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Air India Ltd.

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Contact Information
Air India Ltd.
Air India Bldg., Nariman Point, 1st Fl.
Mumbai 400 021, India
Tel. +91-22-2279-6666

Type: Government-owned
On the web: http://www.airindia.com

Flying lotus? Holding company Air India Ltd. owns India's national flag carrier, Air India, which serves top yoga (and many other less serene) destinations. The carrier and its affiliates boast a fleet of 150-plus Airbus and Boeing aircraft that offer domestic and international flights to passengers. Affiliate Air India Express operates as a low-fare carrier between India and the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Air India Cargo provides freight transportation. The government of India combined Air India and Indian Airlines, both state-controlled carriers, under one umbrella (formerly known as National Aviation Company of India Limited [NACIL]), in 2007. Today, Air India holds more than 18% domestic market share.

Officers:
Chairman and Managing Director: Arvind Jadhav
Executive Director Finance and Company Secretary: S. Venkat
Executive Director Integration and Industrial Relations: Vineeta Bhandari

Competitors:
Cathay Pacific
Jet Airways
Kingfisher Airlines

Air India

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Air-India Limited

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Incorporated: 1946

Air-India Limited operates passenger and cargo flights from Bombay to destinations in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the United Kingdom, Russia, China, Japan, and other countries. It holds the distinction of being the world's first all-jet airline. Founded as a small, private, domestic carrier in 1932, Air-India is now government owned. Once regarded as a "little jewel" of an airline, its reputation became somewhat tarnished as service and profits slipped. Significant changes, however, have rejuvenated the airline, put it back in the black, and restored its ranking among the better airlines of the world. Three million passengers a year fly Air-India.

Air-India began operating in 1932 as Tata Airlines, named after J. R. D. Tata, its founder. The line carried mail and passengers between the Indian cities of Ahmadabad, Bombay, Bellary, and Madras, and Karachi, Pakistan. Within a few years Tata Airlines' routes included the Indian cities of Trivandrum, Delhi, Colombo (in Sri Lanka), Lahore, and other locations in between.

In 1946, at the conclusion of World War II, the airline became a public company and was renamed Air-India Limited. In just two years, with the government having a 49 percent share in the company, the airline was flying further outside of India, with regular flights to Cairo, Geneva, and London. The line's name changed again to reflect its new scope of operations, becoming Air-India International Limited.

India enjoyed more success in the airline industry than most other developing countries for a number of reasons. Whereas others had to rely on foreign pilots to fly their planes, Air-India used mostly native-born pilots. Similarly, skilled Indians were plentiful enough to maintain India's fleet as well as to train and supervise its personnel; many other countries had to go outside for this kind of expertise. Air-India benefited from these advantages along with its sister carriers.

Air-India first encountered competition for its routes in the early 1950s. Many new airlines were forming, propelled into business by the availability of inexpensive, war-surplus DC-3s. No fewer than 21 airlines had been established, with 11 of them licensed to fly the skies of India. A 1985 article in the Economist cited Tata's foresight of what this plethora of airlines could lead to: "The scene was well and truly set for the ultimate debacle."

To prevent that debacle from occurring, the Indian government in 1953 took control of all of the airlines within its borders. Along with the nationalization the government created two corporations. Indian Airlines Corporation, which merged Air-India Limited with six smaller lines, served the country's domestic travel needs. Air-India International Corporation flew routes overseas. By 1960 the international airline had routes to Singapore, Sydney, Moscow, and New York. By 1962, when the name was shortened to Air-India, it had become the world's first all-jet airline.

Beginning in the 1970s, however, Air-India saw difficult times. It suffered a net loss in three of the years between 1976 and 1985. The downturn in the world economy had a significant effect on air travel throughout the world, and India was no exception. In addition, the government kept a number of unprofitable routes open simply for prestige purposes--a strictly commercial airline may have closed those routes. Its flights to New York, for example, resulted in losses for a number of years, even though many of those flights were full. At one point an airline official estimated that only about ten percent of Air-India's passengers to New York were business travelers who would buy the more expensive seats. Flights to Canada were even less profitable, flying at around 55 percent of capacity. Another factor in the airline's financial problems was that, to compete for American and European travelers with American and European airlines, Air-India had to discount many of its fares. In addition, the airline depended heavily on local citizens--"ethnic traffic"--which generally meant lower fares.

