From the instantly recognisable red tail of Qantas to the precision and restraint of Lufthansa, every livery tells a story about how an airline sees itself — and how it wants to be seen. Some are timeless. Some are forgettable. And some… should never have left the design studio.

Qantas is performing again. Leaner. Faster. More profitable. But there’s a trade-off in aviation that doesn’t show up on a balance sheet— and it only becomes visible when things go wrong.