‘Welcome back, Air India’: Ratan Tata tweets as airline returns to Bombay House after 68 years

Ratan Tata, the legendary Indian businessman and chairman of Tata Trusts, welcomed back Air India through a tweet as the Tata Sons regained control of Air India – nearly 70 years after its nationalisation.

The transaction brings Air India full circle, since it was launched in 1932 as Tata Airlines by family heir and aviation enthusiast Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata.

Also read | Tata Sons wins the bid for acquiring national carrier Air India for Rs 180 billion

 

The link between the Tata Group and Air India dates back to 1932, when famous businessman and India’s first commercially certified pilot JRD Tata founded the national airline.

The original service provided a weekly airmail service from Karachi to Madras via Ahmedabad and Bombay.

The airline quickly grew to include passenger planes, and in 1938 it began international flights.

With the addition of Columbo to its list of destinations, the airline’s name was changed to Tata Air Services, and then to Tata Airlines. 

During World War II, the famous airlines performed support flights for the British Royal Air Force in Burma.

After the war, the airline changed its name to the now-iconic Air India.

The Union government then became interested in Air India and purchased a 49 percent share in it.

Soon after, the government seized control of the airline from Tata Sons and nationalised it under the Air Corporations Act in 1953.

(With inputs from agencies)