Next year marks the 85th anniversary of United Airlines.  The company is asking its employees to vote for one of five retro liveries that will grace a repainted Boeing 757-222 jet as part of the celebration.  As much as I’ll complain about the company, I have long and fond ties with United.  My father worked most of his adult life for them, I worked for them the summer after high school, Tawn flew with them for a few years, and several of our friends are current or former UA employees.  Needless to say, I spent many hours standing by for flights on United as a non-revenue pass holder.

With that in mind, I thought I’d share the five livery options with you and get your input.  Which do you think is the nicest?

#1 – 1930 scheme that was originally on the Boeing 247.

#2 – 1950s livery that was originally on the Douglas DC-6.

#3 – 1960s livery popularized with the delivery of the Boeing 727 and Douglas DC-8.

#4 – 1970s livery, the “Stars and Bars” which I remember from my earliest years.

#5 – The Saul Bass “Rainbow and Tulip” livery which was introduced in the mid-70s and lasted until the early 90s when a battleship grey livery was introduced.  This is actually a slight modification of the original logo, which had the windows going through the red – the middle – stripe with a slightly smaller “United” logo above the stripe.

So, what do you think?  Which livery would best celebrate the 85th anniversary of the oldest commercial airline in the United States?