Jetstar change you didn’t notice

Jetstar has subtly made a change that will save the Aussie airline money in a surprising way.

Jetstar is changing the colour of its aircraft.

The Aussie budget airline is losing its silver sparkle and moving to grey instead, as the paint is lighter, making the aircraft cheaper to operate.

When news.com.au visited what will be Jetstar’s 20th A321neo LR at the Airbus HQ in Toulouse, France this week, senior fleet engineering manager Jordan Becroft revealed the strategic reason behind the change.

The grey is about 30kg to 40kg lighter than the silver (depending on the aircraft), which despite being less than an average adult, Mr Becroft described as “quite substantial” weight savings.

Jetstar is losing its silver sparkle and moving to grey instead.

“10 to 40kg can make a big difference on a whole when you add it all up,” he said.

“It’s cheaper to operate, it reduces CO2 emissions [and] especially this aircraft, enables us to keep fares low because the operating costs aren’t as much.”

The new A321neo LR is the fifth plane painted in grey instead of silver, with the first grey aircraft having arrived in October last year.

They used test panels to compare the grey under different natural lights to ensure it was as close a colour match as possible.

“Previously it was what’s called a silver mica paint, so if you got close to it you could see the silver specks in it. That’s why in the sun it had a real shine to it,” Mr Becroft said.

If you hadn’t noticed some Jetstar aircraft had lost the sparkle, the airline achieved one of its goals.

They used test panels to compare the grey under different natural lights to ensure it was as close a colour match as possible.

Jetstar senior fleet engineering manager, Jordan Becroft.

The grey is about 30kg to 40kg lighter than the silver (depending on the aircraft) and makes repairs less noticeable.

In addition to weight savings, the new colour makes repairs less noticeable.

“It also helps us when it comes to maintenance because the silver mica is a difficult colour to replicate,” Mr Becroft said.

“When you spray the aircraft when it’s in production, you get a really nice uniform paint job.

“When you try to repair it in service, it ends up looking a bit patchy so over time, over ten years or so it really starts to look patchy.

“So with this we’ll be able to replicate the exact same colour so it will last a lot longer.”

The A321neo LRs give Jetstar an extended flying range. They can fly 1200kms further than the current A320/321 fleet.

Jetstar has ordered a total of 40 new A320 and A321 aircraft of which 19 A321neo LRs and three A320s have already arrived.

All the new Airbus aircraft will be painted in the new grey, and the existing Boeing 787 fleet will likely go to grey as well.