Newstrack

Simplifly Deccan from October 20

Branding exercise to change the common man's experience

Chetan Kapoor - Mumbai

In what has been a major turn of events ever since the U B Group acquired 26 per cent stake in India's premier low-cost carrier, Air Deccan, company representatives say that Simplifly Deccan - the new name for the carrier - will be launched on October 20.

In addition to the change in name, the carrier is undergoing a major facelift from providing seat numbers on its Airbus aircraft to introducing leather seats, to begin with. The colour scheme of the aircraft and the cabin crew is also being changed to red and white - similar to the U B Group's full-service carrier, Kingfisher Airlines. The logo of R K Laxman's 'Common Man' is most likely to change or converge with the Kingfisher Airlines' logo of the 'Kingfisher', and the decision will be taken in the coming days In keeping with the Air Deccan branding exercise, the carrier is also looking at introducing service monitoring initiatives to enhance its image. Under this initiative, feedback forms will be made available to the passengers flying the carrier and the suggestions will be looked into by a set team of people.

The carrier is even moving away from having the ground handlers at the airport and instead is appointing its own staff at all 65 airports, which according to the representative will have an increased sense of dedication and commitment. Lastly, the carrier is even considering increasing the baggage limit from the present 15 kilograms and is looking to fly on short haul international routes like the Middle East and the Asia Pacific once it is allowed to fly internationally.