The Tata Group is gearing up to consolidate its entire airline business under Air India. According to media reports, the company is aiming to wrap up the consolidation process by 2024. The merger of Vistara and Air India will be a multiple-step process and will be subject to various regulatory approvals.
Following the merger of Air India and Vistara into one-full service carrier, the merged entity will be known as Air India, which is much more recognized outside the country, the airline’s chief executive officer Campbell Wilson said on February 27. He added that the process of integration of Vistara with Air India is underway and is now awaiting approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
Brand experts have mixed reactions about this move. Post the recent controversies, including the urination episode by a passenger, Air India’s brand image has become patchy. On the contrary, Vistara has been known as a better service brand. But the company plans to keep Air India alive because of its legacy. In a competitive market like India, where the margins are tight, airlines companies can’t afford to back multiple brands. Having said that, experts believe, Air India can fuse the contemporary aspects of Vistara and revamp itself completely to scale up.
According to a Moneycontrol report, 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.
The company, recently, onboarded London-based brand and design consultancy firm Futurebrands to design Air India’s new branding strategy. Futurebrands has worked on rebranding exercises for brands like American Airlines and the British luxury auto brand Bentley. In ad agency circles there are whispers that the agency is planning to create a new mascot for the brand. Currently, Air India is not using its iconic mascot the Maharajah in any of its commercials.
According to multiple sources Storyboard18 spoke to, Air India is also working closely with independent marketing agency Gozoop Group for some creative campaigns. Crayons Advertising is also rumoured to be collaborating with the brand. The company hasn’t initiated any formal agency pitch yet.
Earlier this year the airline company 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.
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.
In January 2022, Storyboard18 spoke to several brand experts to understand what brand Air India needs for a brand overhaul.
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 terms of lack of high-quality in-flight service, aircraft shortcomings and lack of technology advancement (such as on-board entertainment), Air India still manages to piggyback on its glory days, said brand experts.
Senior advertising and media executives believe that the company needs to look at amalgamating past glory and future-led technologies to make Air India a competitive homegrown but truly world-class brand. It’s going to be interesting times for the aviation category as brand Air India plans for a new take-off.