Air India is now a Tata Company

After a successful sale last year, the reins of Air India were handed over to the Tata Group of Companies on January 27th, 2022.

The Chairperson of Tata Group, Shri N Chandrasekaran, met the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, on the morning of the transfer.

The Tata Group also released a formal statement, and a witty image on their Twitter to announce the transfer.

The transfer includes 3 companies:

A. Air India

B. Air India Express

C. AI SATS

While Air India and Air India Express operate flights, AI SATS provides on-ground services.

History of Air India

The first airline in India was operated by the Tatas. JRD Tata was the founder and the pilot of the first flight on October 15, 1932. The name of the airline then was Tata Airlines. JRD Tata was also the first Indian to be a licensed pilot.

In 1938, the Maharajah was designed as the logo (a symbol or image that represents a brand is called its logo) of the airline. The Maharajah soon became a very popular symbol in aviation. Air India was an airline that provided good services, and the advertisements featuring the Maharaja were witty and memorable.

In 1946, the airline was renamed Air India and a public limited company was formed.

A Public Limited company is a company in which the shares are owned by the members of the public.

1948: The Government of India bought a 49% stake in Air India. The management was still in the hands of the Tatas. The company was renamed as Air India International, and the first international route was opened – Bombay to London.

1953: The Government of India passed the Air Corporations Act. All the private airlines were nationalised (taken over by the government) to form just 2 companies – Indian Airlines for domestic operations (flights within India) and Air India for international operations.

1962: Air India became the world’s first all-jet airline. This means that all their airplanes used the latest jet engine technology.

1978: After a plane crash, the Morarji Desai government asked JRD Tata to resign as Chairperson of the airline.

1982: JRD, in spite of failing health, flies the golden jubilee flight to commemorate the first flight of Tata Airlines.

August to October 1990: Air India helped  evacuate about 170,000 people from Kuwait before the First Gulf War. With this operation, Air India entered the Guinness Book of World Records for the most people evacuated by a civil airliner.

1993: Air India’s Boeing 747-400, named Konark, operated the first non-stop New-York Delhi flight.

1997: The first website of Air India was launched – www.airindia.com

2003: Air India operated flights to bring back Indians stuck in Iraq after the Second Gulf War started.

2005: Air India’s low cost branch, Air India Express, was launched.

At this time, there was a distinction in India between full service and budget airlines. Full service airlines included food and some other services, while budget airlines provided only the seat (sometimes, not even a reserved seat, just passage), and charged over and above for everything else. The flyer had the option to choose whatever they wanted. They could pay and take food, pay to reserve a preferred seat, etc.

2007: Indian Airlines and Air India merged. Air India starts its cargo service. The Indian Airlines brand was slowly removed and only Air India remained.

2014: Air India joins the Star Alliance

2020: The government tries to divest (sell off) Air India to a private business house.

October 2021: The Government of India announced that Tata Sons has won the bid for Air India.

January 27th, 2022: Operations of Air India handed over to Tata Sons.

All Images: From various image archives on the net, most notably, Indian History Pics and Air India’s own website. Launch Image from Twitter of Air India.