The routes that had proven to be most profitable for Air-India had been those to the oil-producing nations. Flights to the Persian Gulf accounted for 35 to 40 percent of Air-India's traffic in the mid-1980s. Working with Gulf Air, Air-India operated 60 flights each week between the Gulf and India. But even these routes saw profits fall, as revenue in the gulf states declined. Another problem was the shortage of tourists traveling to India. Communal violence and the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984 kept tourism down. In addition, to combat the terrorism that was becoming a major problem at many of the world's airports, the government imposed heavy restrictions at airports, giving tourists another reason to stay away.

The darkest note in Air-India's history was the tragedy that took place in June 1985 when one of its 747s, on a flight from Toronto to Bombay, crashed to the sea with 329 passengers aboard. A Canadian Safety Board Report, addressing an inquiry by Indian High Court Judge Bhupinder Nath Kirpal, concluded that an explosive device was the probable cause of the crash. The board reported that an X-ray machine at Pearson International Airport in Toronto broke down before all the luggage had been checked. Nonetheless, the effect on the reputation of Air-India was severe.

Despite these problems, Air-India's productivity was high. By acquiring large-body airliners, its productivity almost doubled from the year 1974-75 to the year 1983-84. In terms of rupees, this productivity figure translated to a per-employee production of Rs 125,000 (US $16,000) in operating revenue in the 1974-75 year and Rs 439,000 in the 1983-84 year. In 1985 Air-India flew 8.1 billion passenger-kilometers (number of passengers times distance), a figure that prompted the International Air Transport Association to rank Air-India 15th out of 136 member airlines in passenger-kilometers on scheduled services.

Nevertheless, Air-India lost US $23 million in the 1987-88 fiscal year. To stem such losses, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi named Rajan Jetley chairman of Air-India. Jetley took command of an airline that was overstaffed, mired in sticky negotiations with unions, and struggling under difficult working conditions. In addition, some bureaucratic meddling and high gasoline taxes interfered with procedures and made operating the airline expensive.

A number of these factors came together to have a significantly negative impact on the airline. Specifically, Air-India was flying many flights with intermediate stops, while competing airlines were flying the more attractive nonstop flights. One reason for these intermediate stops was the pilots' refusal to fly more than nine hours. A second reason was that, to minimize the effect of the high cost of fuel, Air-India did much of its refueling outside of India's borders. Jetley dealt with these problems by convincing the government to reduce its gasoline tax and by convincing the pilots to fly longer flights.

According to Jetley, as quoted in a 1990 New York Times article, the carrier was "packing the back of the bus" on many of its routes. In addition to selling coach fares, Jetley hoped to entice affluent fliers to purchase the more profitable business-class seats. Toward that end he bought new planes and changed the look of the airline, ordering a new logo and a redesign of the planes' decor and employees' uniforms and improving in-flight service and meals. He increased the number of flights to Europe, making Frankfurt, Germany, a hub and enabling passengers to connect to other European cities. In addition, he adjusted the timing of flights, making it more convenient for passengers to connect with other flights. Under Jetley's direction, Air-India turned the loss of the previous year into a profit of US $23 million. The airline rose to number 22 on the International Air Transport Association's list of the world's most profitable airlines. The revitalized Air-India saw record profits of US $41 million in the year 1989-90, then topped that the following year with profits of US $42.7 million. These accomplishments were all the more startling because they came at a time when many of Air-India's flights to the Persian Gulf had to be suspended because of the conflict between Iraq and Kuwait and the ensuing Persian Gulf War. The airline, though, did experience activity during the conflict, launching a massive airlift to help 110,000 Indians flee war-torn areas. Ravi Mani, deputy general director of cargo for Air-India, was quoted by the Journal of Commerce as saying that compared with this airlift, "the Berlin airlift was chicken feed."

Air-India was intent on continuing its success of the early 1990s. Although it controlled 28 percent of air passenger traffic out of India, that was a drop from 32 percent just a few years before. Subbash Gupte, acting chairman after Jetley left his post, explained, as quoted by the New York Times: "The reason for the drop is simple. Other airlines have expanded, bought new aircraft; we haven't." Between 1982 and 1986 the airline had kept its capacity at a standstill. While Jetley was still in command, however, plans were implemented to increase capacity by six to eight percent each year from 1990 to 1995, reducing the average age of its fleet--13 and one half years in 1990--to about four and one half years by the turn of the century.

