Air India’s Maharajah mascot may step back and get a new role as the Tata Group embarks on a long-awaited revamp of the national carrier’s brand, having taken it over in January last year following the airline’s privatisation.
The airline is likely to continue using the Maharajah image for its airport lounges and premium classes but won’t be used as a mascot, said people with knowledge of the matter. The Maharajah has had an iconic association with Air India since 1946, while the carrier’s logos have also included the centaur, the rising sun and a flying swan through the decades.
As part of the rebranding exercise, the airline will get new livery that will feature red, white and purple. Red and white are Air India’s colours. The purple will be derived from the livery of Vistara, which has earned a significant amount of goodwill during its eight-year existence. As part of the consolidation of Tata Group’s airline businesses, Vistara will be merged into Air India, possibly by March 2024. The Airbus A350 aircraft that Air India plans to induct in November will be the first planes to get the new colours.
In the month of June, Air India had the maximum number of passengers affected by delays; ranked second among pan-India airlines in terms of passenger complaints (SpiceJet topped the list), and fifth in terms of on-time flight performance in a list of seven airlines, according to DGCA figures.
The airline has hired London-based brand and design consultancy firm FutureBrand to redraw Air India’s branding strategy. FutureBrand has worked on branding American Airlines and British luxury automobile brand Bentley as well as the 2012 London Olympics. It will work to refurbish Air India’s identity as the carrier aims to take on elite carriers such as Emirates and Qatar Airways. The new branding will be unveiled in August with a blanketing of print and electronic media, said the people cited above. Prasoon Joshi-led McCann Worldgroup has been appointed for the advertising and marketing campaign.
The Maharajah was created by Bobby Kooka in 1946 when he was commercial director of the airline. It however doesn’t reflect the contemporary image that Air India wants to project.
“Air India wants to become the carrier of choice for people flying in and out of India,” said a person aware of the development. “A large section of the fliers will be business travellers, corporate executives. Maharajah, who wears a turban and has an outsized moustache, though a very successful story, doesn’t resonate anymore with these kinds of customers. It has also been maligned, repurposed multiple times.”
Moreover, no modern global airline has a mascot, he said.
Tata Sons and Air India didn’t respond to queries.
As part of the broader consolidation plan, Air India Express is taking over AirAsia India to form a low-cost carrier unit and Vistara will be absorbed into Air India to create a full-service airline. The Vistara brand will be dissolved. It was set up by Tata in partnership with Singapore Airlines, which will own 25% in the merged entity.
“Vistara has set a high-quality service standard but it is hardly known outside India,” said the person cited above. “So while a dash of purple is being retained on the tail and engine of the aircraft, the name will no longer be used.”
The Air India group as a whole which includes low cost carrier Air India Express is likely to adopt Vistara’s standard operating procedures (SOPs) for flight safety and customer services.
Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan recently said that the airline has maintained a high level of processes that were taken from Singapore Airlines (SIA) and adapted to the Indian context.
“Vistara’s high standard has been acknowledged by the management of Air India and they are working to bring Air India to the same standard,” he had said.
Since the Tata Group took over last year, Air India has been on a steady drive to improve its image among passengers. As part of that, the airline will be refurbishing its cabins, installing new seats and retiring older aircraft through next year.
