G-VHOW do we name our aircraft?

At the time, the giant ‘Virgin’ written on the tailfin was the biggest iteration of the famous logo, but Richard also insisted on another touch to the livery. As a newcomer to the world of aviation, he disliked the way everyone around him was calling G-VIRG ‘Romeo Golf’; the standard way our industry refers to aircraft (by the last two letters of its registration). He wanted to bring a bit of personality to the fleet and asked for our first aircraft to be named Maiden Voyager. Much better. This small touch has endured throughout our history, from long before red engines and our famous flying lady icon.

Naming aircraft isn’t unique to us. Several other airlines do it, but they tend to name theirs after famous people, or landmarks and cities of their home country. We’ve always tried to do it with a bit more panache and fun. After all, our planes will be flying around the world for many years to come, will be seen by millions and appear in countless photos.

Where did this all begin?

Quite a bit of airline lingo was inherited from the world of shipping. Captains, port, starboard and galleys, to name a few. Even the airbridges you board from are sometimes known as jetties. And of course, all ships have names, and more often than not they are female. Nobody knows when or why people started naming them. It was probably to do with the amount of time sailors spent onboard and the emotional attachments they developed to their temporary homes.

The naming of planes made the jump from the marine world early on. Think Wright Flyer, Memphis Belle or Spirit of St Louis. For airlines, the practice of naming aircraft can also be traced back to the days of flying boats. During this period Pan Am started calling all their aircraft ‘Clippers’; a tradition that carried on right up until they ceased operations. Yet the names on aircraft have no operational purpose. On the ground, they’re still known by the last two letters of their registration, and once on the move, they have their own call sign that’s used to identify and communicate with air traffic control – usually some variation on the flight number.

So why continue to name our planes? We do get incredibly attached to our aircraft, in the same way, some get attached to a much-loved car or bike. Each has its own history, characteristics and memories, and customers often tell us the name of the plane that took them on their honeymoon or dream holiday. They’re the poster children of our airline, featuring in millions of holiday snaps and Instagram posts. It’s all a bit of much-needed fun. Part of that is trying to work out the link between the registration and name. Sometimes it’s easy; G-VSPY, Miss Moneypenny. Sometimes it’s not so obvious; G-VMAP, West End Girl, named after the Pet Shop Boys song and a rather tenuous link to the compass of a map. And then there are the ones that make no sense at all G-VXLG, Ruby Tuesday.

A few more facts about our aircraft names:

• Why women? This also harks back to shipping. Most boats have female names and are referred to in the feminine gender (she sets sail). It may have originated from European languages where objects are often given a gender. But again, nobody really knows, so we’re chalking it up to tradition.
• While we don’t have lavish Champagne bottle smashing naming ceremonies like the shipping industry, two of our aircraft have been named by royalty. In 1993 Princess Diana joined Richard at our Heathrow hangar to unveil the Airbus A340-300 Lady in Red. And in 2004, on a visit to the Airbus factory in Toulouse, the Queen named G-VEIL Queen of the Skies.
• When G-VWOW was named Cosmic Girl back in 2001, we couldn’t have predicted how the name would come into its own 14 years later. After retiring from passenger service, Cosmic Girl went on to become an airborne launch platform for Virgin Orbit’s satellites.
• The only aircraft that didn’t follow the pattern of G-Vxx was G-TKYO, Maiden Japan, one of our earliest 747s
• G-VATL was named following an internal staff competition. The winning name, Miss Kitty.
• In 2006 we ran an eBay auction to name one of our Airbus A340-600 aircraft for a year. The winning bid was for £10,000, and Mr Heaney named the aircraft Emmeline Heaney after his newborn daughter. It proved a good investment because the name still adorns the aircraft 13 years later. We’d love to hear from Emmeline if anyone knows her. G-VYOU is due for retirement later this year.
• There have been a few temporary aircraft renames for PR purposes over the years. Claudia Shiffer renamed G-VSHY ‘Cloudia Nine’. We had ‘Spice One’ named by the Spice Girls and ‘Austin Powered’ a 747 named after the movie character Austin Powers.
• All aircraft have a registration – planes, helicopters and hot air balloons – and once a registration has been used, it can never be used again, even if the aircraft is decommissioned.
• The only aircraft given a male name was Spirit of Sir Freddie, to recognise the help and advice that Sir Freddie Laker gave to Richard during the BA dirty tricks scandal.
• We have two names in memory of colleagues who are no longer with us – Forever Young and Olivia-Rae
• Four rock and roll acts share the honour of having two aircraft named after them. The Beatles with Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields; Abba with Dancing Queen and Mamma Mia; The Rolling Stones with Ruby Tuesday and Honkytonk Woman and David Bowie with Lady Stardust and Dream Jeannie.