Maharaja, the mascot

New Delhi, May 22: The Maharaja — the 61-year-old mascot of Air India — will survive the merger of the state-owned airline with its domestic counterpart, Indian.

The new entity, which will start operations in July, will be called Air India.

Fears were in the air that the Air India mascot had lost its evocative appeal and would be tossed into the dustbin of history. But those in the cockpit don’t think so.

The tubby maharaja — with his striped turban, big moustache and pointed shoes — has been the most visible face of Indian aviation and was created in 1946 by the airline’s then commercial director Bobby Kooka and Umesh Rao of ad agency JWT.

Kooka had first used it to decorate the newly opened offices of Tata Airlines (the precursor of Air India) at Churchgate. It showed the maharaja perched on a flying carpet and smoking a hookah — an enchanting image that promised a magical mystery trip to the land of the occult and ostentation.

The idea caught on and the maharaja was draped in a variety of attires over the years depending on what he was advertising. “Jal Cawasji, the art director of Air India, and his team did the drawings and Kooka gave the words,” says Bakhtiar K. Dadabhoy in his book Jeh: A Life of JRD Tata.

“We call him the maharajah for want of a better description. But his blood isn’t blue. He may look like royalty, but he isn’t royal,” Kooka had said of his creation.

Civil aviation minister Praful Patel agrees but he wants to meld the insignias of the two airlines so that it reminds the travellers of both Air India and Indian Airlines.

“The new logo will reflect the continuity of the Indian Airlines’ chakra and Air India’s insignia,” civil aviation minister Praful Patel said here today.

The minister said the new company would have its registered office in New Delhi, corporate office in Mumbai and its office for domestic operations as well as strategic business units in the capital.

Since Air India is not only a well-recognised brand but also the designated airline in the bilateral agreements with other countries, the government has decided to keep the AI code as well.

The design components of the new logo and livery have been drawn after merging some of the current features of both Air India and Indian Airlines.

The logo of the new airline is a Flying Swan with the Konark Chakra placed inside it. The Flying Swan has been morphed from Air India’s characteristic logo, The Centaur, whereas the Konark Chakra is reminiscent of the Indian Airlines’ logo.

The new logo will feature prominently on the tail of the aircraft. Individually, the Konark Chakra will also feature on all engines of the planes.

The choice of colours -- red for the Flying Swan and orange for the Konark Chakra -- are meant to signify vigour and advancement.

The planes will be painted in ivory while the base will retain the red streak of Air India. Running parallel to each other will be the Orange and Red speed lines from front door to the rear door, subtly signifying that the individual identities have merged into one. The brand name -- Air India -- will run across the tail of the aircraft.

Patel said the merged airline would order or lease 25 new aircraft by the end of the year. The firm will probably come out with an initial public offer of shares by 2008.

Air India’s chairman-cum-managing director V. Thulasidas is widely tipped to become the first chairman of the merged entity. However, he is due to retire early next year and the government will form a selection committee to begin a hunt for his successor.

Indian Airlines CMD V. Trivedi is likely to be the second person in the hierarchy at the new airline as Air India as well as Indian Airlines will be run as separate airlines for quite some time till the merger finally takes place.