The Voyage of Air India

Have you ever seen a palace in the sky? 

In the past, passengers of Air India have claimed otherwise.

What was once the quintessence of luxury and comfort is today at a standstill!

JRD Tata with his dream to introduce and launch the civil aviation sector in India introduced Tata Airlines in the year 1932. This airline became a noteworthy part of Indian history as it led to the beginning of a new adventure for the country. Besides being a symbol of national pride, the airline served as a springboard for new journeys and paved the way for the future with better connectivity. This, however, was not Tata’s dream alone, it was pioneered by Nevill Vincent, a WW1 pilot, who saw the scope of this industry in India and approached Tata with the offer. Dorabji Tata, the then Chairman of the Tata group agreed unflinchingly seeing the conviction of his grandson JRD Tata. JRD Tata and Vincent further laid the roots of the grandest and most luxurious airlines in the world. 

On October 15th, 1932, after multiple negotiations with the British Government in India, Tata Airlines flew from Karachi to Mumbai. The same year it opened its doors for domestic passengers. The journey was all but a smooth flight after the initial take-off. The world witnessed one of the most gruesome wars, WW2. The British Raj asked the airlines to stop their domestic operations and aid in sending the troops and transferring military supplies. The company had something else in its mind. Tata requested the British government to let them assist in the war by manufacturing Bomber aircraft. The British government demanded gliders instead of bombers and this sent Vincent on a voyage to the United Kingdom. While returning back to India, Vincent’s plane was reported missing. That was the end of Vincent’s journey. Vincent was never to be found and it was assumed that his plane was shot down. Vincent was instrumental to the company and Tatas. Adding to this great loss, the British decided to cancel the order for the gliders, too. 

After WW2, commercial operations resumed and Tata Airlines redefined itself as Air India. It was now a public limited company. In the year 1948, the newly established Indian government acquired a 49% stake in the carrier. In the same year, Air India went International, launching a flight from Bombay to London. The biggest blow came to Air India when the Indian Government, in 1953, decided to nationalize Indian Airlines, thus merging Air India with 8 other domestic companies. In alignment with the Nehru policy to nationalize industries for overall progress, Air India went from Tata to the government. Although JRD Tata remained the chairman of Air India, he was not in agreement with the decision taken by the government and expressed it openly. 

Air India soon became the epitome of Indian culture, tradition, hospitality, cuisine, and most importantly art. It became a medium for Indian soft power across the globe with its grandeur and its services close to perfection. Internationally, this airline was welcomed as an expression of Indian thoughts and values. Air India soon started displaying Indian artworks in its booking offices and airlines. Great artists started selling commissioned arts to Air India for displaying in India and abroad. In the year 1990, Air India entered the Guinness Book of World Records, for it evacuated 1,70,000 people from Kuwait before the First Gulf War. The allure of Air India has been so bewitching that one can’t believe the downfall of the same. 

The last 15 years saw Air India falling into severe losses and debts. The national carrier has been reeling under massive losses and suffering financial trouble. In 2007, the news of Air India being under the losses of ₹541.30 crores was released and further Air India was merged with Indian airlines which were also under losses of over ₹230 crores. The government’s decision to merge the two airlines came as a solution to manage the losses of both. The reasons for the losses were speculated to be the new purchases of airlines worth ₹440 billion, mismanagement of revenue, overhiring of staff, improper training leading to quality drop, competition increase with respect to international airlines, heavy advertisement expenditure, strikes of pilots demanding increased and fair salaries leading to the losses for days straight. 

The 1991 policies of disinvestment and LPG by Narasimha Rao are what enabled the Modi government, in 2017, to privatize Air India to the private players in the market. It was noted on 31st March 2020 that Air India had acquired losses of ₹770 billion. The government had a hard time finding bidders for the company until 8th October 2021, when Tatas purchased the airlines from the Indian government for ₹180 billion. Today, a lot of artworks of Air India are under investigation, have been sold, stolen, lost, and are scattered across different countries. The artworks that are left were displayed in an exhibition in Mumbai with 7,000 artefacts just before the pandemic.

Air India has not just travelled to places but also through time. The news of it being in losses deeply disappointed the ones who had witnessed its luxury in the 1900s. Air India had no reasons to go under such tremendous losses, had it been managed properly. It is not the question of which government came into power and if it is the consequence of one particular decision. It is the amalgamation and the addition of all the wrong decisions taken through years and mismanagement that was left unattended for years, not just from the government’s end but also from the ones who managed the airlines. Air India represented India internationally and earned the respect and value that our country rightly deserved. For years, it upheld India’s name and propagated its cultures and values around the globe. Air India deserved better than being mismanaged and left into losses. After privatisation, the question now remains, will Air India rise to its glory or drown into deeper gulfs than before?

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