Ratan Tata welcomes Air India passangers with special mesage | Listen here

Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons and Chairman of Tata Trusts, has welcomed the passengers flying Air India in an audio message.

“The Tata Group welcomes Air India’s new customers and is excited to work together to make Air India the airliner choice in terms of passenger comfort and service”, he says in an audio clip posted by the airline’s official handle on Twitter.

Air India was founded by JRD Tata in 1932 as Tata Air services. In July 1946, the airline became a public limited company under the banner of Air India. Post-independence in 1948, the Indian government acquired 49 percent stake in the airline. Later in 1953, the Air Corporations Act was passed and the airline was completely nationalized.

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In 2017, Narendra Modi-led Indian government approved the privatization of the airline after it had raked up massive losses in debt due to corporate mismanagement. Initially they tried to sell 76 percent stake in the airline but received no response from potential buyers. In 2019, they decided to sell 100 percent stake and released an Expression of Interest (EoI) in 2020. In October 2021, Tata Sons won the bid against SpiceJet’s Ajay Singh. Air India long with Air India Express (low-cost carrier) and 50 percent of the Air India Limited and Singapore Airport Terminal Services (AISATS) ltd. Was sold to Tata Sons for ₹18,000 crore. On 27th January 2022, the airline was officially handed to Tata Group.

The airline has a debt of around INR 60000 crore. Out of this, INR18000 crore has already been lowered because of the bid. The rest of the debt will be transferred to a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV).

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As per the budget documents released, the government allocated ₹62,057 crore in a SPV, Air India Asset Holding Ltd. to settle a large portion of the airline debt as per revised FY 2021-22 budget figures.

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