Circle T Returns to Tails of Air Cargo Fleet : Flying Tiger Revives Famous Logo

Flying Tiger Line is changing its image. This week the famous Circle T logo was returned to the tails of the planes in the air cargo carrier’s fleet.

Stephen M. Wolf, chairman of the Los Angeles airline, said the return of the Circle T, which adorned Flying Tiger’s tails between 1961 and 1976, symbolizes “our commitment to the future of Flying Tigers. . . . The company was united and committed in the early days, and we are rebuilding the airline today along similar lines.�

Currently, the words “Flying Tigers� and an American flag appear on the tails. From now on, in addition to the Circle T, the single word “Tigers� will be used. The flag will be moved to the rear part of the fuselage.

Wolf became chairman of the money-losing air cargo line last August and has recently won wage concessions worth more than $50 million a year from the airline’s 2,800 union employees. He has said that he wants to refinance about $300 million of the airline’s $525-million debt to improve the company’s finances. He is also said to be considering an expansion of the airline’s fleet. Although a spokeswoman for Flying Tiger, a unit of Tiger International, said there “hasn’t been a groundswell among employees for a change� of the company symbol, it was thought that employees would welcome it. The pilots’ newsletter recently published an open letter to Wolf that suggested a return to the “much favored� Circle T.

The letter said a change would mark the end of five disastrous years in which the airline’s losses averaged $74,600 a day. The letter asked: “What better way to declare the era . . . over?