Air India
Air India is the flag carrier of India with its main hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, and secondary hubs at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, alongside several focus cities across India. Headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana, the airline is owned by Air India Limited, which is owned by the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines. As of November 2025, the airline serves 87 domestic and international destinations, operating a variety of Airbus and Boeing aircraft and is the second-largest airline in India in terms of passengers carried after IndiGo. Air India became the 27th member of Star Alliance on 11 July 2014.
Founded in 1932 as Tata Airlines by J. R. D. Tata, Tata himself flew its first single-engine de Havilland Puss Moth, carrying air mail from Karachi to Bombay's Juhu aerodrome and later continuing to Madras. After World War II, it was nationalised by the Government of India in 1953 and was renamed Air India. On 21 February 1960, it took delivery of its first Boeing 707 named Gauri Shankar and became the first Asian airline to induct a jet aircraft in its fleet. In 2000–01, attempts were made to privatise Air India, and from 2006 onwards, it suffered losses after its merger with Indian Airlines. Another privatisation attempt was launched in 2017, which concluded with ownership of the airline and associated properties returning to the Tata Group after 69 years in 2022.
Air India also operates flights to domestic and Asian destinations through its subsidiary Air India Express. Air India operates a mix of narrow body aircraft such as the Airbus A320 family used for most domestic and short-haul international routes and wide body aircraft such as the Airbus A350, Boeing 777 and Boeing 787 aircraft for long haul international routes. Air India's mascot is the Maharajah and the erstwhile logo consisted of a flying swan with the wheel of Konark inside it, before being replaced by a new logo inspired by the airline's Jharokha window pattern in 2023.
History
Early years (1932–1945)
Air India had its origin in Tata Sons, founded by J. R. D. Tata, an Indian aviator and business tycoon. 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 to Bombay and the aircraft continued to Madras piloted by Nevill Vintcent, a former Royal Air Force pilot and friend of Tata. The airline fleet consisted of a Puss Moth aircraft and a Leopard Moth. Initial service included weekly airmail service between Karachi and Madras via Ahmedabad and Bombay. In its first year of operation, the airline flew, carrying 155 passengers and of mail and made a profit of. Later, the airline launched a domestic flight from Bombay to Trivandrum with a six-seater Miles Merlin. In 1938, it was re-christened as Tata Air Services and later as Tata Airlines. Delhi and Colombo were added to the destinations in 1938. 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.Post-Independence (1946–2000)
After 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. After the Indian independence in 1947, 49% of the airline was acquired by the Government of India in 1948. On 8 June 1948, a Lockheed Constellation L-749A named Malabar Princess took off from Bombay bound for London Heathrow marking the airline's first international flight. In 1953, the Government of India passed the Air Corporations Act and purchased a majority stake in the carrier from Tata Sons, though its founder, J. R. D. Tata, would continue as chairman until 1977. The company was renamed as Air India International Limited and the domestic services were transferred to Indian Airlines as a part of restructuring. From 1948 to 1950, the airline introduced services to Nairobi in Africa and to major European destinations Rome, Paris and Düsseldorf. The airline took delivery of its first Lockheed Constellation L-1049 named Rani of Jhansi and inaugurated services to Bangkok, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore.On 21 February 1960, Air India International inducted its first Boeing 707–420 named Gauri Shankar, thereby becoming the first Asian airline to induct a jet aircraft in its fleet. The airline inaugurated services to New York on 14 May 1960. On 8 June 1962, the airline's name was officially truncated to Air India 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 and introduced a new Palace in the Sky livery and branding. The airline operated 11 Boeing 747-200 in total. In 1986, Air India took delivery of its first Airbus A310-300 and in 1988, the airline took delivery of Boeing 747-300M. In 1993, Air India took delivery of a Boeing 747-400 named Konark and operated the first non-stop flight between New York and Delhi.
Financial trouble, merger with Indian and later (2000–2022)
In 2000–01, attempts were made to re-privatise Air India. 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 because of extra commissions that Mascarenhas sanctioned, and he was later suspended from the airline. 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 and the airline took delivery of its first Boeing 777 aircraft. The airline was invited to be a part of the Star Alliance in 2007.Around 2006, both Air India and Indian Airlines showed signs of financial crisis as combined losses were. After the merger of Indian Airlines with Air India in 2007, the losses went up to by March 2009. In July 2009, State Bank of India was appointed to prepare a road map for the recovery of the airline. The carrier sold three Airbus A300 and one Boeing 747-300M in March 2009 for $18.75 million to finance the debt. By March 2011, Air India had accumulated a debt of and an operating loss of, and was seeking from the government. 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. 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. The government pumped into Air India in March 2012.
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. In 2010, financially less lucrative routes were terminated and the airline planned to open a new hub for its international flights at Dubai. In 2012, a study commissioned by the Corporate Affairs Ministry recommended that Air India should be partly privatised. In May 2012, the carrier invited offers from banks to raise $800 million via external commercial borrowing and bridge financing. In May 2012, the airline was fined $80,000 by the US Transportation Department for failing to post customer service and tarmac delay contingency plans on its website and adequately inform passengers about its optional fees.
In 2013, the then-Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh stated privatisation was the key to the airline's survival. However, the opposition led by the BJP and the CPI slammed the government. In 2013, the Indian government planned to delay equity infusion of that was slated to be infused into the airline slowly over eight years. 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. 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. Air India Limited split its engineering and cargo businesses into two separate subsidiaries, Air India Engineering Services Limited and Air India Transport Services Limited in 2013. In December 2013, the airline appointed veteran pilot SPS Puri as its head of operations. The appointment was criticised by the Air India pilots union as Puri allegedly has multiple violations to his name.
Air India became the 27th member of Star Alliance on 11 July 2014. 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. For FY 2014–15, its revenue, operating loss and net loss were, and compared FY 2011–12, which were, and. As of February 2016, Air India was the third largest carrier in India, after IndiGo and Jet Airways with a market share of 15.4%.
On 21 May 2021, it was reported that Air India was subjected to a cyberattack where the personal details of about 4.5 million customers around the world were compromised, including passport, credit card details, birthdates, name and ticket information. Air India's data processor, SITA, reported the data breach to Air India in around February 2021. The data breach involved all information which was registered in the SITA data processor between 26 August 2011 and 20 February 2021, and the cyberattackers gained access to the systems for a period of 22 days. Air India told passengers that there was no conclusive evidence on whether any misuse of the personal data had been reported and urged passengers to immediately change their passwords.