British Airways ethnic liveries

{{quotebox |align=right |width=25em |text=Our existing livery has served us well. It helped transform our company in preparation for privatisation. Now all of our research is telling us we must change again, to prepare for the exciting new era that the new millennium will bring.
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The identity we unveil publicly today is that of a global, caring company, more modern, more open, more cosmopolitan, but proud to be based in Britain. |author= — Bob Ayling |source=Why we are changing our identity, speech of 10 June 1997}}

The adoption of this aircraft livery was seen as a move away from the traditional British image of the carrier. BA claimed that the previous Landor Associates scheme carried an air of arrogance and detachment,{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=/archive/1997/06/11/nba11.html |title=BA stops flying the flag in £60m facelift |author=Martson, Paul |date=11 June 1997 |newspaper=The Telegraph |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20020325081323/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=%2Farchive%2F1997%2F06%2F11%2Fnba11.html |archivedate=25 March 2002 |url-status=dead |access-date=7 April 2019 }}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2002/sep/10/ftse.theairlineindustry |title=Tail of woe |author=Clark, Andrew |date=9 September 2002 |newspaper=The Guardian |accessdate=31 January 2019}} and insisted that the new tailfins were popular with international travelers. In addition to the new tail art, the crest and motto "To Fly. To Serve." were dropped from the livery to make the airline appear more "global and caring." In his speech at the launch, Chief Executive Robert Ayling declared that BA needed "a corporate identity that will enable [it] to become not just a UK carrier, but a global airline that is based in Britain" and the airline should better reflect the international image of the UK as "friendly, diverse and open to other cultures."{{cite web |url=http://www2.british-airways.com/lsp/newba/press/press4.shtml |title=Building a New BA: Why we are changing our identity |author=Ayling, Bob |date=10 June 1997 |publisher=British Airways |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/19990220060222/http://www2.british-airways.com/lsp/newba/press/press4.shtml |archivedate=20 February 1999 |url-status=dead}} The total cost of the rebranding was estimated at {{GBP|60}} million, of which {{GBP|2}}m was paid to artists and the Newell and Sorrell design firm.

The initial rollout consisted of 15 distinct tail art designs.{{cite web |url=http://www2.british-airways.com/lsp/newba/press/press2.shtml |title=Building a New BA: Sky High Art |publisher=British Airways |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/19990220030838/http://www2.british-airways.com/lsp/newba/press/press2.shtml |archivedate=20 February 1999 |url-status=dead}} Quentin Newark later called the initiative "incredibly brave" and praised the work of Newell and Sorrell as "expressive [and] gleeful".{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/aug/31/artists-artist-graphic-design |title=The artists' artist: graphic designers |author=Saner, Emine |date=31 August 2011 |newspaper=The Guardian |accessdate=31 January 2019}}

File:193ac - British Airways Boeing 747-436, G-BNLZ@LHR,19.11.2002 - Flickr - Aero Icarus.jpg covered the tailfin of a model 747 painted with Animals and Trees like this one.]]

However, they were unpopular with many traditionalists in the UK, despite nine of the designs being inspired by either England, Scotland or Wales. Flight crews derided the new designs as "Air Zulu." Jonathan Glancey criticized the Utopia project as "muddle-headed and messy - ethnic designs turned into the equivalent of doll's-house wallpaper, things applied but not belonging", failing to give the airline a cohesive identity. Glancey added the ethnic designs "had the net effect of trivializing art and design from around the world", comparing their display to the patronizing attitude of the colonial era British Empire.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/1999/jun/12/books.guardianreview3 |title=Captain Bob and his coat of many colours |author=Glancey, Jonathan |date=11 June 1999 |newspaper=The Guardian |accessdate=31 January 2019}} Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher showed her displeasure at the designs by covering one of the new tailfins (Animals and Trees) on a model 747 with tissue paper. She declared, "We fly the British flag, not these awful things" in 1997.{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=/archive/1997/10/10/ntor110.html |title=Fly the flag, Thatcher tells BA |author=Shrimsley, Robert |date=10 October 1997 |newspaper=The Telegraph |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040906105815/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=%2Farchive%2F1997%2F10%2F10%2Fntor110.html |archivedate=6 September 2004 |url-status=dead |access-date=7 April 2019 }}{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/10288449/When-logo-changes-go-wrong.html |title=When logo changes go wrong |author1=Clancy, Rebecca |author2=Roland, Denise |date=5 September 2013 |newspaper=The Telegraph |accessdate=31 January 2019}} Thatcher also indicated with these fins the airline would lose its identity.{{youTube |id=78CqcbwFeBA |title=Classic Thatcher on BA}} Amongst BA passengers, the highest rate of disapproval for the new designs was registered by business travelers between North America and Great Britain.

