I was at the airport today, my first day working under the new title, and have been surprised at how quickly the new signage has gone up. The sign at the front of the terminal as well as the entrance sign has all changed with the "East Midlands Airport" name in big titles, with the three cities mentioned in smaller titles, then the slogan "Three Cities. One Airport." underneath. I know there has been criticism from those saying it is too much of an added expense, as well as Nottingham residents for "losing" their name from the airport, but the city's name is still there and I think it's a real boost for the residents of the East Midlands as a whole.
I heard that all other signage such as inside the terminal, all vehicles operating on site as well as public transport buses are all expected to have the new name used on them by February. Not sure how realistic that is, but I heard that that was the target, presumably to tie in with the new Ryanair flights.
I totally agree that it will be sad to stop seeing the virgin atlantic Airbus aircraft at the airport, though these low flying training flights are a real noise nuisance to those living or working under their routes, and think it's a small measure which will really go a long way in helping to improve community relations. As the airport becomes busier with based aircraft traffic, it doesn't seem unreasonable to want to minimise noise impact to local people, but also as previously mentioned to keep the runway and airspace free for this based traffic.