In response to a marked downturn in the air freight business as a result of deregulation, which most certainly affected employee morale at Flying Tigers, the public relations department developed a booster campaign. The iconic tiger was introduced to the employees of Flying Tigers in monthly comic strip focusing on important company goals and programs and rejuvenating the Tiger Spirit. Below is an excerpt from that article found 46 years ago in the March 1980 Tigereview.
We’d like to welcome a new Tiger to the airline —- the Tiger Spirit. Personified on our front cover of this issue and shown in action on the back, our newest Tiger symbolizes the thumbs up, “can-do”, do it better attitudes that have kept this airline aloft against some improbable odds and made it what it is today — the world’s leading airfreight airline.
Our new Tiger will appear in the Tiger Tales cartoon series (first installment on our back cover this issue), and on such items as patches, T-shirts, lapel pins, bumper stickers and decals, to support various company goals and programs and to serve as a symbol with which every employee can identify.
“The Tiger represents us all,” said Vice President-Public Relations Nissen Davis. “If you look around Flying Tigers offices throughout the system, you find that we all like to be identified with our tiger image. There are photos, stuffed animals, porcelains, posters — Tigers like being tigers. This newest Tiger responds to that attitude. It’s resourceful, friendly, dedicated — the way most of us feel about the company we’re working for.”
There are several plans for the new Tiger symbol already, Davis said, but he encourages all employees to come forth with their own ideas for putting it to work around the system. Davis stressed that the new Tiger Spirit does not replace the Tigerface logo as the airline’s official service mark.
