Date:31/03/2007 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/03/31/stories/2007033100840700.htm

Back New merged entity may be named Air India

Ashwini Phadnis

New Delhi March 30 Get set to fly Air India on your domestic and international sojourns soon. The current thinking in the Government is to retain `Air India' as the brand name for the new airline created after the merger of Air India and Indian.

Sources told Business Line that the thinking about the name was based on the fact that Air India was a globally established brand name that has stood the test of time. Air India has just entered its platinum jubilee year, having been established by J.R.D. Tata as Tata Airline.

It was in 1946, that the airline was converted into a public company under the name Air India.

If the upper echelons in the Government have their way, then the Maharaja, which made its first appearance in 1946, will also be on hand to welcome guests on board as the mascot of the new airline. There have been sections in the industry that feel that the Maharaja should be dropped as it is a symbol of another era and not in keeping with the modern image that the new-merged airline wants to project.

Emblem

The merged airline emblem is likely to include both the Ashok Chakra and Centaur. The Centaur is currently used as a corporate identity of Air India. No final decision, however, has yet been taken on the issue though an announcement is expected soon.

In February this year, soon after the Union Cabinet gave its nod for the merger to go ahead, the Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, had indicated that a clear picture on the name and logo is likely to emerge within the next eight weeks.