Air IndiaCopied

Air India was founded by JRD Tata in 1932, nationalised in 1953 and bought back by the Tata group after 70 years of state ownership. The airline it got back had a battered reputation, and Tata launched a five-year transformation plan, Vihaan.AI, with new aircraft, refurbished cabins, a new website, app and loyalty programme. Tata Sons chairman N. Chandrasekaran called the overhaul a national mission.

The identity, unveiled on 10 August 2023, was created by FutureBrand's London office with its Mumbai sister office. The previous mark, a red flying swan with a Konark chakra, gave way to The Vista: a gold shaded form inspired by the peak of the traditional Indian window frames once painted around the windows of Air India aircraft, meant to stand for a window of possibilities. The capital wordmark sits in a bespoke typeface, Air India Sans, and the palette adds deep red, aubergine and gold highlights to the old red and white, with a chakra-inspired pattern on the new livery. Aircraft were due to show it from December 2023.

CEO Campbell Wilson described the airline as being in the midst of a total transformation to reimagine the role of India's flagship carrier.

Reception was mixed. Creative Bloq said the jury was out: some saw a sleek execution of a clever concept, others found it bland, and many could not tell whether the mark was a bird, a plane or a hang-glider. One reply suggested it would make a nice logo for paragliding.

Mint set out what was being retired: a red swan with orange spokes inside it, inspired by the Ashoka Chakra. N. Chandrasekaran described the Vista as the peak of a historic window shape, standing for limitless possibilities, and the livery was scheduled to appear from December 2023 with the first Airbus A350. Campbell Wilson was careful to add that colours and patterns matter less than actions, which is the right caveat for an airline whose reputation was built, and damaged, in the cabin rather than on the tail.

That confusion is the core problem. The window idea is rich and properly rooted in the airline's own history, but cropped to a single gold peak it loses the reference and needs an animation to explain itself. The wider system, with its colours and pattern, carries far more Indian character than the symbol does.