Documents filed for trademark application in June suggest Singapore Airline’s new long haul budget carrier is likely to be called Scoot Airlines. That’s presumably scoot as in “To go suddenly and speedily; to hurry”, rather than “To squirt with water,” as they say in the southern US. (Viz. Flannery O’Connor’s “I wouldn’t scoot down no hog with no hose.”)Or is it perhaps short for scooter? Offering to ferry people around the region on the back of a two-wheeler might explain how they think they can keep costs down. Just recently the NHB and Singapore Heritage Society launched skate-scooting tours, taking sightseers around iconic monuments on individual scooters. That’s despite them coming under fire several years ago for being a public menace. Maybe SIA have latched on to the idea.The trademark filing covers more than just flights, and suggests the carrier will use the brand across travel agency services, luggage storage services and loyalty privileges. And that’s just for starters. Why not hire people through “Scoot Recruit”? Follow the lead of Korean Air and install a “Celestial” vodka bar on board: The Absolut x Scoot En Route Bar?And what of the marketing potential? Perhaps there’ll be ad campaigns suggesting Tiger, Jetstar and AirAsia “scoot” over and let a new player into the market. A ladies-only promotion titled “If You Ain’t Cute, You Can’t Scoot!”A logo that uses globes in place of the “O”s in a terribly creative, oh-so-cool kind of way. Quite what the airline code will be is even less clear; though part of us secretly hopes it might be SCAIR.Just a word of warning: One thing you won’t want to do is tell your friends that you’re “scooting” off somewhere in private. Veterinarians use the word scooting to refer to the way cats and dogs rub their rear-end against the carpet when suffering from “anal sac disease.” (It’s not too late to change the name, fellas…)
