Air India
Air India is the flag carrier airline of India and the third largest airline in India in terms of passengers carried, after IndiGo and Jet Airways. It is owned by Air India Limited, a Government of India enterprise and operates a fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft serving 84 domestic and international destinations. It is head quartered in New Delhi.
Early years (1932–1945)[edit]
Air India had its origin in Tata Sons, founded by J. R. D. Tata, an Indian aviator and business tycoon.[6] In April 1932, Tata won a contract to carry mail for Imperial Airways and the aviation department of Tata Sons was formed with two single-engine De Havilland Puss Moths. On 15 October 1932, Tata flew a Puss Moth carrying air mail from Karachi toBombay (currently Mumbai) and the aircraft continued to Madras (currently Chennai) piloted by Neville Vincent, a formerRoyal Air Force pilot and friend of Tata.[7] The airline fleet consisted of a Puss Moth aircraft and a Leopard Moth.[8][9]Initial service included weekly airmail service between Karachi and Madras via Ahmedabad and Bombay. In its first year of operation, the airline flew 160,000 miles (260,000 km), carrying 155 passengers and 9.72 tonnes (10.71 tons) of mail and made a profit of ₹60,000 (US$890).[10][11] Later, the airline launched a domestic flight from Bombay to Trivandrumwith a six-seater Miles Merlin.[12] In 1938, it was re-christened as Tata Air Services and later as Tata Airlines. Delhi andColombo were added to the destinations in 1938.[7] During the Second World War, the airline helped the Royal Air Force with troop movements, shipping of supplies, rescue of refugees and maintenance of planes.[7]
Post Independence (1946–2000)[edit]
After World War II, regular commercial service was restored in India and Tata Airlines became a public limited companyon 29 July 1946 under the name Air India.[1] After the Indian independence in 1947, 49% of the airline was acquired by the Government of India in 1948.[13] On 8 June 1948, a Lockheed Constellation L-749A named Malabar Princess(registered VT-CQP) took off from Bombay bound for London Heathrow marking the airline's first international flight.[7] In 1953, the Government of India passed the Air Corporations Act and purchased a majority stake in the carrier. The company was renamed as Air India International Limited and the domestic services were transferred to Indian Airlinesas a part of restructuring.[14] From 1948 to 1950, the airline introduced services to Nairobi in Africa and to majorEuropean destinations Rome, Paris and Dusseldorf.[15] The airline took delivery of its first Lockheed Constellation L-1049 named Rani of Jhansi (registered VT-DGL) and inaugurated services to Bangkok, Hong Kong, Tokyo andSingapore.[15]
On 21 February 1960, Air India International inducted its first Boeing 707–420 named Gauri Shankar (registered VT-DJJ), thereby becoming the first Asian airline to induct a jet aircraft in its fleet.[16][17] The airline inaugurated services toNew York on 14 May 1960.[15] On 8 June 1962, the airline's name was officially truncated to Air India[1] and on 11 June 1962, Air India became the world's first all-jet airline. In 1971, the airline took delivery of its first Boeing 747-200B named Emperor Ashoka (registered VT-EBD)[18] and introduced a new Palace in the Sky livery and branding. In 1986, Air India took delivery of its first Airbus A310-300.[15] In 1993, Air India took delivery of a Boeing 747-400 named Konark(registered VT-ESM) and operated the first non-stop flight between New York and Delhi.[19]
Later years (2000–)[edit]
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In 2000–01, attempts were made to privatize Air India.[20][21][22][23] In 2000, Air India introduced services to Shanghai,China. On 23 May 2001, the Ministry of Civil Aviation charged Michael Mascarenhas, the then-managing director, with corruption. According to the ministry reports, the airline lost approximately ₹570 million (US$8.5 million) because of extra commissions that Mascarenhas sanctioned and he was later suspended from the airline.[24] In May 2004, Air India launched a wholly owned low cost subsidiary called Air-India Express connecting cities in India with the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Until 2007, Air India mainly operated on international long-haul routes while Indian Airlines operated on domestic and international short-haul routes. In 2007, Air India and Indian Airlines were merged under Air India Limited[25] and the airline took delivery of its first Boeing 777 aircraft.[15] The airline was invited to be a part of the Star Alliance in 2007.[26]
The combined losses for Air India and Indian Airlines in 2006–07 were ₹7.7 billion (US$110 million) and after the merger, it went up to ₹72 billion (US$1.1 billion) by March 2009.[27][28] In July 2009, State Bank of India was appointed to prepare a road map for the recovery of the airline.[29] The carrier sold three Airbus A300 and one Boeing 747–300M in March 2009 for $18.75 million to finance the debt.[30] By March 2011, Air India had accumulated a debt of ₹425.7 billion(US$6.3 billion) and an operating loss of ₹220 billion (US$3.3 billion), and was seeking ₹429.2 billion (US$6.4 billion) from the government.[31][31][32] A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General blamed the decision to buy 111 new planes and the ill-timed merger with Indian Airlines for the poor financial situation.[33][34] In August 2011, the invitation to join Star Alliance was suspended as a result of its failure to meet the minimum standards for the membership.[35][36] The government pumped ₹32 billion (US$480 million) into Air India in March 2012.[37][38]
On 1 March 2009, Air India made Frankfurt Airport its international hub for onward connections to the United States from India. However, the airline shut down the Frankfurt hub on 30 October 2010 because of high operating costs.[39] In 2010, financially less lucrative routes were terminated and the airline planned to open a new hub for its international flights at Dubai.[40] In 2012, a study commissioned by the Corporate Affairs Ministry recommended that Air India should be partly privatized.[41] In May 2012, the carrier invited offers from banks to raise up $800 million via external commercial borrowing and bridge financing.[42] In May 2012, the airline was fined $80,000 by the U.S. Transportation Department for failing to post customer service and tarmac delay contingency plans on its website and adequately inform passengers about its optional fees.[43]
In 2013, the then-Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh stated privatization was the key to the airline's survival.[44] However, the opposition led by the BJP and the CPI(M) slammed the government.[45] In 2013, the Indian government planned to delay equity infusion of ₹300 billion (US$4.5 billion) that was slated to be infused into the airline slowly over a period of eight years.[46] In January 2013, Air India cleared a part of its pending dues through funds raised by selling and leasing back the newly acquired Boeing 787 Dreamliners.[47][48] In March 2013, the airline posted its first positive EBITDA after almost six years and 20% growth in its operating revenue since the previous financial year.[49][50] Air India Limited split its engineering and cargo businesses into two separate subsidiaries, Air India Engineering Services Limited (AIESL) and Air India Transport Services Limited (AITSL) in 2013.[51][52] In December 2013, the airline appointed veteran pilot SPS Puri as its head of operations. The appointment was criticized by the Air India pilots union as Puri allegedly has multiple violations to his name.[53]
Air India became the 27th member of Star Alliance on 11 July 2014.[54][55] In August 2015, it signed an agreement with Citibank and State Bank of India to raise $300 million in external commercial borrowing to meet working capital requirements.[3] For FY 2014–15, its revenue, operating loss and net loss were₹197.81 billion (US$2.9 billion), ₹2.171 billion (US$32 million) and ₹5.41 billion (US$80 million) compared FY 2011–12, which were ₹147.13 billion(US$2.2 billion), ₹5.138 billion (US$76 million) and ₹7.55 billion (US$110 million).[4][5] As of February 2016, Air India is the third largest carrier in India, afterIndiGo and Jet Airways with a market share of 15.4%.
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