Brands
Nagaland welcomes Air India Express jet in Tsüngkotepsü colours
DIMAPUR: Nagaland’s festive season took flight as chief minister Neiphiu Rio welcomed Air India Express’ newest Boeing 737-8 at Dimapur Airport, sporting a striking Tsüngkotepsü livery inspired by the Ao tribe’s iconic warrior shawl. The aircraft’s arrival marks the airline’s role as official travel partner of the Hornbill Festival 2025. Traditional dancers set the tone with a vibrant welcome that captured the festival’s spirit.
Celebrated every year from 1 to 10 December, the Hornbill Festival is known as the ‘Festival of Festivals’, drawing visitors from across India and abroad. Showcasing folklore, craftsmanship, and the diverse traditions of Nagaland’s tribes, it offers an unmatched window into the State’s cultural identity. The partnership with Air India Express aims to make the journey as memorable as the destination.
Chief minister Rio said the new livery honours the Ao tribe’s artistic legacy and carries a part of Nagaland’s story across India. He noted that the collaboration will help welcome more visitors and deepen cultural understanding during the festival season.
Air India Express managing director Aloke Singh said the airline is proud to support Nagaland’s signature celebration. He added that the Hornbill spirit, warm and expressive, aligns with the airline’s Tales of India initiative, which highlights regional stories through art on aircraft tails. The Tsüngkotepsü design on the new aircraft VT-BWD is a tribute to Nagaland’s creativity and cultural pride.
To encourage travel during the festival, the airline is offering a 15 per cent discount on flights to and from Dimapur for bookings made until 10 December using the promo code Hornboill. A Hornbill-themed photobooth at Dimapur Airport and a community art canvas at the festival site in Kisama add to the experience. Travellers can also win free flights by sharing photos tagged with airindiax and XploreMore.
Air India Express operates daily services connecting Dimapur to Guwahati, with convenient onward links to Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata and Patna. Across the Northeast, the airline runs an extensive network that strengthens access to the region.
The Hornbill partnership follows a series of guest-centric initiatives by the airline that celebrate India’s festive calendar. Air India Express has also refreshed its Boeing 737-8 cabin with upgraded seats, USB charging ports, improved lighting and hot meal capability for a more comfortable journey.
With designs featuring textiles from Manipur, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Mizoram already gracing its fleet, the airline’s Tales of India programme continues to take the country’s many stories to the skies. This year, Nagaland’s Tsüngkotepsü joins the journey.
Brands
Estée Lauder to shed 10,000 jobs as new boss bets on digital shift
The cosmetics giant raises its profit outlook but stays silent on a possible merger with Spain’s Puig, as job cuts deepen and a three-year sales slump weighs on the turnaround
NEW YORK: Stéphane de La Faverie is not done cutting. Estée Lauder announced on Friday that it plans to eliminate as many as 3,000 additional jobs, taking its total redundancy programme to as many as 10,000 roles, up from a previous target of 7,000 announced a year ago. The company, which owns La Mer, The Ordinary, Tom Ford, and Aveda, employs roughly 57,000 people worldwide. The mathematics of what is now being contemplated is stark.
The fresh round of cuts is expected to generate a further $200 million in savings, bringing the total annual savings from the programme to as much as $1.2 billion before taxes. That money, De La Faverie has made clear, will be ploughed back into the turnaround.
A CEO in a hurry
De La Faverie, who took the helm in January 2025, inherited a company that had endured three consecutive years of annual sales declines. His response has been to move fast and cut deep. A significant portion of the latest redundancies reflects his push to reduce headcount at US department stores, long a cornerstone of Estée Lauder’s distribution model but now a channel in structural decline. In their place, he is accelerating the shift toward faster-growing online platforms, including Amazon.com and TikTok Shop, a pivot that is reshaping not just where Estée Lauder sells but how it thinks about its customers.
The numbers are moving in the right direction
Despite the pain, there are signs the medicine is working. Estée Lauder raised its profit outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, guiding for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.35 to $2.45, above analyst estimates and a notable step up from the $2.05 to $2.25 range it had guided for in February. Organic net sales growth is expected to come in at 3 per cent, the company said, at the high end of the range it set out in February.
The share price tells a mixed story. After De La Faverie took charge, the stock surged nearly 60 per cent, buoyed by investor optimism that a longtime company insider could finally arrest the decline. But 2026 has been rougher: the shares have fallen 27 per cent this year, weighed down by disappointing February results and the overhang of unresolved merger talks with Spanish beauty giant Puig Brands SA. The company gave no additional details about those discussions on Friday, leaving the market to guess.
Silence on Puig
The proposed tie-up with Puig remains the most consequential unknown hanging over Estée Lauder. A deal with the Barcelona-based group, which owns brands including Carolina Herrera and Rabanne, would reshape the global luxury beauty landscape. But with nothing new to say and a turnaround still very much in progress, De La Faverie is asking investors to trust the process.
Three years of sales declines, 10,000 job cuts, and a merger that may or may not happen. At Estée Lauder, the overhaul has barely started.
