Air India is the largest international transporter of India. Over 60 international destinations are served by Air India across the four continents. It is owned by Air India Limited, a government-owned endeavour, and serving 90 domestic and international destinations. It became the 27th member of Star Alliance on 11th July 2014. Shri Pradeep Singh Kharola is the current Chairman and Managing Director of it. Air India and its subsidiaries equally had a fleet of 137 planes. The Air India football club is owned by Air India.
History of Air India
Air India was founded by J. R. D. Tata as Tata Airlines in 1932. Tata flew a Puss Moth carrying air mail from Karachi to Mumbai on 15th October 1932. The airline started its first domestic flight from Mumbai to Trivandrum. After World War II, normal commercial service was refurbished in India and Tata Airlines became a public limited company on 29th July 1946 under the name Air India. Air India International introduced its first Boeing of 707-420 on 21st February 1960. On 8th June 1962, the airline`s name was officially changed to Air India. Air India and Indian Airlines were merged under Air India Limited in 2007.
Air India made Frankfurt Airport as its international hub for onward connections with the United States from India on 1st March 2009 but the airline was shut down because of high operating costs. In 2013, the then Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh stated privatisation was the solution to the airline`s endurance. Air India became the 27th member of Star Alliance on 11th July 2014. Air India is the third largest carrier in India after Indi Go and Jet Airways. On 28th June 2017, the Government of India announced the privatisation of Air India.
Headquarters of Air India
Air India Limited is headquartered at the Indian Airlines House, New Delhi. Air India moved its headquarters from Air India Building, Mumbai to Delhi in 2013. The previous headquarters were a 23 storey tower on Marine Drive and was one of the targets of the 1993 Mumbai violence.
Mascot, Logo and Livery of Air India
The mascot of Air India is the "Maharaja" which was created by the then commercial director of Air India Bobby Kooka and Umesh Rao, an artist with J. Walter Thompson Limited in 1946. Air India accepted the Maharaja as its mascot in 1946. The mascot had a makeover in 2015 and the brand is symbolized by a younger version.
Air India`s colour format is red and white. The aircraft was painted in white with red palace style carvings on the outer surface of the windows and the airline`s name is written in red. The name is written in Hindi on the port side and in English on the port side end. The initial logo of Air India was a centaur, a stylised edition of Sagittarius, shooting an arrow in a circle demonstrating the wheel of Konark. Air India and Indian Airlines revealed their new livery on 22nd May 2007, consisting of a Flying Swan with the wheel of Konark placed within it. Air India refreshed its livery by making the Rajasthani curves along the windows a little smaller and expanding a stylised line from the tail of the aircraft to the nose on 15th May 2007.
Services of Air India
Air India serves meals on all international flights and on domestic flights with the duration of over 90 minutes. Air India aircraft are equipped with Thales i3000 in-flight entertainment system. "Showtime" is the official entertainment guide published by Air India. "Shubh Yatra" is a bilingual in flight magazine published in English and Hindi by Air India. Air India can provide ground handling for diverted flights at all airports in India. Apart from these, there are many more facilities like Cargo Handling and Warehousing, Aircraft Recovery Assistance, Ramp Handling; Allied Services etc are provided by the airline.
Awards of Air India
Air India has won many awards like the Reader"s Digest "Most Trusted Brand Gold Award 2016. It has won the Human Resource Excellence Award in November, 2013 for Global Business Development. It also received the "Best Performing Airline" Award in October 2012. It won the Global Commerce Excellence Award 2012.
