United Airlines

is reportedly repainting its first Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner into its latest livery. The paint design, known as ‘Evo-Blue’ has been gradually rolled out across all other aircraft within its fleet, except for the smallest Dreamliner variant.

The aircraft feature a slightly revised livery of United’s traditional gold globe design, which was inherited from its merger with Continental Airlines in 2010. The 787-8 fleet has not yet received the new livery because it is still reportedly considered “relatively new.”

Flight details

According to the United Fleet Website, which tracks upgrades and updates for the airline’s mainline and regional aircraft, N26902 was ferried to Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport (AMA) from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) on Tuesday. FlightAware data shows that the aircraft departed from runway 28L at 06:43. Just 18 minutes later, it had reached an altitude of 39,000 feet.

United Airlines 1st Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner repaint flight.

Photo: FlightAware

The aircraft maintained the altitude for about 30 minutes until it climbed 2,000 feet to 41,000 feet. It remained at that altitude for the remainder of its cruise, which was about an hour. At around 10:30 CDT, the plane began its descent and landed on runway 22 at AMA at 11:00.

The last aircraft type in the fleet

United has 12 examples of the 787-8, according to Planespotters.net. N26902 was the third 787-8 delivered to United in November 2012, following N20904, which arrived as the carrier’s first example in September, and N26906, which was delivered in October. The 787-8 is the last aircraft type to receive the new livery after its extensive fleet of Airbus A319, A320, A321neo, 737-700/-800/-900/-900ER/MAX 8/MAX 9, 757-200/-300, 767-300ER/-400ER, 777-200/-200ER/-300ER, and 787-9/-10s. The airline has not yet completed repainting all aircraft in its fleet, but has made progress over the years.

While unconfirmed by Simple Flying, it seems that United held off on repainting its 787-8 aircraft due to their age. On a recent Reddit thread, a user who appears to work at the airline, and referred to as a “resident expert on the matter,” explained the carrier’s potential reasoning.

“…the planes are relatively new and their exterior appearance is still acceptable. We actually keep a “paint score” of each aircraft and schedule them based off that. I think our primary focus at the moment is repainting the larger volume of UA-CO merger livery narrow-bodies and once that effort is complete and, if there aren’t any other pressing marketing initiatives, we could target the 787 fleet.”

N27903 United Airlines Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner (1)

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Simple Flying contacted United on Saturday for comment, but a representative could not be immediately reached. The Chicago-based airline unveiled its so-called ‘Evo-Blue’ livery in April 2019.

The design is a refreshed globe livery with royal blue undertones – erasing the gold hues introduced by Continental more than three decades ago. The aircraft body is primarily white, with “United” in large bold lettering across the front half of the fuselage. The engines and winglets are also painted in blue, while a “swoop” extends from the nose to the tail.

“What’s more important?”

The cost and timing of repainting aircraft were also likely factors in Unite

d’s decision to delay updating its 787-8s.

“Keep in mind we only work with one-three different paint vendors and we need to budget our maintenance allocation with the needs of the airline,” the Reddit user explained. “What’s more important: Flying the schedule or repainting aircraft?”

The timeline of the first repaint is unclear, but it is estimated that the aircraft will be completed with its new shiny repaint and ready to re-enter service in the next few weeks.

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