Tata Sons had acquired a 100 per cent stake in loss-making Air India on January 27, 2022, through its fully owned subsidiary, Talace Private Limited 
Tata Sons had acquired a 100 per cent stake in loss-making Air India on January 27, 2022, through its fully owned subsidiary, Talace Private Limited Tata Group-owned Air India is likely to change its livery colours, which is likely to be revealed at an event on August 10. The current logo of Air India, in use since 2014, shows a red swan with the orange Konark Chakra image on it. It is also displayed on the tail of Air India’s aircraft.
The livery is the set of symbols, insignia, colours and identifiers that are linked to the airline brand and aircraft are painted or vinyl-coated with.
In a statement, the airline on Monday said that a new era of transformation will be revealed at an event on August 10.
Earlier it was reported that the airline will get a new livery that will feature red, white and purple. While red and white are Air India's colours, the purple will be derived from the livery of Vistara.
Tata Sons had acquired a 100 per cent stake in loss-making Air India on January 27, 2022, through its fully owned subsidiary, Talace Private Limited. Later, it announced that Air India and Vistara will be merged into one entity, which is estimated to be completed by March 2024. Singapore Airlines will have a 25 per cent stake in the newly merged entity.
Apart from this, Air India Express and Air Asia India will also be merged to create a single low-cost carrier airline.
In December 2022, the Tata Group had hired London-based brand and design consultancy company Futurebrands to carry out the rebranding for Air India.
In April 2023, an internal communication from the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Campbell Wilson stated that Air India will unveil a whole range of new services, such as a new color scheme, cabin interiors, crew uniforms, and insignia as part of a rebranding process.
The airline mascot -- The Maharajah -- was also listed in the rebranding plans. However, it was reported that a female mascot might get added to the lineup.
The 76-year-old Maharaja was designed in 1946. Umesh Rao, an artist with an advertising agency, along with Bobby Kooka, Air India’s then commercial director, had created it, which became Air India’s brand icon. It has since been closely associated with the airline’s identity.
In June, Air India onboarded global marketing services company McCann Worldgroup India, led by adman Prasoon Joshi, for the company’s creative mandate.
Earlier, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran, had informed about the complete revamp of Air India.
“The transformation is happening in human resources. We have completely revamped the technology. We are revamping engineering and ground handling. The entire fleet will get changed. We have made one of the biggest [aircraft] orders. And that’s a very bold bet,” said Chandrasekaran at the BT Mindrush & BT Best CEOs Awards event in Mumbai.
In June, Air India signed the purchase agreements with Airbus and Boeing for its mammoth 470-aircraft order announced in February. The purchase agreements for the two orders–worth $70 billion by the aircraft’s list price–were signed on the sidelines of the Paris Air Show.
Air India’s firm orders include 34 A350-1000, six A350-900, 20 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, and 10 Boeing 777X wide-body aircraft, as well as 140 Airbus A320neo, 70 Airbus A321neo, and 190 Boeing 737MAX narrow-body aircraft.
Apart from the 470 planes that make up the firm order, Air India will have options to buy another 370 planes–300 from Airbus and 70 from Boeing.
Last week, Air India reported that its total accumulated losses at the end of the financial year 2022-23 (FY23) stood at Rs 14,000 crore. Tata Sons invested about Rs 13,000 crore in Air India in FY23 through wholly owned subsidiary Talace. This amount excludes the investment carved out for 470 new aircraft ordered in June from Airbus and Boeing.
(With inputs from Poulomi Saha)
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