Air India is the flag carrier airline of India.It is owned by Air India Limited, a government-owned enterprise, and operates a fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft serving 90 domestic and international destinations. The airline has its hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, alongside several focus cities across India. Air India is the largest international carrier out of India with an 18.6% market share.Over 60 international destinations are served by Air India across four continents. Additionally, the carrier is the third largest domestic airline in India in terms of passengers carried (after IndiGo and Jet Airways) with a market share of 13.5% as of July 2017.The airline became the 27th member of Star Alliance on 11 July 2014.
The airline was founded by J. R. D. Tata as Tata Airlines in 1932; 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 (currently Chennai). After World War II, it became a public limited company and was renamed as 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.
Air India also operates flights to domestic and Asian destinations through its subsidiaries Alliance Air and Air India Express. Air India’s mascot is the Maharajah (Emperor) and the logo consists of a flying swan with the wheel of Konark inside it.
Air India had its origin as Tata Air Services later renamed to Tata Airlines founded by J. R. D. Tata of Tata Sons, 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 (currently Mumbai) and the aircraft continued to Madras (currently Chennai) piloted by Nevill Vintcent, a former Royal Air Force pilot and friend of Tata.[14] The airline fleet consisted of a Puss Moth aircraft and a de Havilland 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 160,000 miles (260,000 km), carrying 155 passengers and 9.72 tonnes (10.71 tons) of mail and made a profit of 60,000 (US$940).
The airline launched its first domestic flight from Bombay to Trivandrum with a six-seater Miles Merlin.[19] In 1938, it was re-christened as Tata Air Services and later as Tata Airlines. Colombo in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and Delhi 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 aircraft.
As Air India
Air India became the first Asian carrier to induct a jet aircraft, with the Boeing 707–420 Gauri Shankar
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 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 (registered VT-CQP) took off from Bombay bound for London Heathrow marking the airline’s first international flight.
Nationalization
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 till 1977. The company was renamed as Air India International Limited and the domestic services were transferred to Indian Airlines as a part of a restructuring.From 1948 to 1950, the airline introduced services to Nairobi in Kenya and to major European destinations Rome, Paris and Düsseldorf. He airline took delivery of its first Lockheed Constellation L-1049 and inaugurated services to Bangkok, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore.
Mascot
Air India’s mascot is the Maharajah (Emperor).It was created by Bobby Kooka, the then-commercial director of Air India, and Umesh Rao, an artist with J. Walter Thompson Limited in 1946.Kooka stated that, “We call him a Maharajah for want of a better description. But his blood isn’t blue. He may look like royalty, but he isn’t royal”.Air India adopted the Maharajah as its mascot in 1946. It was used in promoting it although initially designed only for the airline’s memo-pads.The Maharajah was given a makeover in 2015 and the brand is represented by a younger version.
Logo and livery
Air India’s colour scheme is red and white. The aircraft were painted in white with red palace style carvings on the outside of the windows and the airline’s name written in red. The name is written in Hindi on the port side fuselage and in English on the port side tail. On the starboard side fuselage, the name is written in English, and in Hindi on the starboard tail.The window scheme was designed in line with the slogan Your Palace in the Sky.The aircraft were earlier named after Indian kings and landmarks. In 1989, to supplement its Flying Palace livery, Air India introduced a new livery that included a metallic gold spinning wheel on a deep red-coloured tail and a Boeing 747, Rajendra Chola, was the first aircraft to be painted in the new colours.
The first logo of Air India was a centaur, a stylised version of Sagittarius shooting an arrow in a circle representing the wheel of Konark. The logo chosen by founder J. R. D. Tata was introduced in 1948 and represented the airline until 2007.On 22 May 2007, Air India and Indian Airlines unveiled their new livery consisting of a Flying Swan with the wheel of Konark placed inside it. The flying swan was morphed from the centaur logo and the chakra was derived from Indian’s erstwhile logo.On 15 May 2007, Air India refreshed its livery, making the Rajasthani arches along the windows slightly smaller, extending a stylised line from the tail of the aircraft to the nose and painting the underbelly red. The new logo features on the tail and the engine covers with red and orange lines running parallel to each other from the front door to the rear door.
Destinations
As of January 2017, Air India flies to a total of 89 destinations including 52 domestic destinations and 37 international destinations in 27 countries across four continents around the world.Its primary hub is located at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, and it has a secondary hub at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai.
As of October 2016, Air India operates the world’s longest nonstop regular scheduled commercial flight, from Delhi to San Francisco flying over the Pacific Ocean, with the total distance flown being over 15,200 kilometres (9,400 mi). Services between the two cities previously operated over the Atlantic Ocean in both directions; the airline changed the service to around-the-world to take advantage of jet stream winds and use less fuel.
(Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_India)