Air India
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| Air India | ||
|---|---|---|
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| IATA AI |
ICAO AIC |
Callsign AIRINDIA |
| Founded | 1932 (as Tata Airlines) | |
| Hubs | ||
| Focus cities | ||
| Frequent flyer program | Flying Returns | |
| Member lounge | Maharajah lounges | |
| Alliance | Star Alliance (from 2009 owards) | |
| Subsidiaries | ||
| Fleet size | 101 + (65 Orders) + 6 Cargo + (18+(7 orders) Air India Express = 197 | |
| Destinations | 130 | |
| Parent company | National Aviation Company of India Limited | |
| Company slogan | "Your Palace in the Sky" | |
| Headquarters | Mumbai, India | |
| Key people | Raghu Menon, Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) | |
| Website: http://home.airindia.in | ||
Air India (Hindi: एअर इंडिया) is the national flag carrier of India with a worldwide network of passenger and cargo services. It is part of National Aviation Company of India Limited and the only state-owned airline in the country. The company was created due to Air India's merger with Indian Airlines.[1] Its main bases are Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai and Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi. The airline connects 130 international and domestic destinations around the world, including 12 gateways in India with Air India Express, a fully-owned subsidiary of Air India. The airline will join Star Alliance in 2009.
Contents |
[edit] History
Air India had its beginning as Tata Airlines in 1932, a division of Tata Sons Ltd. (now Tata Group) by J. R. D. Tata. On October 15, 1932, the founder, J. R. D. Tata himself flew a single engined De Havilland Puss Moth registered VT-and carrying air mail (postal mail of Imperial Airways) from Karachi's Drigh Road Aerodrome to Bombay's Juhu Airstrip via Ahmedabad. The aircraft continued to Madras via Bellary piloted by former Royal Air Force pilot Nevill Vintcent.
[edit] Early days
Following the end of 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 the Independence of India, 49% of the airline was acquired by the Government of India in 1948, with an option to purchase an additional 2%. In return, the airline was granted status to operate international services from India as the designated flag carrier under the name Air India International. On June 8, 1948 a Lockheed Constellation L-749A named Malabar Princess and registered VT-CQP took off from Bombay bound for London via Cairo and Geneva. This marked the airline's first long-haul international flight, soon followed by service in 1950 to Nairobi via Aden.
On 1 August 1953, the Government of India exercised its option to purchase a majority stake in the carrier and Air India International Limited was born as one of the fruits of the Air Corporations Act that nationalised the air transportation industry. At the same time all domestic services were transferred to Indian Airlines. In 1954, the airline took delivery of its first L-1049 Super Constellations and inaugurated services to Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Tokyo.
[edit] The jet age
Air India International entered the jet age in 1960 when its first Boeing 707, named Nandadevi and registered VT-DJJ, was delivered. Jet services to New York via London were inaugurated that same year in May 1960. On 8 June 1962 the airline's name was officially truncated to Air India. On 11 June 1962 Air India became the world's first all-jet airline.
[edit] Expansion
In 1970, Air India moved its offices to downtown Bombay. The next year, the airline took delivery of its first Boeing 747 named Emperor Ashoka and registered VT-EBD. This coincided with the introduction of the 'Palace In The Sky' livery and branding. A distinctive feature of this livery is the paintwork around each aircraft window, in the cusped arch style of windows in Indian palaces. In 1986 Air India took delivery of the Airbus A310. The airline is the largest operator of this type in passenger service. In 1988, Air India also took delivery of two Boeing 747-300s in mixed passenger-cargo configuration. In 1989, to supplement its "Flying Palace" livery, Air India introduced a new "sun" [1] livery that was mostly white but had a golden sun on a red tail. Only applied to around a half of Air India's fleet, the new livery did not succeed, as the Indian flying public complained about the phasing out of the classic colours. The new livery was dropped after two years and the old scheme was returned. Since then, Air India has been hesitant to radically change the paint scheme, instead opting for minor updates and face lifts.
In 1993, Air India took delivery of the flagship of its fleet when the first Boeing 747-400 named Konark and registered VT-ESM made history by operating the first non-stop flight between New York and Delhi. In 1994 the airline was registered as Air India Ltd. In 1996, the airline inaugurated service to its second US gateway at Chicago’s O'Hare International Airport. In 1999, the airline opened its dedicated Terminal 2-C at the newly renamed Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai.
[edit] Present operations
The 21st century has seen Air India introduce new services to Shanghai in China, as well as two new US destinations, Los Angeles, California (LAX) and Newark, New Jersey (Newark Liberty). To expand its business into the low-cost sector, AI started a wholly owned subsidy, called Air India Express in May 2004. AIX has been operating exclusively on Persian Gulf routes, as well as to Singapore. Air India expanded its international routes to include non-stop flights from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.
