/7/23 at 1:50 pm
Posted by euphemus
Member since Mar 2014
536 posts
Posted on 1/7/23 at 1:50 pm
quote:

Dean Baldwin Painting, founded in 1965, is an aircraft painting company with five facilities across the U.S. It has painted aircraft for some of the largest airlines in the world, including United, Delta and JetBlue. The cost to manufacture, operate, maintain and fly commercial aircraft is generally expensive, but not many think about the expense that goes into painting one.

The average cost falls between $175,000 and $200,000, according to the company. The entire painting process can take up 10 days and involves multiple engineers, painters and inspectors, all of whom are responsible for meeting the standards set by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The market itself is a growing one: The global commercial aviation aircraft paint market was estimated at nearly $18.5 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow to a $65 billion by 2027.

LINK
Posted by chinhoyang
Member since Jun 2011
23487 posts
Posted on 1/7/23 at 1:52 pm to
Posted by chinhoyang
Member since Jun 2011
23487 posts
Posted on 1/7/23 at 1:53 pm to
Posted by chinhoyang
Member since Jun 2011
23487 posts
Posted on 1/7/23 at 1:53 pm to
Posted by soccerfüt
Location: A Series of Tubes
Member since May 2013
65750 posts
Posted on 1/7/23 at 1:55 pm to
Fun related fact:

Remember when American Airlines jets were almost all just bare metal skinned, with no paint?

It saved weight (= savings in paint and higher payloads or less fuel consumption) but the bare metal required maintenance to keep it looking so nice and shiny.
Posted by Cosmo
glassman's guest house
Member since Oct 2003
120327 posts
Posted on 1/7/23 at 1:56 pm to
Passed by the New Iberia airport about 10 years ago and saw a Southwest plane parked there and thought WTF

Apparently they have a painting business there
Posted by OK Roughneck
The Sooner State
Member since Aug 2021
9384 posts
Posted on 1/7/23 at 1:57 pm to
I like the time lapse videos watching them paint aircraft. Amazing to see how it all comes together.

I flew on a SW plane once that was painted like a killer whale.
This post was edited on 1/7/23 at 1:59 pm
Posted by chinhoyang
Member since Jun 2011
23487 posts
Posted on 1/7/23 at 2:11 pm to
quote:


I flew on a SW plane once that was painted like a killer whale.


Posted by lostinbr
Baton Rouge, LA
Member since Oct 2017
9412 posts
Posted on 1/7/23 at 2:27 pm to
quote:

I flew on a SW plane once that was painted like a killer whale.

There’s a joke to be made here, somewhere.
Posted by kywildcatfanone
Wildcat Country!
Member since Oct 2012
119246 posts
Posted on 1/7/23 at 2:46 pm to
Neat
Posted by 777Tiger
Member since Mar 2011
73856 posts
Posted on 1/7/23 at 2:48 pm to
there’s a big paint shop there, United had almost their entire fleet repainted there in the mid 90s
Posted by stelly1025
Lafayette
Member since May 2012
8518 posts
Posted on 1/7/23 at 2:52 pm to
Worked at ARA for a while and used to love watching AVEX pull freshly painted aircraft out the hanger. My favorites were always the Presidential Fleet. They didn't bring the 747 variant, because that is painted at Andrews. The 757, 737, and G5 variants would get painted there and it was always cool when they pulled them out.
This post was edited on 1/7/23 at 2:56 pm
Posted by Stevo
Baton Rouge
Member since Sep 2004
11397 posts
Posted on 1/7/23 at 2:54 pm to
The Boeing factory in Seattle is absolutely worth the tour if you're ever in the area.
Posted by When in Rome
Telegraph Road
Member since Jan 2011
35544 posts
Posted on 1/7/23 at 2:56 pm to
Didn’t they land/paint 747s at the New Iberia painting facility?

ETA yeah seeing on their website a bunch of examples of painted 747s

LINK
This post was edited on 1/7/23 at 2:58 pm
Posted by stelly1025
Lafayette
Member since May 2012
8518 posts
Posted on 1/7/23 at 2:59 pm to
quote:

Didn’t they land/paint 747s at the New Iberia painting facility?


Yeah we had a Quantas 747 come in once. I am sure there were more ,but that is the only one I seen on the ramp.

This post was edited on 1/7/23 at 3:03 pm
Posted by BHTiger
Charleston
Member since Dec 2017
5028 posts
Posted on 1/7/23 at 2:59 pm to
In the Charleston plant. Some of the paint that goes in the interior of Qatar and Virgin Airlines is 10k per gallon.
Posted by When in Rome
Telegraph Road
Member since Jan 2011
35544 posts
Posted on 1/7/23 at 3:00 pm to
Just seeing your post. That’s awesome.
Posted by When in Rome
Telegraph Road
Member since Jan 2011
35544 posts
Posted on 1/7/23 at 3:01 pm to
Did they let y’all tour the airplanes if you were so inclined?
Posted by wheelr
Member since Jul 2012
5147 posts
Posted on 1/7/23 at 3:03 pm to
quote:

Remember when American Airlines jets were almost all just bare metal skinned, with no paint?


Yeah, that was a pretty plain plane.
Posted by stelly1025
Lafayette
Member since May 2012
8518 posts
Posted on 1/7/23 at 3:04 pm to
I never went ,but I know a few others that went. They wouldn't let you go if any presidential fleet was in the hanger. It was a secure area.
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