Tata owned Air India (AI) has unveiled a new logo on Thursday. This part of the rebranding for Air India was announced in a gala event in New Delhi in the presence of the Tata group top brass.
This latest move from Air India comes after its chief executive officer (CEO) Campbell Wilson said earlier that the airline was poised to introduce a host of new services as part of the rebranding journey.
Talking about the rebranding at the event, Campbell Wilson, CEO, Air India, said “This is a very exciting milestone for us, a very important date. As I acknowledged, we still have quite some way to go in restoring Air India to world-class airlines. Maharaja is a very important part of Air India’s proud legacy. It has been with us for more than 75 years. And we very much want to continue it, especially in local markets and with the Indian diaspora. As we move into international markets and beyond the Indian diaspora, the understanding of the Maharaja is not quite so clear. And it is not quite understood to stand for service and humility and Indian warmth and hospitality in the same way. So, we wanted to take the essence of the Maharaja, the warmth of hospitality service ethic and distil it down not just into the way that we behave, which is going to be part of our DNA, but also in the way that we use it to carry forward some of your India’s legacy in a classy and elevated way.”
While the colors red and white have been emblematic of AI (the airline), the inclusion of purple draws inspiration from Vistara, which is in the process of being integrated into the original national carrier.
The Maharaja has been an integral part of AI’s identity since its inception in 1946. The character, conceptualised by artist Umesh Rao and Bobby Kooka, Air India’s then commercial director, has been synonymous with the airline.
Additionally, the makers of Maharaja would later reimagine the mascot to keep it contemporary to counter accusations that he presented a false and retrograde image of India. Moreover, AI inserted the Maharaja into real-world dialogues, allowing him to interact with the public in a novel way — much like the Amul girl.