Indian Airlines To Sell Its 100% Stake. Here¡¯s A Brief History Of Air India & How It Started

Air India is the flagship carrier airline of India. It is headquartered in New Delhi. It is owned by Air India Limited, a government-owned enterprise, and operates a fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft serving 94 domestic and international destinations. The airline has its hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, alongside several cities across India.

Air India is the largest international carrier out of India with an 18.6% market share. The airline was founded by J.R.D. Tata as Tata Airlines in 1932.

Tata himself flew its first single-engine de Havilland Puss Moth, carrying air mail from Karachi to Bombay¡¯s Juhu aerodrome and later continuing to Madras (currently Chennai).

After World War II, it became a public limited company and was renamed as Air India. On 21 February 1960, it took delivery of its first Boeing 707 aircraft named Gauri Shankar and became the first Asian airline to induct a jet aircraft in its fleet.

In 2000-2001, huge attempts were made to privatize Air India and from 2006 onwards, it suffered losses after its merger with the Indian Airlines. The Air India mascot is the Maharajah, that is an Emperor and the logo consists of a flying swan with the wheel of konark inside it.

Wikipedia

Early years of Tata Airlines (1935-1945)

Air India has its origin as Tata Air Services which was later renamed to Tata Airlines founded by J.R.D. Tata of Tata Sons, an Indian Aviator and business tycoon. In April 1932, Tata won a contract in the area of imperial and the aviation department of Tata Sons was formed with two single-engine. On October 15 1932, Tata flew a plane which was carrying air mail from Karachi to Bombay and the aircraft continued to Madras which is currently Chennai. It was piloted by Nevill Vintcent a former Royal Air Force pilot and friend of Tata. This service initially included weekly airmail service between Karachi and Madras via Ahmedabad and Bombay.
In the First year of operation, this Tata airline flew 160,000 miles carrying 155 passengers and 9.72 tonnes of mail and made a profit of 60,000.

As Tata Airlines launched its first domestic flight from Bombay to Trivandrum with a six seater Miles Merku. In 1938, it was re-christened as Tata Air Services and later as Tata Airlines. Colombo in Ceylon (now Sri lanka) and Delhi were added to the destination chart in 1938. During the Second World War, the airline helped the Royal Air Force with troop movements, shipping of supplies and rescue of refugees.

Privatisation of Air India:

On 28 June 2017, the Government of India approved the privatisation of Air India. A committee got set up for the process. In March 2018, the Government issued ¡°Expression of Interests¡± to sell 76% stakes of Air India along with low-cost airlines. Air India Express and 50% stake of AISATS, a ground handling joint venture with Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS).