"Jat Airways" to change name into "Air Serbia"

The management of the national airliner has made the decision to change the name of the company now when the company also procures new fleet and lowers the average age of the staff, especially the age of stewards and stewardesses. The new name of "Jat Airways" will, most probably, be "Air Serbia" or "Serbia Airlines", "Serbia Airways"...

According to the words of the Acting Director General of "Jat", Saša Vlaisavljević, both public and passengers want the name of our country in the name of the national airliner. It has been agreed that the name of the company will be changed with the introduction of the first new airplanes, which are expected in spring 2010. Every new aircraft will bear the name of a city in Serbia.

The open competition for the new identity of "Jat" should be announced in spring 2010. Logo and complete documentation will also be changed. The estimates are that the new identity will cost "Jat" about 250,000 EUR, but, as people in the national air transportation company say, that is something inevitable that the management has been postponing for a long time. Current visual identity of "Jat", which "cost" about 0.5m EUR, was created in 2003.

At the meeting of the Administrative Board of "Jat", which will be held on Friday, new systematization and organization of jobs with 1,200 employees will be adopted. Also, a three-member commission will be appointed and authorized by the Administrative Board to start negotiations about procurement of new fleet.

The commission will be led by the Vice President of the Administrative Board - captain instructor Nenad Petrović.

It is expected that the commission of "Jat" will reach some concrete agreements concerning the new fleet at the forthcoming air meeting in France, which will be held between June 15 and 21. According to the plan, three old airplanes of type ATR should be replaced with new, silent, faster and more economic airplanes of type "ATR 72-500".

By the way, the first completely refurbished airplane of type "boeing 737-300" with brand new interior will be put in traffic on Monday.

(Note: the complete text is taken over from newspaper "Novosti" of May 26, 2009)