Flying With The Maharaja

A Star Alliance member and the third largest carrier in the country, Air India is the longest running airline company in Indian aviation industry.

- Sushmita Srivastav

It was back in 1932 that Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata, the legendary entrepreneur of Tata Sons, set up India’s first airline as ‘Tata Airlines’. The man himself flew the first flight between Karachi and Mumbai and is often considered ‘the father of Indian aviation’. Soon, the company turned public in 1946 and was renamed Air India. In 1948, Air India became the first Asian airline to start a regular service between Asia and Europe.

It was considered one of the best airlines in the world back then, until the changing governments, turn by turn, took charge of controlling it. In 1953, the government passed the Air Corporation Act and purchased majority stake in the airline. The company was renamed Air India International Limited and the domestic services were transferred to Indian Airlines Corporation. Nationalised by the Nehru government the same year, the airline was still headed by J.R.D. Tata as its chairman. In 1962, the name of the airline was officially shortened to Air India, which soon became the world’s first all-jet airline.