Succeeding Jetley was Chairman and Managing Director Yogesh Deveshwar, who outlined the airline's direction for the 1990s. As reported in Travel Weekly in 1992, Deveshwar said: "We want to make Air-India a boutique carrier, as opposed to a department store." Parts of those plans called for expanding the carrier's United States routes to include Chicago, Los Angeles, and Newark. Flights to Los Angeles, it was hoped, would attract many ethnic Indians, who were using other carriers to other points in the Far East and then transferring to Air-India. New aircraft, including long-haul 747-400s, would help to bring those plans to fruition.

In addition to passengers, cargo has always been a large portion of Air-India's business. Its major cargo markets are the Persian Gulf countries, Europe, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan. In 1989 (the last year for which figures were available) Air-India ranked 19th among all International Air Transport Association carriers in scheduled international freight tons. The carrier handled 66,000 metric tons of cargo that year.

One of the major goals of Air-India for the 1990s was to increase its cargo operations still further. At the beginning of the decade Air-India had about 30 percent of the country's air cargo market, while more than three dozen airlines from other countries carried the balance of the country's cargo. The airline planned to lease additional jet freighters to increase its capacity to carry exports. The International Airports Authority of India improved the infrastructure and ground handling at the gateways it operates, making them more attractive to carriers and freight forwarders. With these changes under way, cargo revenue for fiscal 1990 amounted to US $195 million, 21 percent of Air-India's revenue.

Air-India lost $171 million in the three years beginning with 1994-95. The airline gained a reputation for poor service and poor on-time performance. The company initiated a generous incentive program to motivate employees, which proved successful. In addition, a computerized flight system and updated lounges and cabin interiors were added to update the company's image among customers. Management cut fares drastically and provided two-for-one discounts.

In the summer of 1997 the carrier negotiated code-sharing deals with Air France and Singapore Airlines. Streamlining the carrier's route network became an ongoing process. In fact, Air-India was notorious for constantly adding and dropping routes. Its network dropped Canada, Australia, and South Africa in an attempt to cut losses.

Air-India sought to offer its $150 million annual North American income streams as debt securities, pending the approval of a hesitant Indian government. The company also planned to raise cash (it already had reserves of more than $110 million) by selling its Hotel Corporation of India subsidiary, worth at least $220 million, as well as some older Boeing 747-200s, valued at $60 million.

Still, the company owed $900 million on new aircraft purchases. In spite of this impressive sum, Air-India found itself chronically short of medium-sized long haul aircraft, reported Air Transport World. Most of its planes were too large to be profitable on their particular routes, a liability previously covered by an especially profitable Persian Gulf market.

A recovery seemed to be in place upon the announcement of a quarterly profit of $10 million in the fall of 1997. More positive results were projected. Operating revenue was expected to reach Rs 4,189 million in 1997-98.

It was later announced that these results had been overly optimistic; the $10 million profit was in fact a $10 million loss. Managing Director Michael Mascrenhas announced the news after taking over from Brijesh Kumar, whose two-year term had just expired. Mascrenhas colored the news in the best possible light, noting in Air Transport World that Air-India had lost money only "six times in the last 43 years."

A planned merger between Air-India and Indian Airlines was canceled in spring 1998. Nevertheless, closer ties between the two carriers remained after the aborted deal. As Air-India cut routes, it maintained code-sharing deals with Air France, SAS, Singapore Airlines, and Austrian Airlines. Still, market share fell from 35 percent to 20 percent in 1997-98.

Reducing its annual payroll costs of $40 million was a top priority for Air-India, which had not found sufficient productivity increases to match its generous incentive programs. Air Transport World reported that Mascrenhas trimmed $23 million in other areas.

In spite of these savings, Mascrenhas predicted Air-India would not pull out of the red for another two years after projecting a 1997-98 loss of $44 million. To raise desperately needed cash, the airline offered its hotels and two 747 airliners for sale. As the carrier planned for its $150 US/Canada security issue, the Indian government also was considering a rescue plan.

Principal Divisions

Ground Services; Engineering and Maintenance; Engine Overhaul.

Further Reading

"Air-India's Chief Eyes Chicago, Los Angeles Routes," Travel Weekly, February 6, 1992.

Hazarika, Sanjoy, "Air-India's Head Quits to Join Private Sector," New York Times, July 18, 1990.

"India's Airlines: Keeping Aloft," Economist, July 27, 1985.

Janigan, Mary, "A Tragedy's Haunting Legacy," Maclean's, June 23, 1986.

Kaufman, Lawrence H., "Air India Turns to Jet Leasing to Ease Cargo Capacity Crunch," Journal of Commerce, October 15, 1990.

Lefer, Henry, "A One-Way Freight Operation," Air Transport World, May 1991.

Mamu, H.P., "Air-India on the Rebound," Interavia Aerospace Review, October 1989.

Mhatre, Kamlakar, "Air-India Battles Back," Air Transport World, September 1997.

------, "Mumbai Mirage," Air Transport World, March 1998, pp. 107-08.

"Record Profit for Air-India," New York Times, August 6, 1991.

— Cosmo Ferrara; Updated by Frederick C. Ingram


Wikipedia on Answers.com:

Air India

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Not to be confused with Air India Express.
 This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2011)
Air India
IATA
AI		 ICAO
AIC		 Callsign
AIRINDIA
Founded July 1932 (as Tata Airlines)
Commenced operations 15 October 1932
Hubs
Secondary hubs
Focus cities
Frequent-flyer program Flying Returns
Airport lounge Maharaja Lounge
Subsidiaries
Fleet size 89 (+30 orders)
Destinations 55 (excl. subsidiaries)
Company slogan Your Palace in the Sky
Parent company Air India Limited
Headquarters Air India Building,
Nariman Point, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Key people J. R. D. Tata, Founder
Rohit Nandan, CMD
Website http://airindia.in

Air India is the flag carrier airline of India. It is part of the government of India owned Air India Limited (AIL). The airline operates a fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft serving Asia, Europe and North America. Its corporate office is located at the Air India Building at Nariman Point in South Mumbai. Air India has two major domestic hubs at Indira Gandhi International Airport and Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. An international hub at Dubai International Airport is currently being planned.[1]

Air India has the third largest share in India's domestic air travel market, behind Jet Airways and IndiGo.[2] Following its merger with Indian Airlines, Air India has faced multiple problems, including escalating financial losses,[3] discontent amongst employees, and poor customer service.[4] Between September 2007 and May 2011, Air India's domestic market share declined from 19.2% to 14%, primarily due to stiff competition from private Indian carriers.[5][6] In August 2011, Air India's invitation to join Star Alliance was suspended due to its failure to meet the minimum standards for the membership.[7] In October 2011, talks between the airline and Star Alliance have resumed.[8] In April 2012, the Indian government granted another bailout package to Air India, including Rs300 billion ($5.8 billion) of subsidies.[9]

Air India is rated a 3-Star airline by Skytrax.[10]

Contents

History

Tata Air Services
1940s-2007 Air India logo
Air India International Lockheed Constellation Bengal Princess at London Airport in 1953
Air India Boeing 707-320B in 1976
Boeing 747-200B at Montréal-Mirabel International Airport in 1983
The Maharaja is Air India's official Mascot

Early years

Main article: Tata Airlines

Air India was founded by J. R. D. Tata in July 1932 as Tata Airlines, a division of Tata Sons Ltd. (now Tata Group).[11] On 15 October 1932, J. R. D. Tata flew a single-engined De Havilland Puss Moth carrying air mail (postal mail of Imperial Airways) from Karachi's Drigh Road Aerodrome to Bombay's Juhu Airstrip via Ahmedabad. The aircraft continued to Madras via Bellary piloted by former Royal Air Force pilot Nevill Vintcent. In 1932 Air India was based out of a hut with a palm thatched roof at Juhu Aerodrome and had 1 pilot and 2 apprentice mechanics along with 2 piston engined aircraft, one Puss Moth and one Leopard Moth aircraft.[12][13]

Post-war expansion

Following the end of World War II, regular commercial service was restored in India and Tata Airlines became a public limited company on 29 July 1946 under the name Air India. In 1948, after the independence of India, 49% of the airline was acquired by the Government of India, with an option to purchase an additional 2%. In return, the airline was granted status to operate international services from India as the designated flag carrier under the name Air India International. On 8 June 1948, a Lockheed Constellation L-749A named Malabar Princess (registered VT-CQP) took off from Bombay bound for London Heathrow via Cairo and Geneva. This marked the airline's first long-haul international flight, soon followed by service in 1950 to Nairobi via Aden.

