Atlas Air Paint Issues

[Tony G]

Here are a couple of photos i have taken recently of Atlas Air, one taken this morning. As you can see the paint work towards the rear of the aircraft is quite bad. I thinking they should change contractors

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/r...e/IMG_3848.jpg
N412MC

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/r...e/IMG_3553.jpg
N492MC

[Kieran Wells]

hear hear tony!
I have N492MC in Sydney on 2/4 and the paintwork still wasn't that great...hopefully the paintwork doesn't reflect the companys reputation..

[Scott Lindsell]

They have always been pretty bad but those shots are some of the worst I've seen.
Do Atlas still fly to SYD regularly???
S.

[Philip Argy]

Is the paintwork bad enough to adversely impact laminar airflow and therefore increase drag/fuel burn? It looks like it to me but I'd be interested in an expert's opinion.

[Stefan Drury]

Here's the other side from a few months back:

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=6233080

[Andrew McLaughlin]

And again...look at the leading edge of the fin!

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=6297917

[Stefan Drury]

Poor girl, in need of an 'Extreme Makeover'. Nice photo BTW Andrew.

[Philip Argy]

I wonder what costs more - the extra fuel burned from allowing turbulent air flow to burnish the paint off or a conventional "sanding back" before a re-paint?

[Sarah C]

Originally Posted by Andrew McLaughlin

And again...look at the leading edge of the fin!

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=6297917

That is the worst photo I have seen of the Atlas paint job (or lack of it).

[Kieran Wells]

Originally Posted by Scott Lindsell

Do Atlas still fly to SYD regularly???
S.

Scott, they do a lot of freight work for Qantas. I know they normally do SYD-BKK-Chicago, but wouldn't surprise me if they did other routes for them.