Virgin Atlantic took advantage of the controversy by applying a Union flag scheme to the front end of its aircraft.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/aug/26/virgin-v-british-airways-jeremy-corbyn-rivalry-richard-branson |title=Virgin v British Airways: Was the Corbyn saga part of the old rivalry? |author=Ruddick, Graham |date=26 August 2016 |newspaper=The Guardian |accessdate=31 January 2019}} In their own 1999 relaunch, the flag was also applied to the vertical winglets of Virgin Atlantic's aircraft.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/1999/mar/01/8 |title=Virgin flies the flag with 2,000 new jobs |author=McGhie, Tom |date=28 February 1999 |newspaper=The Guardian |accessdate=31 January 2019}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/1999/oct/03/transportintheuk.observerbusiness |title=When two airlines go to war |author=Walters, Joanna |date=3 October 1999 |newspaper=The Guardian |accessdate=31 January 2019}}

While the majority of the designs were applied to a variety of aircraft models, one scheme (the stylised version of the Chatham Dockyard Union Flag) was used on Concorde only. By 1999, BA had repainted around half its fleet (170 aircraft) in its new colours but then Chief Executive, Robert Ayling, announced a review of this process. The aircraft already repainted would keep the new designs, but the remainder of the fleet (still showing the Landor design) would receive a variant of Concorde's Union Flag design.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=/archive/1999/06/07/nba07.html |title=British Airways is to fly the flag again on half its fleet |author1=McIlroy, A J |author2=Marston, Paul |date=7 June 1999 |newspaper=The Telegraph |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20020320101859/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=%2Farchive%2F1999%2F06%2F07%2Fnba07.html |archivedate=20 March 2002 |url-status=dead |access-date=7 April 2019 }} The announcement was timed to divert some attention from Virgin's relaunch. Chris Holt, the head of design management at BA who led the Utopia Project, resigned in October 1999.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/1999/oct/28/4 |title=Taking Flight - BA's ethnic tailfin man leaves |author=Teather, David |date=27 October 1999 |newspaper=The Guardian |accessdate=31 January 2019}}

File:G-BNLH B747-436 BA MAN 19JUL99 (6546311393).jpg

A single 747-400 leased from British Airways to Qantas in 2000, registered as VH-NLH whilst operating in Australia (formerly G-BNLH), wore a hybrid livery complete with the Denmark Wings tail design. Under service with Qantas, the British Airways titles were removed and replaced with Qantas' own, but the remainder of the livery was left unchanged.{{cite web |title=VH-NLH. Boeing 747-436. c/n 24050-779. |url=http://www.aussieairliners.org/b-747/vh-nlh/vhnlh.html |website=Aussie Airliners |accessdate=3 November 2018}}

In May 2001 the new Chief Executive, Rod Eddington, announced the entire fleet would receive the new Union flag livery.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1329843/BA-restores-Union-flag-design-to-all-tailfins.html |title=BA restores Union flag design to all tailfins |author=Marston, Paul |date=11 May 2001 |newspaper=The Telegraph |accessdate=31 January 2019}} The ethnic images would also be removed from baggage tags, menus, signage boarding passes and all company materials. Eddington argued that while an attempt to increase the airline's appeal was not a bad thing, the exercise had hurt the image of the carrier among its core customers – those that are attracted by the British identity. Eddington's opinions were echoed by Adam Hill, founder and partner of the advertising agency Designate, who stated that "name and logo are just small parts of the puzzle: to customers, the pride and heritage of this very British brand is what appeals, and swapping that out in order to appear modern and multicultural resulted in the very essence of the brand being diluted."{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2015/oct/08/when-branding-campaigns-go-wrong |title=When branding campaigns go wrong |author=Coleman, Alison |date=8 October 2015 |newspaper=The Guardian |accessdate=31 January 2019}}

File:158dh - British Mediterranean Airways Airbus A320-231, G-MEDA@LHR,27.10.2001 - Flickr - Aero Icarus.jpg

The final aircraft with a "Utopia" tail (Whale Rider) was retired in 2006, an Airbus A320-200 registered G-MEDA. Two Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft continued to operate with "Utopia" tails (G-BRYU, Benyhone Tartan; G-BRYV, Colum) for regional service until 2006, when both aircraft entered service for other airlines.{{cite news |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/pictures-final-ba-ethnic-tail-leaves-heathrow-service-as-bmed-airbus-a320-returned-to-lessor-206207/ |title=Pictures: Final BA ethnic tail leaves Heathrow services as BMed Airbus A320 returned to lessor |author=Wastnage, Justin |date=26 April 2006 |work=Flight Global |accessdate=30 January 2019}}

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