On 25 August 1953, the Government of India exercised its option to purchase a majority stake in the carrier and Air India International Limited was born as one of the fruits of the Air Corporations Act that nationalised the air transportation industry. At the same time all domestic services were transferred to Indian Airlines (now renamed as Indian). In 1954, the airline took delivery of its first L-1049 Super Constellations and inaugurated services to Bangkok, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore.

The jet age

Air India International entered the jet age in 1960 when its first Boeing 707-420, named Gauri Shankar (registered VT-DJJ), was delivered. Jet services to New York City via London were inaugurated that same year on 14 May 1960. On 8 June 1962, the airline's name was officially truncated to Air India. 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). This coincided with the introduction of the 'Palace In The Sky' livery and branding. A feature of this livery is the paintwork around each aircraft window, in the cusped arch style of windows in Indian palaces. In 1986 Air India took delivery of the Airbus A310-300; the airline is the largest operator of this type in passenger service. In 1988, Air India took delivery of two Boeing 747-300Ms in mixed passenger-cargo configuration.

Early 1990s

In 1993, Air India took delivery of the flagship of its fleet when the first Boeing 747-400 named Konark (registered VT-ESM) made history by operating the first non-stop flight between New York City and Delhi. In 1994 the airline was registered as Air India Ltd. In 1996, the airline inaugurated service to its second US gateway at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. In 1999, the airline opened its dedicated Terminal 2-C at the renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai.

2000 – present

In 2000, Air India introduced services to Shanghai and to its third US gateway at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark. In May 2004, Air India launched a wholly owned low cost airline called Air-India Express. Air India Express connecting cities in India with the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the Subcontinent. In 2004 Air India launched flights to its fourth US gateway at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles (which has since been terminated) and expanded its international routes to include flights from Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

On 1 December 2009, Air India introduced services to its fifth US gateway at Washington Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., accessed via a stopover at JFK Airport in New York City. This service has been terminated.

Re-privatisation plans

In 2001, the Government of India put forward plans on privatizing Air India.[14] One of the bids was by a consortium of Tata Group-Singapore Airlines. However the re-privatisation plans were shelved after Singapore Airlines pulled out and the global economy slumped.[15]

Merger with Indian Airlines

In 2007, the Government of India announced that Air India would be merged with Indian Airlines. As part of the merger process, a new company called the National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL) was established, into which both Air India (along with Air India Express) and Indian Airlines (along with Alliance Air) will be merged.

On 27 February 2011, Air India and Indian Airlines merged along with their subsidiaries to form Air India Limited.

Financial crisis

Around 2006-2007, the airlines began showing signs of financial distress. The combined losses for Air India and Indian in 2006-07 were Indian Rupee symbol.svg 770 crores (Indian Rupee symbol.svg 7.7 billion). After the merger of the airlines, this went up to Indian Rupee symbol.svg 7,200 crores (Indian Rupee symbol.svg 72 billion) by March 2009.[16] This was followed by restructuring plans which are still in progress.[17] In July 2009, SBI Capital Markets was appointed to prepare a road map for the recovery of the airline.[18] The carrier sold three Airbus A300 and one Boeing 747-300M in March 2009 for $18.75 million to survive the financial crunch.[19]

As of March 2011, Air India has accumulated a debt of Rs. 42,570 crore (approximately $10 billion) and an operating loss of Rs. 22,000 crore, and is seeking Rs. 42,920 crore from the government.[20] For the past three months (June, July, August 2011), the carrier has been missing salary payments and interest payments and Moody’s Investor Service has warned that missing payments by Air India to creditors, such as the State Bank of India, will negatively affect the credit ratings of those banks.[20][21] A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) blamed the decision to buy 111 new planes as one of the major causes of the debt troubles in Air India; in addition it blamed on the ill timed merger with Indian Airlines as well,.[22][23]

Due to high fuel and loan costs, Indian government has already pumped 32 billion rupees into Air India since April 2009 and in March 2012 government bailed out Air India Ltd. with a 67.5 billion ruppes ($1.4 billion) which the amount almost double of the federal government has spent on new hospitals over the past three years.[24] Air India's corporate headquarters is located at the Air India Building at Nariman Point in South Mumbai. The airline moved there in 1970. The Air India Building also serves as a regional office for Indian. As of 8th May, 2012 the carrier invited offers from banks to raise up $ 800 million via external commercial borrowing and bridge financing. This was stated in the documents put up on the carrier's website. [25]

