Why Are Most Airplanes White?

Whether it's a training aircraft, a private jet carrying a small group of people, or one of the big airline giants, their aesthetics usually share a common element: color. In most cases, the manufacturer or company chooses to paint their planes following a pattern dominated by white. Why does this happen? An MIT professor gives us the answer.

Lufthansa, Ryanair, British Airways, Air India, Qantas, Virgin Atlantic, Japan Airlines, Air France, Iberia... I could go on. If you search for images of these airlines, you'll first see results with their official logos (current or past) and photos of their main aircraft. But beyond technical differences, they all share a small detail: white dominates their fuselages. Technology has advanced a lot in paints, yet this basic color hasn't gone anywhere... and the question is why. What is the benefit of painting a plane white? Is it a matter of cost, maintenance, or a combination of both?

White Planes = Sunscreen

MIT professor of aeronautics and astronautics R. John Hansman explains that the main reason for painting a plane white or another very light color is to reflect sunlight in an attempt to minimize heat and any potential damage related to solar radiation. In other words, white works like sunscreen.

Optimizing cooling outside the plane means less effort to cool it inside, but there's more: Not everything on a plane is metal. Current designs use plastics and other composite materials, like carbon fiber and fiberglass. The nose dome or radome is a good example, as the radar is installed behind it. Something similar happens with control surfaces.

In general, there is no limitation when it comes to painting a plane another color. The average commercial aircraft requires between 240 and 250 liters of paint, which doesn't seem like much if we think about it for a moment. Still, with repeated exposure to the sun and harsh weather, the paint tends to lose intensity.

A bright red plane can be beautiful, but if it's not maintained, it will start to turn pink. The great exception to the rule was American Airlines, which for years used unpainted planes and focused its efforts on keeping them polished.