Air Transport

US Airways has unveiled the third of its heritage series of historic liveries commemorating its constituent carriers, rolling out a sky blue-striped Airbus A319 in the 1980s paint scheme of Piedmont Airways (pictured below).

© Uncle Jay

The aircraft (N774P) rolled out at Charlotte Douglas international airport in North Carolina on 17 May in the colour scheme. It follows similar retro liveries from PSA and Allegheny Airlines on A319s and will be followed by an as-yet unspecified aircraft painted in America West colours.

However, in common with the PSA aircraft, which enthusiasts criticised for lacking the fuschia stripe of the original "Catch My Smile" design, the new design has already attracted controversy for straying from the Piedmont original. The blue is considered by many too light to mimic the original 1980s design (pictured below).

The aircraft also lacks the aircraft type stripe under the airline name on the tail, although this is understood to have been a Boeing-introduced change.