3 Reasons Why Commercial Airplanes Are Usually Colored White

You may have read on the reason behind airplane windows not aligned with the seats or why they are oval-shaped and not square-shaped. But have you ever wondered why you never see colorful commercial airplanes flying up in the sky?

If you’re curious enough to have asked such a question in your life, then the answers have finally arrived. And there are three reasons why white should be the primary color for airplanes and it has something to do with physics, safety, and financial reasons.

The color white provides a thermal advantage.

Just like your white shirt, the color white can be an advantage for planes when it comes to reflecting sunlight or heat. Other colors are great at absorbing light but not white, so the color prevents the airplane from overheating. In addition, the plane cools down faster when it stays on the ground following a flight.

The color white is used for safety purposes.

When maintenance personnel does the routine checking of the airplane, it would be easier for them to spot any cracks on the fuselage. The color also easily reveals oil leak spots and corrosion marks.

White is also an excellent color for visual purposes in the unfortunate event that the airplane crash landed into a body of water. Darker colors, on the other hand, tend to fade over time due to the conditions of the atmosphere.

Painting can be expensive; white planes have high resale value.

Painting a plane is nothing like painting a fence. The job takes a lot of time and resources to finish. It is said that finishing the paintwork on a commercial airplane could take up to a week and imagine if it had colors other than white. Not to mention, more paint translates to added weight. Airline companies would want to avoid that cost as much as possible. More importantly, white airplanes tend to cost more when being put up for resale compared to colored ones.