“We Got the Rebranding Right.”

Aloke Singh, Managing Director, Air India Express

“Fly As You Are” – The 737-8 in AIX livery, new visual identity and heritage textile tailfin design

Manisha Singhal 

There was a vibe and it was the right one! 

The rebranding and livery unveiling of Tata Group’s low cost carrier Air India Express in Mumbai on October 18^th not only put the airline as the lead ship in the integration process of airlines within Tata fold but also re-positioned the carrier away from low cost tag to a ‘high value carrier’ and a modern  tagline of ‘New India’s smart connector.’

Rebranding is another step closer to merging Air India Express and AirAsia India, as the latter is sunsetted and will cease to be a separate legal entity soon. The integration process is most likely to be completed by the end of March next year. The two airlines will operate under single Air Operator Certificate and a common schedule for summer flights likely to be submitted.  

With this merger complete, Air India Express is looking at an aggressive fleet and network expansion plan for both  domestic and international markets. It aims almost doubling its fleet by inducting  50 aircraft over the next 15 months  thereby consolidating and creating a formidable low cost airline of the Tata Group in a market where IndiGo’s position has largely gone unchallenged with over 60 % market share. 

Air India Express though steers clear of commenting on the largest player as its competition, one of its executives said, “not competing with IndiGo as we are not a low cost carrier, but a high value carrier.” Air India Express operates 700 flights per week and with  AirAsia India  it flies to over 40 destinations domestic and international.  IndiGo operates nearly 1900 flights daily connecting 84 domestic  destinations and 32 in international. Air India Express does have its work cut out.

The merger gives Tatas an opportunity for a renewed push to their low cost offering with unbundling of fares, hot  meals on board with seamless connectivity,  strength it feels is a better product offering and differentiator as many budget carriers are pruning services and  offerings.

With the induction of two of the 50 737-8  aircraft into the fleet now and more to join , the airline will be able to target markets that are within seven hours of flying distance from India and look to expand in the southeast Asian markets, CIS countries, Middle East  apart from the India – Gulf route where Air India Express enjoys leadership position .    

As the airline build its network and adds aircraft with an aim of taking its fleet size to 170 over the next five years, it might look at a hub, “it’s a possibility going forward,” an executive said. Air India Express looks at focusing more on connectivity between Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities as it expands in the domestic market.

planestalkstravels.com  caught up with Aloke Singh, Managing Director, Air India Express, on the sidelines of the event  for his take on rebranding, how they have succeeded to pull off a merger without culture  issues as a road block and its network expansion plans. Excerpts. 

“We got the rebranding right,” Aloke Singh, Managing Director, Air India Express. 

 

Q: Did you get the rebranding of Air India Express Right?

Absolutely, we have got it right. It’s a good mix of what we already have because one cannot suddenly change your branding and take a 360° turn. There has to be some familiarity with the old brand which is very much there. It is really refreshed. It is modernised and it is contemporary.

Q : By when is the merger likely to get completed?

The integration process with AirAsia is fairly advanced. We are now heading into a full legal merger. The process usually takes 6 to 9 months (from the date of filing of application) our application is filed. We are anticipating that to happen by the end of the financial year.

Q: Then rest of other processes entailing this merger on way to getting completed ?

What we have done is that we had started the integration program much in advance and all the back end systems and processes platforms, bulk of it is already in place covering a common website, common call centre and all other things. The leadership team is common. The organisation has been mapped. All pieces are in place. As soon as the legal merger happens, we are good to go. On that front, we are fairly good.

Q: How did Air India Express and AirAsia India crease out culture challengers and leadership issues as two separate organisations without substantial roadblocks?

The culture issue is really important and the way we have addressed it is that we brought it up front. We tackled this in many ways before we started the integration roadmap. We identified some 50 or 60 individual workstreams that were required for integrating the two organisations and the processes and put together teams which comprised of people from both the entities. We had one stakeholder each from AirAsia (India) and from Express so we actually worked together and that helped a lot. It broke the ice and then the teams started working together. And then when we announced the common leadership team rest of the things started falling in place. The leadership is common except for the regulatory part. The regulatory post holders continue to be separate because the legal entity is separate but other than that the organisation is aligned. All the other pieces are in place.

Q: What will the combined network look like?

In the initial period in the network development, we would be looking more towards the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. These are markets that we understand much better and also the nature of the market is more suited to our business model. So while in India we will focus on hub to hub, we will also look at the value segment, the leisure market, the VFR. But will still crossfeed and collaborate with Air India .

ENDS