Air India Limited ( ) is the
national airline of India
, flying a
worldwide network of passenger and cargo services. With 159
airplanes in its fleet, the
National Aviation
Company of India Limited administers the state-owned Air India
and
Indian Airlines merger..
Air India is the 16th largest airline in Asia, serving 25
destinations worldwide, and, with its affiliated carriers, serves
over 100 cities. Air India has
codeshare agreements with 13 other
international airlines. In 2010, Air India is expected to join
Star Alliance, the world's largest
airline alliance.
History
Tata Air Services
1940s-2007 Air India logo
Air India was founded by
J. R. D. Tata in 1932 as
Tata Airlines, a division of Tata
Sons Ltd. (now
Tata Group). 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.
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
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 1 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.
In 1954,
the airline took delivery of its first L-1049 Super Constellations and inaugurated
services to Bangkok
, Hong Kong
, Tokyo
and Singapore
.
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 14th 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.
On 8 March 2004,
International
Women's Day, the airline operated an "All Women Flight" from
Mumbai to Singapore. Captain Rashmi Miranda, who became Air-India's
first female Commander in November 2003 and Captain Kshmata Bajpai
piloted the flight, an Airbus A310-300 aircraft. The flight
dispatch activities relating to this flight were also coordinated
by a female Flight Dispatcher, Vasanti Kolnad. The Safety Audit on
board was also conducted by another woman, Harpreet D Singh. The
airline has seventeen female pilots, including five trainee
pilots.
Expansion
In 1970,
Air India moved its offices to downtown Bombay. The
next year, 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
distinctive 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 also
took delivery of two
Boeing
747-300M in mixed passenger-cargo configuration. In 1989, to
supplement its "Flying Palace" livery, Air India introduced a new
"sun" livery that was mostly white but had a golden sun 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 new livery was
dropped after two years and the old scheme was returned.
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 newly renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji International
Airport
in Mumbai
.
In 2000,
Air India introduced services to Shanghai
and to its third US gateway at Newark
Liberty International Airport
in Newark
. On 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
also 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
March 2009 Air India made Frankfurt Airport
its European Hub for its Trans-Atlantic North American Operations.
Air India
is planning to add Washington, D.C.
to its North American destinations from December 1,
2009; the flight starts at Washington's Dulles
International Airport
and stops at John F.
Kennedy International Airport
in New York
City and then flies non-stop to New Delhi
Indira Gandhi International
Airport
.
Re-Privatisation Plans
In 2001, Air India was put up for sale by the then
NDA government. 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.
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. Once the merger is complete, the airline - which will
continue to be called Air India - will continue to be headquartered
in Mumbai.
Star Alliance announced on 13 December
2007 that it had invited Air India to join as a member. Air India
is set to become a full Star Alliance member in 2010.
India has the world's fastest growing airline industry. However,
increasing fuel prices resulted in a 4% decline in air traffic in
June 2008. Increasing competition of other major Indian carriers
like
Jet Airways and
Kingfisher Airlines has pushed Air India
to third place in India in terms of market share. In July 2008, it
was reported that Air India was seeking
US$534
million in aid from the Indian government to cover its losses. In
the wake of rising fuel prices, the airline decided to hike its air
fare in June 2008.
Financial Crisis
Around 2006-07, the airlines began showing signs of financial
distress. The combined losses for Air India and Indian Airlines in
2006-07 were Rs 7.7 billion. After the merger of the airlines, this
went up to Rs 72 billion by March 2009. This was followed by
restructuring plans which are still in progress..
In July 2009,
SBI Capital
Markets Ltd
was appointed to prepare a road map for the
recovery of the airline. The carrier cancelled the purchase
of six
Boeing 777-300ER in July
2009 and sold three
Airbus A300 and one
Boeing 747-300M in March 2009 for $
18.75 million to survive the financial crunch.
Destinations
Air India serves 9 domestic destinations and 16 international
destinations in 11 countries. Together with its subsidiaries the
group connects 93 destinations worldwide in 24 countries across
Africa,
Asia,
Europe and
North
America.
