Countywide : PSA ‘Smile’ Briefly Turns Up Again
Recalling the days when PSA flew so-called “smile” planes up and down California, an unidentified USAir mechanic this week taped a black smile on the nose of a BAE-146 jetliner at John Wayne Airport.
USAir removed the smiles--a simple, curved black line--from all PSA planes when it purchased the San Diego-based airline a few years ago. The decision provoked a public furor and protests from former PSA workers retained by USAir. Advertising and marketing executives across the United States also lambasted the change.
Airport officials said the unknown USAir employee responsible for putting the smile on the jetliner apparently did so because this is the airline’s last week at John Wayne.
USAir, based in Virginia, announced in January that it would quit Orange County as of May 2 in order to consolidate its operations and save money.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
