A new pigeon shooting has begun on Ita, the heir airline of Alitalia: now there is controversy over the fact that the micalized blue livery that has been chosen is heavier, more delicate, more expensive in terms of purchase and need for maintenance and retouching and more harmful for the environment, as well as for the company budget, because more weight means more fuel consumption and more carbon dioxide emissions. The question is not unfounded, but is it also serious? If in the transition from Alitalia to Ita you want to get noticed, using a completely new brand and a color that recalls the blue of sporting Italy, is it really a big waste if you choose that particular paint?
Meanwhile, the dimensions of the problem: there are those who say that on a medium-sized airliner a mica blue paint weighs 300 kilos more than a non-mica white, while the company claims that the extra kilos are only 120. In this’ last case it is the equivalent of the weight of an extra passenger with the baggage.
Analyst Gregory Alegi says: «If Ita had chosen the white livery of the old Alitalia, someone would have stigmatized the lack of imagination. I see a bit of bad faith in these excessive criticisms that tend to be made in Ita. Counter-proof: when the white plane with the words “Born in 2021” was presented, I did not hear compliments for the ecological value of those choices ». The analyst adds that “in the recent past, Alitalia had even excessive scruples on fuel saving, so much so that pilots were criticized for the practical management difficulties that this policy entailed, now we do not pass Ita as a major polluter alone. because the chosen paint weighs a little more ».
The fact remains that almost all airlines opt for white, but Alegi observes: “The color other than white is an unusual choice, but not extravagant. For example, KLM has a blue livery, and it is not the only one to opt for a color other than white. As for why white predominates, in my opinion the real reason is that if you take or return leased aircraft, having white as the base color of almost all operators is the simplest solution to change the livery of an aircraft with the minimum aesthetic intervention on the nacelle ».