Passenger operations
The airline carried 4.44 million
passengers during 2005-2006 and achieved a load factor of 66.2 per
cent lower than the 69.8 per cent load factor recorded in the
preceding year. Air India offers three classes of service First
Class, Executive Class and Economy Class. Flat bed seats are
offered for First and Executive Class passengers. Air India’s
frequent flyer programme is
called
Flying Returns and is shared with Indian Airlines
and other subsidiaries. Aside from flight mileage, members receive
seat discounts, class upgrades, free hotel stays and other
benefits. The airline also offers luxury lounges in its ground
terminals for its First and Executive class travelers in select
destinations within India. Air India has
duty
free sales on board its flights, named "Sky Bazaar".
Maharaja Lounge
Maharaja Lounge means "Emperor's Lounge", and 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. There are five Maharaja
Lounges, one at each of the five major destinations of Air India,
which are as following:
- India
- International
Fleet
Each subsidiary maintains a separate fleet of aircraft. Air India
operates an all wide-body fleet composed of
Airbus A310,
Airbus
A330,
Boeing 747 and
Boeing 777 aircraft.The average age of Air
India's fleet, excluding freighter and subsidiary aircraft, is 9.7
years as of June 2009.
- Airbus A310-300
Airbus A310-300s fly mainly to medium haul
destinations such as Dammam
, Hong Kong, Nairobi, Osaka and Shanghai.
Two Airbus A310-300 aircraft were previously owned by
Singapore Airlines and as such feature
the older two-class Singapore Airlines configuration. Business and
Economy class seats are standard and no personal televisions (PTVs)
are provided in either class. These aircraft will eventually be
replaced by the
Boeing 787-8.
- Airbus A330-200
Airbus A330-200s fly to medium haul
destinations such as Paris
and
Tokyo. Both A330-200s are ex-
Novair aircraft and feature Novair's interiors.
Widescreen displays are there in both Business and Economy classes
but no personal televisions (PTVs). These aircraft will be replaced
by the
Boeing 787-8.
- Boeing 747-400
Boeing 747-400s fly medium haul destinations
such as Jeddah
, Riyadh
&
Tokyo.
Boeing 747-400s are configured in a 3 class configuration with new
interior. First class features a flat bed seat, with up to 180
degree recline. Business class also has premium seats, with added
recline and cushioning. Economy class features 32-34 inch seat
pitch.
All Boeing 747-400 aircraft have undergone complete refurbishment,
adding enhancements such as widescreen PTVs with Audio-Video On
Demand (AVOD) in all classes and improved seats in First and
Business class. The cabin is upgraded with all new economy seats,
cushions and upholstery. New overhead bins and aircraft side
panels, a new coat of paint for the side trims, new cockpit trims
and new toilets are part of the refurbished aircraft.
In-flight entertainment on the refurbished Boeing 747-400s features
the
Thales TopSeries i4000
Entertainment system. This system features 10.4" widescreen
displays for
First Class and
Business
Class seats and 8.4" widescreen PTVs in
Economy
Class seats.
The Boeing 747-400 began service in late 1993 and were primarily
brought in to replace the aging fleet of
Boeing 747-200Bs. They have been named after
places of cultural interest in India.
All Boeing 747-400 aircraft are due to be retired by 2016, and will
be replaced by
Boeing 777-200LR and
Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.
- Boeing 777
Boeing 777s fly to short-, medium haul
destinations such as Dubai
, Frankfurt
, London, Tokyo and long
haul destinations such as Chicago, New York
City, Newark and Toronto
.
Air India operates several variants of the
Boeing 777 — the Boeing 777-200, Boeing
777-200ER, Boeing 777-200LR and Boeing 777-300ER.
The Boeing 777-200 and Boeing 777-200ER in the fleet used to be
part of
United Airlines, and thus
feature United Airlines interiors. All seats in all classes feature
a PTV with AVOD, and Business Class and First Class seats are not
lie-flat.
