Second Time Lucky?

What seemed at first like a stylish, trendy logo for an upstart Belgian airline has become a scary situation for some passengers.

According to the Associated Press, Brussels Airlines asked designer Ronane Hoet to design its logo, to adorn the tails of the new airline's planes. She came up with a simple "b", formed by 13 spheres -- each representing one of the airline's destinations in Africa, a primary market.

"It was harmony," Hoet said.

Did you catch the problem? The number 13 is seen as unlucky by many customers in the US and Italy. "They said they were not pleased with an aircraft with a logo with 13 balls because they think it brings them bad luck," said Brussels Airlines spokesman Geert Sciot.

Though most people scoff at such superstitions when asked directly, there's also a reason many buildings don't have a 13th floor... and many planes don't have a row 13. When the Brussels Airlines was unveiled last year, the airline received a flood of complaints from worried passengers.

Since the carrier -- the result of a merger of SN Brussels and Virgin Express -- doesn't want customers to run screaming from its planes on sight of the logo, it asked Hoet to paint another ball on the tail... making the total 14.

Hoet was incredulous.

"We are never surprised by reactions -- but that it was that bad? It really took us aback," said Hoet.

But even that isn't the end of problems with the logo. The airline -- which is due to begin flights March 25 -- now has to worry about passengers from China, many of which consider 14 to be an unlucky number (spoken as "one-four" in Mandarin, it sounds similar to the phrase "to want to die.")

"The Chinese are notoriously superstitious. Certain numbers are very lucky and their business decisions are very much shaped by their cultural superstitions," said psychology professor Bruce Hood of Bristol University.

How about 12, then? Can't do that... due to religious connotations of the 12 disciples. Since the airline doesn't fly to China, anyway, 14 it is.

"There are many examples in business where people make decisions based on intuitive reasoning which are in fact woefully incorrect, in fact very irrational," said Hood.

"Why make a decision which flies in the face of what everyone else perceives to be real forces. Why buck the trend?"

FMI: www.brusselsairlines.com