Delhi Hub

On 1 March 2009, Air India had made Frankfurt Airport at Frankfurt am Main as its international hub for onward connections to United States from India; however, the airline shut down the Frankfurt hub on 30 October 2010. However on 14 July 2010, Air India chief, Arvind Jadhav announced their intention to make the new terminal 3 at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport the hub for international and domestic operations with the plans of starting new direct flights to Chicago and Toronto and also taking almost all international long haul flights away from its former Primary hub at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport due to lack of space.[26] This would also provide greater convenience for transit passengers who before had to transfer between the international and domestic terminals which were located on completely different sides of the airport. They will now be able to catch their connecting flights within the same terminal.

Return to profitability plans

The new Chairman and Managing director wants to change the order of some of the 111 planes ordered in 2006 to get narrow-body aircraft instead of the wide-body aircraft.[27] On May 4th, 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.[28] On May 8th, 2012 about 100 pilots went on medical leave as a mark of protest while their talks with the management were still on.[29] Later, the same day it sacked ten agitating pilots and de-recognized their union after 160 pilots failed to join duty by the given deadline. [30] On the 15th of May, the Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh stated that the Government was giving Air India one last chance and that it must perform in order to qualify for a bailout.[31]

Corporate affairs and identity

the Air India Building, Nariman Point, Mumbai
Organization
See also: Air India Limited

Air India has three subsidiaries. Together Air India, Air India Cargo, Air India Express and Air India Regional form the Air India Limited.

The company's head office is in the Air India Building in Nariman Point, Mumbai. The registered office is in the Airlines House in New Delhi.[32]

Subsidiaries

Air India Cargo
Air India Cargo Airbus A310-300F.
Main article: Air India Cargo

In 1954, Air India Cargo started its freighter operations with a Douglas DC-3 Dakota aircraft, giving Air India the distinction of being the first Asian airline to operate freighters. The airline operates cargo flights to many destinations. The airline also has ground truck-transportation arrangements on select destinations.

A member of IATA, Air India carries all types of cargo including dangerous goods (hazardous materials) and live animals, provided such shipments are tendered according to IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations and IATA Live Animals Regulations.

At the warehouse in Mumbai, Air India has developed a system of inventory management for cargo handling of import/export functions. This takes care of the entire management of cargo, supports Electronic Data Interface (EDI) messages with Indian Customs and replaces to a great extent existing paper correspondence between Customs, Airlines, and the custodians. This also replaces manual handling and binning of cargo at the warehouse in Mumbai by Air India.

Air India Express
Main article: Air India Express

Air India Express is the airline's low-cost subsidiary which was established in 2005 during the aviation boom in India. It operates scheduled passenger services primarily to the Persian Gulf and South East Asia. Air India Express is currently the only airline in Air India Limited which posts profits. It operates a fleet of Next Generation Boeing 737-800 aircraft.Cochin International Airport is the main hub of the airline from which it has connections to almost all the Gulf countries.

Air India Regional
Main article: Air India Regional

Air India Regional (formerly known as Alliance Air) serves mainly on regional routes. Its main hub is Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Livery

Boeing 747-400 in 1970–2007 Palace In The Sky livery
Airbus A321 VT-PPW at Mumbai Airport
The present Air India Livery on the Boeing 777-300ER
Air India One, Official plane carrying Prime Minister and President of India
1970–2007 livery

Air India's livery was mostly painted in red and white colours. The bottoms of the aircraft remain metal and unpainted but the upper portion is given a white background along with the airline's name written in red. The name is in Hindi on one side and in English on the other. The painted on red palace style carvings on the outside of the windows refer to their slogan "your palace in the sky" which is written on the back of the aircraft. Near the noses of Air India aircraft, the air plane is given a name. Most planes are named after powerful Indian kings or landmarks. Finally, the tail is mostly red with again, the carrier's name written in Hindi on one side and English on the other.

In 1989, to supplement its "Flying Palace" livery, Air India introduced a new livery that was mostly white with a golden spinning wheel (as seen on the flag of India) on a red tail. Only applied to around a half of Air India's fleet, the new livery did not succeed, as the Indian flying public complained about the phasing out of the classic colours. The livery was dropped after two years and the old scheme was returned.