Air India's recently delivered fleet of Boeing 777-200LR and Boeing
777-300ER aircraft feature new interiors. The airline opted for the
Thales TopSeries i5000
entertainment system for in-flight entertainment on board its new
Boeing 777-200LRs and Boeing 777-300ERs..
First Class features flat beds with 23 inch
widescreen PTVs with AVOD. The seats include an in-seat massage
function, USB ports and laptop power port. Business class is the
"shell" type and also converts into a completely flat seat.
Business Class seats feature 15 inch widescreen
PTVs with laptop power and USB ports. These 777 aircraft feature
Air India's new
Economy Class seats which have 33
to 35 inch seat pitch and 10.6 inch widescreen PTVs with
AVOD.
Codeshares
Air India has codesharing agreements with the following
airlines:
Air India — Codeshare agreements
| Airline |
Codeshare Routes |
| Between |
And |
| Aeroflot |
Moscow-Sheremetyevo |
Delhi |
| Air France |
Paris-Charles de Gaulle |
Berlin-Tegel, Delhi, Frankfurt |
| Air Mauritius |
Mauritius |
Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai |
| Austrian Airlines
(SA) |
Vienna |
Delhi |
| Emirates |
Dubai |
Chennai, Kochi |
| Kuwait Airways |
Kuwait |
Chennai, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram |
| London-Heathrow |
New York-JFK |
Lufthansa (SA) |
Frankfurt |
Amsterdam, Bangalore, Berlin-Tegel, Chennai, Chicago-O'Hare,
Copenhagen, Delhi, Denver, Detroit, Düsseldorf, Hyderabad, Kolkata,
Los Angeles, Lyon, Mumbai, Munich, Oslo-Gardermoen,
Stockholm-Arlanda, Stuttgart, Washington-Dulles |
| Munich |
Delhi |
| Malaysia Airlines |
Kuala Lumpur |
Bangalore, Hyderabad, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Mumbai |
| Singapore Airlines
(SA) |
Singapore |
Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bangalore, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Brisbane,
Delhi, Kolkata, Kuala Lumpur, Los Angeles, Melbourne, San
Francisco, Sydney |
| South African Airways
(SA) |
Johannesburg |
Mumbai |
| Swiss International
Airlines (SA) |
Zürich |
Delhi, Mumbai |
| Thai Airways
International (SA) |
Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi |
Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai,
Shanghai-Pudong |
| Dubai |
Chennai |
| Turkish Airlines
(SA) |
Istanbul-Atatürk |
Delhi, Mumbai |
|
With Air India's own entry into the Star Alliance (SA) expected in 2010, all other
codeshare agreements with non-Star Alliance partners may be
terminated.
Awards and Recognitions
- Preferred International Airline award for
travel and hospitality from Awaz Consumer Awards 2006
- 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
- Best Short-Haul International Airline by
Galileo Express TravelWorld Award 2008
- 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.
- Reader’s Digest Trusted Brand Award
- Dun and Bradstreet Award(D&B)- first in
terms of revenue out of the top airline companies out of India
- 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.
- Cargo Airline of the Year at the 26th Cargo
Airline of the Year Awards
- The airline entered the Guinness Book of World
Records for the largest evacuation 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
Airlines, 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.
- The Montreal Protocol Public Awareness Award
was awarded to Air India by the United
Nations for environmental protection, especially in the ozone
layer.
- 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 31 2001).
- Air India's Department of Engineering has obtained the ISO 9002
for its Engineering facilities for meeting international
standards.
Air India One
The
callsign Air India One is used when an Air India aircraft
is being used by the government of India for the
transportation of the Prime Minister or President of India.
Normally a
Boeing 747-400 aircraft is
used for overseas visits.
Subsidiaries
Air India's current subsidiaries are
Air
India Cargo, a separate division that provides air cargo
services with a dedicated fleet, and
Air-India Express, a low-cost airline that
operates flights mainly to the
Middle
East. With the merger of
Indian
Airlines and its subsidiary
Air
India Regional into Air India, these two airlines will be
folded into Air India.
