Air India buyer may be allowed to rename airline

Potential buyers of Maharaja are unlikely to have any pre-condition to hold-on the brand name Air India (AI) and be free to rename the airline after acquiring.

The first attempt to sell off the debt-laden airline in March 2018 had specified that the successful bidder would have to keep AI brand name for a specific period, which would have been spelt out in the request for proposal.

It had a condition that AI was to be run on an arm’s length basis for at least three years during which it was not to be collaborate with any other organisation and would need to maintain its identity as a separate airline, meaning that the brand would have to be retained for at least that long.

“The first attempt to sell off AI had conditions like government retaining 24% stake. Now that we are planning a complete exit from Maharaja in the second attempt to divestment, there is unlikely to be any precondition for retaining the name AI for any specific period of time like last year. If the buyer wants to keep the well known brand, it can do that,” said a source.

This is among the many deal, the government is looking at sell off AI in the second attempt.