Pre-merger livery

On 15 May 2007, Air India refreshed its livery, making the Rajasthani arches along the windows slightly smaller, extending a stylised cheatline from the vertical tail of the aircraft to the nose, and painting a small portion of the underbelly red. Additionally, engine nacelles are now deep red, and a gold-coloured version of the airline's stylized Konark trademark now adorns both the vertical tail and engine nacelles.

Post-merger livery

On 22 May 2007, Air India and Indian unveiled their new livery. The logo of the new airline is a Flying Swan with the Konark Chakra placed inside it. The Flying Swan has been morphed from Air India’s characteristic logo, ‘The Centaur’ whereas the ‘Konark Chakra’ is reminiscent of Indian’s logo.

The new logo features prominently on the tail of the aircraft. Individually the Konark Chakra also features on all the engines of the aircraft. The choice of colours namely red for “Flying Swan” and orange for “Konark Chakra” are meant to signify vigour and advancement. Further the colours also have a strong association with two carriers thereby retaining the earlier imagery of traditional hospitality and service.

While the aircraft is ivory in colour, the base retains the red streak of Air India. Running parallel to each other is the Orange and Red speed lines from front door to the rear door, subtly signifying the individual identities merged into one. The brand name ‘Air India’ runs across the tail of the aircraft in hindi.

Destinations

Main article: Air India destinations

Air India serves 49 domestic destinations and 26 international destinations in 19 countries across Asia, Europe and North America.

Short-haul routes

Air India's short-haul routes mainly include domestic cities and cities in South East Asia and South West Asia. For short-haul routes its Airbus A310, Airbus A330, Boeing 747-400 and Boeing 777-200LR are used apart from Airbus A320 family aircraft of Indian which are operated with Air India callsign and code.

Long-haul routes

The airline has long-haul destinations in East Asia, Europe and North America which are served using Boeing 777-200LR and -300ER aircraft.

Codeshare agreements

Air India has codesharing agreements with the following airlines at August 2011:[33][34][35]

* SkyTeam member
^^ Star Alliance members

Fleet

Main article: Air India fleet
Fleet info

The Boeing customer code for Air India is 37, meaning a model name of, for example, a 747-437 (an Air India 747-400). As of May 2010, the average age of the Air India fleet is 9.5 years.

New aircraft orders
  • On 11 January 2006, Air India announced an order for 58 jets - 8 Boeing 777-200LR Worldliners, 23 Boeing 777-300ER and 27 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners
  • The airlines received its first Boeing 777-200LR aircraft on 26 July 2007 and Boeing 777-300ER on 10 October 2007.
  • In April 2010, the airline has ordered 3 Boeing 777-300ERs.[citation needed]
  • Air India expects to get its first of 27 Boeing 787 Dreamliner in at the end of May 2012.[36]

Services

Frequent flyer programme

Tob band3.png Flying Returns is Air India's frequent flyer programme. The programme is also shared by all other Air India Limited carriers.

Premium lounges

Business Class seats on board the Boeing 777-300ER

The Maharaja Lounge (English: "Emperor's Lounge") is offered to First and Business class passengers. Air India shares lounges with other international airlines at international airports that do not have a Maharaja Lounge available.[37] There are six [38] Maharaja Lounges, one at each of the six major destinations of Air India, which are as following:

International
Air India's Maharaja Lounge at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport
India

In-flight entertainment

Air India's Boeing 777-200LR/-300ER as well as some refurbished Boeing 747-400 aircraft use the Thales TopSeries IFE systems[39] for onboard in-flight entertainment. Airbus A310s do not have personal LCD screens. Airbus A330s have widescreen displays in Business and Economy classes but no personal IFEs.

