Air California/AirCal Boeing 737 Livery History (1968-1987)

JJ Skippy

Well-known member
Hello everyone! Livery histories are back, this time with Air California/AirCal on the Boeing 737-200!

1 - Delivery (1968)
The first 737s entered Air California’s fleet in 1968. N464GB was the first, delivered in July of that year. At the time, their fleet was mainly of L-188 Electras but would be phased out as the 737s and DC-9s came in. This first livery for the 737s featured a black nose area, and yellow cheatline, nosecone, and titles.
IMG_9862.jpeg

2 - New Yellow Cheatline (1970-1981)
A new livery came around by the 1970s, which saw the removal of the black nose and the moving of the AIR CALIFORNIA titles closer to the L1 door. Note the removal of the Boeing 737 decal which was below the passenger windows on the previous livery.
IMG_9860.jpeg

3 - AirCal (1981-1987)
Following a bankruptcy proceeding, the airline was sold in 1981 and renamed AirCal. With the renaming came a new identity for the airline, featuring bright colors, which reminds me of a California sunset.
IMG_9863.jpeg

In 1985, the first 737-300, N307AC, was delivered. The airline would operate eight of these 733s. A ninth was not delivered to the airline.
IMG_9864.jpeg

4 - American Hybrid (1987)
American acquired AirCal in 1987. The airline would operate much of AirCal’s fleet, all of which was new to the airline (737 and BAe 146). As a result of the acquisition, hybrids existed which saw the AirCal titles replaced with American ones.
IMG_9865.jpeg

IMG_9866.jpeg

The 737-300s would be transferred to Southwest Airlines which carried American’s new registration numbers. Hopefully you enjoyed; let me know what other livery histories I should do!

@Purpleplane added a couple hybrids that he found online. See #4 for details.

5 - Retro Livery (2015)
In November 2015, American rolled out N917NN from the paint shop with the new AirCal heritage livery. This was unveiled around the same time the TWA and Reno Air heritage liveries were unveiled.

I have seen 917NN before, in 2019 at ORD; here is my photo. Did some touch ups to it.
C694AD4F-B86A-484D-B407-27948A386E71.jpeg
 
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I found a couple of interesting hybrids I'd like to share:
Air California leased United 737-222 N9014U from 2/1/1980 until 4/28/1981. It stayed in this basic United scheme with Air California titles and tail logo. This photo was taken in January, 1981 about 3 months before it was returned to United:
N9014U.jpg
AirCal also leased Aloha 737-297 N73711 twice, from 2/26/1981 until 1/10/1982 and again from June, 1982 until September 1983 in basic Aloha scheme with AirCal titles on the fuselage and tail:
N73711 R.jpg After N73711 was returned to Aloha it was tragically written off on 4/28/1988 when structural fatigue caused the forward upper fuselage to fail in flight. Plane landed safely, but there was one fatality....a flight attendant was sucked out of the plane.
 
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I found a couple of interesting hybrids I'd like to share:
Air California leased United 737-222 N9014U from 2/1/1980 until 4/28/1981. It stayed in this basic United scheme with Air California titles and tail logo. This photo was taken in January, 1981 about 3 months before it was returned to United:
View attachment 15023
AirCal also leased Aloha 737-297 N73711 twice, from 2/26/1981 until 1/10/1982 and again from June, 1982 until September 1983 in basic Aloha scheme with AirCal titles on the fuselage and tail:
View attachment 15024 After N73711 was returned to Aloha it was tragically written off on 4/28/1988 when structural fatigue caused the forward upper fuselage to fail in flight. Plane landed safely, but there was one fatality....a flight attendant was sucked out of the plane.
Good finds! Thanks for posting.
 
I like how AA replaced the aircal titles with "american" titles. if i was them i would just put the aa logo near the registration, and call it a day. nice effort regardless.
 
Hello everyone! Livery histories are back, this time with Air California/AirCal on the Boeing 737-200!

1 - Delivery (1968)
The first 737s entered Air California’s fleet in 1968. N464GB was the first, delivered in July of that year. At the time, their fleet was mainly of L-188 Electras but would be phased out as the 737s and DC-9s came in. This first livery for the 737s featured a black nose area, and yellow cheatline, nosecone, and titles.
View attachment 15003

2 - New Yellow Cheatline (1970-1981)
A new livery came around by the 1970s, which saw the removal of the black nose and the moving of the AIR CALIFORNIA titles closer to the L1 door. Note the removal of the Boeing 737 decal which was below the passenger windows on the previous livery.
View attachment 15004

3 - AirCal (1981-1987)
Following a bankruptcy proceeding, the airline was sold in 1981 and renamed AirCal. With the renaming came a new identity for the airline, featuring bright colors, which reminds me of a California sunset.
View attachment 15008

In 1985, the first 737-300, N307AC, was delivered. The airline would operate eight of these 733s. A ninth was not delivered to the airline.
View attachment 15006

4 - American Hybrid (1987)
American acquired AirCal in 1987. The airline would operate much of AirCal’s fleet, all of which was new to the airline (737 and BAe 146). As a result of the acquisition, hybrids existed which saw the AirCal titles replaced with American ones.
View attachment 15007

View attachment 15005

The 737-300s would be transferred to Southwest Airlines which carried American’s new registration numbers. Hopefully you enjoyed; let me know what other livery histories I should do!
You forgot to put in the American Airlines Air Cal Retro Livery
 
What was the difference between this and 'Aero California' ? I remember photographing a Mexican XA reg'd DC-9 at LAX some 21 years ago when I was last out there.
 
What was the difference between this and 'Aero California' ? I remember photographing a Mexican XA reg'd DC-9 at LAX some 21 years ago when I was last out there.
Aero California was an LCC based out of La Paz, Mexico, with a hub in Mexico City, whereas AirCal was a local-service carrier.
 
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