Originally Posted by
SomedayRJ
At this juncture I feel compelled to point out that regardless of how ugly the airplane looks, the paint is there to protect the airplane's skin, not make you feel all happy inside.
Really, is that why American's planes are just bare metal with a few painted stripes?
The paint is there my friend because there is so much composites and plastics all over the CRJ and EMB that leaving it bare metal would look extremely bad. Look at how desperate they are to save weight. There is at least 50 pounds of paint (if not more) on these RJ's... that 50 pound loss would add up to a nice yearly fuel savings per plane...
They have paint on them because they have to, that's why.