Air India’s recently unveiled new global brand identity and aircraft livery marks a welcome shift from its current brand identity and towards its ambition to become a world-class airline.
Campbell Wilson, CEO & MD, Air India, said, “The new Air India is bold, confident, and vibrant, but also warm and deeply rooted to its rich history and traditions that make Indian hospitality a global benchmark for standards in service. Colours, patterns, shapes, how they come together, and what they represent matter, but our actions speak much louder. We are in the midst of a total transformation to reimagine the role of India’s flagship airline.”
The first aircraft to feature the new livery will be the new A350 widebody jetliner, slated to enter service in December 2023. The current brand identity and aircraft livery dates back to 2014, featuring a red swan, symbolising flight with orange spokes inside the swan inspired by the Ashoka Chakra.
Transformational Identity
The airline contracted a global brand transformation company, FutureBrand, to create a standout brand design in line with its aspirations of becoming a premium global airline with an Indian heart. FutureBrand has created new brand identities for many, including American Airlines and Air Malta.
Tasneem Ali, FutureBrand CEO, said the firm found inspiration in Air India’s iconic window design on its aircraft and reimagined it into a gold window frame, central to the new brand design system - symbolising a ‘Window of Possibilities’.
Named ‘The Vista’, the new logo is inspired by the peak of the gold window frame. The brand-new aircraft livery features a striking new design, a palette of deep red, aubergine, gold highlights, and a chakra-inspired pattern. It also decided on a custom-made ‘Air India Sans’ font, marrying confidence with warmth to position it as a premium, inclusive, and accessible airline.
The Air India wordmark, which uses the new new custom-made ‘Air India Sans’ font, is inspired by FutureBrand’s new hero signature window frame shape. Positioned at the front half of the aircraft fuselage, it strikes a purposeful and confident identity that is legible at a distance.
The vertical tailfin design at the rear of the aircraft marks a striking departure from the earlier design and features the edges of the of the window frame design in shades of premium metallic gold, supported by two dynamic supporting window frame shapes in Air India red and purple, which extend to the rear fuselage of the aircraft around the horizontal tailplanes. The tailfin design also features a Jaali pattern detail, which takes inspiration from Air India’s earlier Chakra logo.
With nearly all modern airlines featuring wingtips for increased performance and reduced fuel economy, FutureBrand replicated the tailfin design on the inner side of the wingtips (which can be viewed from inside the aircraft) and used a simple gold design on the outer wingtips to convey a premium cue and link it with the hero gold frame design, (the gold coloured design at the end of the new Air India logo). The engine housings are painted in solid Air India red, with a simple gold band applied at the front of the engine casing.
The other major change in the aircraft livery is the Air India wordmark applied at a large scale to the underbelly, surrounded by the hero gold frame, which encompasses the text. This will allow the aircraft to be easily recognised when viewed from the ground.
Air India has chosen to retain its warm and witty mascot, the Maharaja, easily recognisable by its outsized moustache and distinctive personality. The Maharaja mascot has been used since 1946 but will now be handled with greater care as part of the airline’s brand identity.
FutureBrand is also involved in designing a new logo for Air India Express (AIE), the low-cost arm of Air India. AIE's current Boeing B737 NG jetliners feature unique tail art designs. The low-cost carrier also operates Airbus A320 jetliners obtained from its merger with Air Asia India (AAI), which was completed in March this year. AIE operates its aircraft in a single Economy Class layout and will also induct 23 new Boeing B737 MAX jetliners by March 2024.
Vigorous Expansion
Air India has a long road ahead to regain market share in the cutthroat world of air travel, both in the domestic and international markets. The Tata Group-owned carrier is making significant investments to elevate its service and strengthen its position as the preferred airline for travellers flying to, from, and within India. Air India has placed orders with Airbus and Boeing for 470 jetliners worth $70 billion, which include 34 A350-1000, six A350-900, 20 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 10 Boeing 777X widebody aircraft, as well as 140 Airbus A320neo, 70 Airbus A321neo and 190 Boeing 737 MAX narrowbody jetliners. Deliveries of the first of these aircraft will start in November this year, with the bulk of the aircraft on order slated to arrive from mid-2025 onwards.
The airline is completely refurbishing the interiors of 43 of its legacy widebody aircraft (27 B787-8 and 13 B777s), which starts in mid-2024, as part of a $400 million initiative. Customers complained about the poor quality of its existing widebody jetliners, including seats and non-functioning In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) systems.
As part of the cabin refurbishment, all 43 jetliners will be fitted with brand-new seats in every cabin, new IFE systems, and inflight Wi-Fi internet connectivity. Air India will introduce Premium Economy cabins on its B787 and B777 fleets and retain the First Class cabins.
As per Air India, 33% of the airline’s widebody fleet will be upgraded by March 2024. Its entire long-haul fleet will be equipped with new aircraft over the next two-and-a-half years. The delivery of 11 leased B777s and 25 A320 aircraft is already underway.
Air India recently announced a global lounge network expansion to achieve 100% lounge access coverage for premium customers at all destinations in its international route network. It invests in building new lounges at Delhi and New York JFK airports. The airline will launch a completely redesigned loyalty programme in early 2024 to enable thousands of new redemption possibilities. To cater for its plans, the airline is on a hiring spree, adding over 5,000 new staff, including 3,200 cabin crew and nearly 1,000 cockpit crew.
The Tata Group’s concerted efforts to revive Air India as a well-run and profitable airline certainly appear to be on the right track. The airline’s new global brand identity and aircraft livery will find favour both in India and abroad. The induction of nearly 500 new jetliners with new cabin crew and pilots will allow it to operate these aircraft to global standards of service and efficiency. The year 2025 will be the litmus test when Air India must prove that it has what it takes to become a globally accepted airline.
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