Air India, probably the most renowned company the Government of India has had controlled till date.How this company came into existence ? On October 15 1932, the story of India’s national carrier began when J.R.D. Tata, an adventurous young man flew the first flight - a D.H. Puss Moth carrying the postal mail of Imperial Airways, from Karachi to Juhu, Mumbai, via Ahmedabad. At that time it was known as Tata Airlines. It witnessed a change in name from Tata Airlines to Air-India in 1946, to Air-India International in 1948, to simply Air-India in 1962, and back to Air-India Limited in 1994.The growth of the company has been quite good, though it could have done much better , if it had captured the asian market.Today AIs fleet boasts of 6 state of the art BOEING 747-400 (read boeing 747 dash 400) , 4 BOEING 747-200, 2 BOEING 747-300 COMBI, 13 AIRBUS 310-300 and 3 AIRBUS 300-B4 .Air India has a employee strength of 16, 841 as on Dec 01, 2001.
Air India , has indeed, been the image of India across the globe. The company functions directly under the Ministry Of Civil Aviation. The airplanes of Air India must satisfy the DGCA guidelines set forth for airworthiness, to fly in India and middle east while Federal Aviation Administration(FAA) guidelines to fly in countries in Europe and America. The most prominent feature of the Air India plane has always been the royal look, the company tries to give it.The mascot, The Maharaja , clearly indicates this . The design , colour combination and the interior are designed meticulously. The names given to the planes add a dash of royalty to the majestic 747-400.For example, a 747-400 plane was named Samudragupta. AI has always tried its best to stand up to the international standards. there was an era when Air India would set standards in the international market.The biggest advantage the company had was the real estate it owned in various cities.In Mumbai alone, Air India has a massive property, which includes state of the art , ISO 9002 certified , air conditioned jet shops , engine testing shops , two hangers for maintenance and repairs of planes.Apart from this a massive administrative office and a residential colony.Any foreign company which has to use the facility of these shops, has to pay a hefty rent which does help the finances of AI.
Towards the early 80s and the 90s Air India started slipping out of the race of international standards. After that, Air India had to struggle to qualify airworthiness checks by FAA. The average age of Air India planes has gone down to twenty years which is quite alarming. Still it has been a really commendable effort on the part of the technicians and engineers to have kept the planes airworthy.The size of the fleet of a company like British Airways is 700 while Air India owns around 28 air planes as on date. Financial mismanagement has been the main reason for this condition.Political interference in all administrative matters have made things worse. To add to the woes, strong labour unions started dictating terms to the company.Excessive administrative staff as always been the problem for Air India.The atmosphere in the company is, unfortunately, very lethargic, and this includes the jet shops as well. Clearly, there is less work and more pay situation existing there. The kind of infrastructure Air India has can make a giant company like British Airways jealous ! Due to this , excess staffing , work per staff member is so less that sometimes one would be tempted to call Air India a Worker’s Paradise !!
As for the crew and the pilots , Air India pilots are among the finest pilots in the industry.Specially trained with the flight simulators, they have to prove ther skills afresh for Air India by giving the tests designed for this purpose.The flight crew is very polite and well trained. Special care is given to protect the traditional Indian hospitality.An attempt to project Indian food , Indian culture is consciously made by the crew members.Traditional artists are specially hired by the company to make special suggestions to improve the interiors of the airplanes.The arched windows painted in red , on the exterior of the airplane, have made it look unique and was a instant success.
Recent attempts of disinvestment by the Government has suddenly brought AI back in the news. It is good to see that the Government of India has finally realised , that the company needed a shot in the arm, Some motivation was needed to reduce the losses which were around 400 crores in 1996. Under the leadership of Hon. Minister for Civil Aviation , Mr Syed Shahnawaz Hussain , things have improved. On 1st April, the minister announced a profit of Rs 340 million (Rs 34 crore) for the year 2001-2002. This was possible because Air-India had managed to pay off its debts and there were no new acquisitions. Civil Aviation Secretary K Roy Paul, who was appointed part-time chairman of Air-India on Wednesday, said that his main task would be to restore the lost glory of the Maharaja.indeed we do hope that he and his team of directors do succeed to restore the lost glory of the Maharaja.