Welcome, JetAmerica and flydubai
Travel Blog • Rob Verger • 06.03.09 | 10:07 AM ET
Photo of Dubai’s airport by The list of lost-cost carriers now has two new names: JetAmerica and flydubai.
JetAmerica, a charter company with a home base in Toledo, Ohio, will fly to five cities. They are advertising $9 fares, with a “convenience fee” of $5, thus selling some seats (before taxes and fees) for $14.
Over at The Cranky Flier, Brett Snyder isn’t optimistic. “I honestly couldn’t make this sound any worse if I tried,” Snyder writes. “The CEO is John Weikle, one of the original founders of Skybus.”
Meanwhile, in the U.A.E., flydubai has been born, with initial routes beginning this week between Dubai and Beirut and Amman. They plan to expand from there. “You’ll soon be able to flydubai to other cities in the Middle East, GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] and India,” their website states. “And eventually, the network will extend to Iran, Eastern Europe and North & East Africa.”
One aspect of these new carriers that I’m interested in is how they’ve branded themselves. A recent story in the New York Times looks at how corporations are softening their logos to appear friendlier in the economic downturn. “Behold the new breed of corporate logo—non-threatening, reassuring, playful, even child-like,” Bill Marsh writes. “Not emblems of distant behemoths, but faces of friends.”
Viewed through this lens, JetAmerica’s logo looks more like the old-style, all-caps logo that the Times article says is passe—and in that respect, it’s reminiscent of Wal-Mart’s old logo. “Bold, block capital letters are out,” the Times article proclaims. “Their replacements are mostly or entirely lower case, softening the stern voice of corporate authority to something more like an informal chat.”
Meanwhile, flydubai, with its all low-caps logo and elegant curved lines, seems newer—they’re definitely going for that “informal chat” feel—and at the same time, reminds me of Delta’s old brand, Song.
Regardless, here’s wishing luck to both of them.