Iconic Indian carrier Air India is currently conducting an outreach program abroad. Airline executives including its chief executive officer Campbell Wilson were in the US this week. The Tata Group-backed airline is also exploring opportunities with Apple, with Air India executives and Wilson visiting the tech giant’s Cupertino headquarters.
Wilson told the airline’s employees in an internal email, “Dr Satya Ramaswamy and I, together with some of our colleagues, also spent time at Apple’s head office in Palo Alto to explore opportunities for even deeper collaboration.”
People familiar with the matter have told Storyboard18 that Air India executives and Campbell also met with the Indian diaspora, CEOs, founders, executives and other business leaders at an exclusive gathering. It seems the airline’s leadership and executives are accelerating the new global airline narrative as they rebuild the iconic brand. The focus is also on tapping into the lucrative corporate and business segments.
Wilson also said in the internal mail that the airline’s wide-body aircraft fleet will grow by 30 per cent by the end of the fiscal year 2023-24. “By the end of this financial year, the six new A350s, together with the 5 leased B772LRs and 9 other B773ERs we’re also inducting, will mean that our widebody fleet will have grown in size by 30 per cent within a year and that, by Mar24, around a third of the total widebody fleet will feature modern seats and inflight entertainment systems.”
He added that the rest of the fleet will then commence their full USD 400m interior refit so that “our hard product is up to a consistently high standard on every aircraft.”
Air India’s transformation plan is titled “Vihaan.AI”, which in Sanskrit signifies the dawn of a new era. The Tata Sons’ owned airline will unveil a new brand identity in August at an event hosted in Delhi.
It is expected that Air India will unveil a new colour theme, a new livery and design to give Air India a refreshed look and feel of a global airline.
While the airline is all set to unveil its new identity, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) is yet to approve the merger of Air India and Vistara.
Storyboard18 reported in January 2023 that the company onboarded London-based brand and design consultancy firm Futurebrands to design Air India’s new branding strategy.
In Jun 2023, Storyboard18 was the first to report that the airline assigned its creative duties to Prasoon Joshi-led advertising agency McCann Worldgroup India. The responsibilities of the agency include developing a new brand platform and a comprehensive range of multi-channel marketing communication.
Backstory
Tata Group is gearing up to consolidate its entire airline business under Air India. Since Tata bought Air India for Rs 18,000 crore as part of government disinvestment in 2021, the plan has been to merge all its aviation brands under that name.
The merger of Vistara and Air India will be a multiple-step process and will be subject to various regulatory approvals. According to media reports, the company is aiming to wrap up the consolidation process by 2024.
Air India will first complete the merger of AirAsia India with Air India Express by the end of 2023. In November 2022, Air India announced that it has signed agreements to complete the acquisition of 100 percent shareholding in AirAsia India.
In 2022, the airline company also hired former MakeMyTrip executive Sunil Suresh as its chief marketing officer. Seasoned marketer Colin Neubronner, who has worked with brands like Singapore Airlines and Jet Airways also joined the company’s brand team.
Indian pride
Air India’s transformation plan is titled “Vihaan.AI”, which in Sanskrit signifies the dawn of a new era, with identified objectives for Air India over the next 5 years.
Air India has gone through a tumultuous journey, scaling new highs till the 1970s when it was looked up to by other airlines, having even trained the Singapore Airlines staff. Its brand mascot, the Maharajah, once was a metaphor for Air India service—one could expect to be treated like royalty.
However, once JRD Tata, the founder and then still chairman of Air India, was ingloriously removed from the chairman’s role, on February 1, 1978, the fateful fall of the airline started.
Despite its multiple shortfalls in recent decades, brand Air India still has a special place in consumers’ hearts and minds, with people looking forward to its revival under the aegis of the Tata Group.
(With inputs from ANI)