Awards and recognitions

  • Preferred International Airline award for travel and hospitality from Awaz Consumer Awards 2006 [40]
  • Best International West Bound Airline out of India for three successive years by Galileo Express TravelWorld Award
  • Best Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative. by Galileo Express TravelWorld Award [41]
  • Best Short-Haul International Airline by Galileo Express TravelWorld Award 2008[41]
  • The Mercury Award for the years 1994 and 2003, from the International Flight Catering Association, for finest in-flight catering services.
  • Amity Corporate Excellence Award instituted by the Amity International Business School, Noida, Uttar Pradesh to honour Corporates with distinct vision, innovation, competitiveness and sustenance.[41]
  • Reader’s Digest Trusted Brand Award[41]
  • Dun and Bradstreet Award(D&B)- first in terms of revenue out of the top airline companies out of India[41]
  • Best South Asian Airline award by readers of TTG Asia, TTG China, TTG Mice and TTG-BT Mice China, all renowned Mice and business travel publications.[41]
  • Cargo Airline of the Year at the 26th Cargo Airline of the Year Awards[42]
  • The airline entered the Guinness Book of World Records for the most people evacuated by a civil airliner. Over 111,000 people were evacuated from Amman to Mumbai  – a distance of 4,117 km, by operating 488 flights in association with Indian, from 13 August to 11 October 1990  – lasting 59 days. The operation was carried out during Persian Gulf War in 1990 to evacuate Indian expatriates from Kuwait and Iraq.[43]
  • The Montreal Protocol Public Awareness Award was awarded to Air India by the United Nations for environmental protection, especially in the ozone layer.[44]
  • World's first all-jet airline- June 1962
  • World's largest operator of Airbus A310-300
  • Air India's security department became the first aviation security organisation in the world to acquire ISO 9002 certification (31 January 2001).
  • Air India's Department of Engineering has obtained the ISO 9002 for its Engineering facilities for meeting international standards.
  • 3rd airline in the world to receive the Boeing 787

Accidents and incidents

 This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (January 2011)

Ten Air India flights have fatally crashed, including those due to terrorist attacks. Air India has a record of 6.82 fatal events per million flights.[45]

1950s
  • On 19 July 1959 Rani of Aera a Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation (registered VT-DIN) carrying 46 people (39 passengers and 7 crew) approached Santacruz Airport in conditions of poor visibility due to rain. The captain was using an altimeter with the barometric pressure set at 29.92". An overshoot was delayed and the aircraft crashed and suffered damage beyond repair. There were no fatalities.
The Air India Memorial in Toronto, Canada dedicated to the victims of Air India Flight 182
1960s
  • On 24 January 1966 Air India Flight 101 Kanchenjunga a Boeing 707-420 (registered VT-DMN) carrying 117 people (106 passengers and 11 crew) crashed on Mont Blanc, France, on the border between France and Italy, killing all on board. Among the dead was the noted Indian scientist, Homi J. Bhabha.
1970s
1980s
  • On 23 June 1985 Air India Flight 182 Emperor Kanishka a Boeing 747-237B (registered VT-EFO) was blown up in mid-air, mid-flight by a suitcase-bomb planted by Babbar Khalsa Terrorists allegedly as revenge for the Indian Government's operation on the Golden Temple on June 1984. The flight was on the first leg on its Montreal-London-Delhi-Bombay flight when it exploded off the coast of Cork, Ireland. The plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. All 307 passengers and 22 crew on board died.[51] After this incident Air India suspended all services to Montreal.
1990s
  • On 7 May 1990 Air India Flight 132 Emperor Vikramaditya a Boeing 747-237B (registered VT-EBO) flying on the London-Delhi-Bombay route and carrying 215 people (195 passengers and 20 crew) touched down at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport after a flight from London's Heathrow Airport. On application of reverse thrust, a failure of the no. 1 engine pylon to wing attachment caused this engine to tilt nose down. Hot exhaustion gases caused a fire on the left wing. There were no fatalities but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair and written off.[52]
2000s
  • On 4 September 2009, Air India Flight 829 Konark a Boeing 747-437 (registered VT-ESM) flying on the Mumbai-Riyadh route caught fire at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. The fire started in number one engine while the aircraft was taxing to Runway 27 for take-off. An emergency evacuation was carried out with no injuries among the 228 people (213 passengers and 15 crew) on board.


See also

Portal icon Mumbai portal
Portal icon India portal
Portal icon Companies portal
Portal icon Aviation portal


References

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  2. ^ Air India 3rd in market share
  3. ^ Maharaja in chains, Business Today
  4. ^ Merger pain, Frontline
  5. ^ Air India market share slips to fifth slot, Economic Times
  6. ^ Spice, IndiGo close in on Jet, Air India market share, Economic Times
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  10. ^ Air India official 3-Star ranking
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  21. ^ State Bank of India Credit Rating - Moody's
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