Jet Airways livery: CEO Sanjiv Kapoor says ’Don’t fix what is not broken’

Jet Airways CEO Sanjiv Kapoor on 19 August has answered questions related to the new livery of the carrier who is planning to start commercial flight operations in September.

Livery is a specific paint scheme comprising logo that is applied on aircraft

Kapoor on his social media handle wrote that he has been receiving many questions related to the aircraft's new livery. He also said that the date of reveal of the aircraft is not too far.

Also Read: ‘Astounding’: Jet Airways CEO on aviation safety and glitches on social media

In a Twitter post, he wrote, “So many questions. Will jetairways have a new livery? A special livery? A retro livery? I guess we will have to wait and watch? Date of reveal not too far now... all I will say is sometimes less is more. A light touch. Don't fix what is not broken!”

He replied to a user named Henry Harteveldt's question on “Retro livery? The original Jet Airways wasn’t started that long ago.”

Kapoor also shared the original picture of a Jet Airways aircraft and said, “This one was the original. 28 years ago. Not quite retro, but not that recent."

In March 2022, Veteran aviation executive Sanjiv Kapoor, who helped steer SpiceJet Ltd through a turbulent period, was appointed the chief executive officer (CEO) of Jet Airways (India) Ltd. In its old avatar, the carrier was owned by Naresh Goyal and had operated its last flight on April 17, 2019. The Jalan-Kalrock Consortium is currently the promoter of Jet Airways.

Also Read: Jet Airways CEO Sanjiv Kapoor travels on Air India flight, shares his experience

Jet Airways received its renewed air operator certificate (AOC) from DGCA on May 20 this year and it is planning to start commercial flight operations in September.

Earlier on 28 June, Jet Airways had asked DGCA to direct SpiceJet to remove its livery from the budget carrier's aircraft as it misleads public about the identity of the operator and is also a safety hazard.

In a letter to DGCA on June 21, Jet Airways had stated, "After the stoppage of our operations in 2019, several aircraft were returned to the lessors and then leased out to some Indian operators such as SpiceJet."

Many of these airplanes continue to fly in full Jet Airways' colours on the fuselage and tail with Jet Airways' name blanked off and overwritten by decals (a vinyl wrap), it added.

"Also, the Jet Airways logo on the tail has been painted over, but is still discernible if one looks carefully," it mentioned.

SpiceJet has 90-odd planes in its fleet, some of the B737 aircraft it has were with Jet Airways before the latter went bankrupt in 2019.

Airline liveries are fundamental statements of branding and corporate identity and all operators endeavour to make theirs as distinctive and readily recognisable as possible, Jet Airways stated in its letter.

Apart from this, the letter had also stated that, "This is also a safety hazard as it can confuse ground staff and crew operating other aircraft about the identity of the aircraft in question, for example when following ATC (air traffic controller) directions."

This problem becomes even more egregious when such aircraft are involved in undesirable situations like accidents, incidents, or interception in foreign airspace, it mentioned.

"May we request your office to issue necessary directions to all operators to use only their own authorised livery as filed with the DGCA compulsorily, and to remove all vestiges of other airline liveries from their aircraft," it stated.

Meanwhile, on 5 August, the airline said that it has started hiring cabin crew from Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai. In an announcement on Twitter, the company wrote, “If you are current cabin crew on A320/B737 or any other aircraft type and would like to join the team creating history, we would love to hear from you. Bases: Delhi, Bengaluru, and Mumbai."

(With inputs from PTI)