Affiliated Carriers
Financials
The profitability of Air India as
published in the 2004-2005 annual report by
Ministry of Civil Aviation with figures in billions of
Indian rupees.
| Year |
Revenues Rs Billion |
Profit/(Loss) Rs Billion |
| 2003 |
63.22 |
0.96 |
| 2005 |
92.51 |
0.19 |
Accidents and incidents
Since it began operations, seven Air India flights have fatally
crashed, including one due to a terrorist attack. Air India has a
record of 6.82 fatal events per million flights on average.
- 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 damages beyond repair. There were no
fatalities.
- 1960s
- 1970s
- 1980s
- 1990s
- 2000s
References
- Air India Limited: Private Company Information -
BusinessWeek
-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_airlines_in_Asia
-
http://home.airindia.in/SBCMS/Webpages/Code-Share-Partners.aspx?mid=31
- [1]
- Kingfisher Airlines leads in February market
share
- All-women crew on AI
-
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/19/AR2009101902342.html
- [2]
- [3]
- [4]
- http://www.hindu.com/2007/12/16/stories/2007121656481300.htm
Air India joins Star Alliance The Hindu
-
http://www.dailyindia.com/show/199544.php/Air-India-to-join-Star-Alliance
Air India to join Star Alliance
- For India’s Airlines, Passengers Are Plentiful but
Profits Are Scarce - New York Times
- Air traffic fell by 4% in June - Sify.com
- Bloomberg.com: India & Pakistan
- http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14698471
- What sent Air India crashing?
- Air India restructuring plans being
readied
- SBI Caps prepares roadmap for Air India
restructuring
- Air India, Boeing in talks to cancel 6 aircraft
deliveries
- AI sells 4 aircraft in Mar to tackle financial
crunch
- Ten year statistics
- [5]
- Air India Extends State-of-the-Art B777 to all Long
Haul Destinations
- Air India to get Boeing 787 Dreamliner in June
2010
- [6]
- [7]
- [8]
- AirIndia - Code-Share Partners
-
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel=aviationdaily&id=news/IND03189.xml
- Air India to end ties with KLM, BA, Cathay
- The Hindu : Business / Briefly : Air India bags
Awaz consumer awards 2006
-
http://home.airindia.in/SBCMS/Webpages/Backgrounder-Note.aspx?MID=196
- http://home.airindia.in/SBCMS/Webpages/cargo-wins.aspx
- UN Environment Award for Air India India Airline
News, Airport developments, Aviation, A380, B787, Kingfisher,
Deccan, Jet Airways, Air India, Indian Airlines, Spicejet
- [9]
- Accident Database: Accident Synopsis
06221982
- Fatal Events Since 1970 for Air India
- [10]
External links
killing all on board.
and
Italy
, killing all onboard. Among the dead was the
noted Indian scientist, Homi J.
Bhabha.
after takeoff from Sahar International Airport (now
Chhatrapati Shivaji International
Airport
via Madras
) crashed at Sahar International Airport
after a heavy landing during a
rainstorm. The fuselage exploded after starting a late
go-around. 90 occupants were on the aircraft. 2 of 12 crew members
and 15 of 99 passengers were killed in the crash.
) baggage terminal killed two Japanese baggage handlers, and injured
four. The Babbar Khalsa
Terrorists intended the bomb in that bag for Air India
Flight 301 with 177 passengers and crew on board, bound
for Bangkok-Don Mueang
.
Emperor Kanishka
a Boeing 747-237B (registered VT-EFO)
was blown up in mid-air, mid-flight by a suitcase-bomb as 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 Montréal
-London
, Ireland
. The plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.
All 307 passengers and 22 crew on board died. After this incident
Air India suspended all services to Montréal
. 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 gasses caused a fire on the left
wing. There were no fatalities but the aircraft was damaged beyond
repair and written off.
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