On the occasion of the International Women's Day, March 8, 2004, the airline operated an "All women Flight" from Mumbai to Singapore.[2] Capt. Rashmi Miranda, who became Air-India's first female Commander in November 2003 and Capt. Kshmata Bajpai, piloted the flight, an Airbus A310 aircraft. The flight dispatch activities relating to this flight was also coordinated by a female Flight Dispatcher, Ms Vasanti Kolnad. The Safety Audit on board was also conducted by another woman, Ms Harpreet D. Singh. The airline has 17 female pilots on including 5 trainee pilots.
Air India has officially merged with Indian Airlines to create a merged airline consisting of 200+ aircraft in 2007.[citation needed].The new airline's headquarters will remain in Mumbai, and it now has a fleet of 130+ aircraft of both Airbus and Boeing airplanes. It also widely expected that Alliance Air and Air India Express will also to merge to create the new airline's low-cost arm. [3]
The combined entity has also confirmed that has gained membership within the Star Alliance and will expand its own network to be one of Asia's largest carriers. The formal announcement was made at the annual Star Alliance meeting on the 13th of December 2007.[4].[5] Air India is set to become a full member of Star Alliance by 2009.
[edit] Passenger operations
The airline carried 3.39 million passengers during the financial year ending March 2003 and achieved a load factor of 71.6 per cent, substantially higher than the 66 per cent load factor recorded in the preceding year. Air India offers three classes of service – First Class, Executive Class and Economy Class. Flat bed seats are offered for first class and executive passengers. The airline also offers a frequent flyer programme alone and in collaboration with many of its alliances. The airline also offers luxury lounges in its ground terminals for its First and Executive class travellers in select destinations within India. Air-India has duty free sales on board its flights, named "Sky Bazaar".
[edit] In-flight experience
Air India has started a makeover of its aircraft including updated interiors[citation needed]. Air India has been accepted as a Star Alliance member and after the merger with Indian Airlines which took place in September 2007 is improving service standards and in-flight entertainment[citation needed].
The business class seats are in a shell, which allows the seat to turn into a bed. These seats include a 18" PTV with AVOD. These features are available only on the Boeing 777-200LR and some Boeing 747-400, and will be introduced on the Boeing 777-300ER and the upcoming Boeing 787-8. The A310, 747 (some), 767, A320 family aircraft have standard business class seats with no PTV etc.
Economy class are red in colour and feature 32" seat pitch. All seats on Airbus A321, Boeing 777-200LR, Boeing 777-300ER, some Boeing 747-400 and some Airbus A319 feature PTV with AVOD in-flight entertainment system with a widescreen LCD touch screen. Other aircraft such as the Airbus A310, Airbus A320 and some Airbus A319 and Boeing 747-400 aircraft do not have individual seatback entertainment, they only have a central projection screen.
In 1994 and 2003 the airline was given the Mercury Award for its flight cuisine. Meals include Indian vegetarian meal, a Halal meal, a low fat meal, among others.
[edit] Frequent flyer programme
Flying Returns is the frequent flyer programme of Air India. Aside from flight mileage, members receive seat discounts, class upgrades, free hotel stays, and other benefits. It has also been mentioned[citation needed] that once the Air India and Indian Airlines merger is complete, Flying Returns will remain the frequent flyers programme.
[edit] Maharajah Lounge
"Maharajah Lounge" means Emperor's Lounge. Maharajah Lounge is offered to First and Executive class passengers. There are currently 5 Maharajah Lounges, each at one of the five major destinations of Air India. Air India shares lounges with other airlines at airports that do not have a Maharajah Lounge available:
Air India is in talks with the operators of the Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad airports to setup lounges in the new airports/terminals being constructed there
[edit] Fleet
Air India currently operates a fleet from 5 aircraft families, the Airbus A310, Airbus A320 family, Airbus A330, Boeing 747 and Boeing 777 consisting of the following aircraft [2] (Last Updated: February 2008):
| Type | Total | Passengers (First/Business/Economy) |
Routes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A310-300 | 12 | 201 (0/20/181) |
Domestic, Asia | 6 being converted to cargo, leased from Singapore Airlines |
| Airbus A319 | 11 (9 orders) |
125 (0/0/125) |
Domestic | ex-Indian Airlines PTV with AVOD (new ones) |
| Airbus A320 | 48 |
146 (0/20/126) |
Domestic | ex-Indian Airlines |
| Airbus A321 | 5 (15 orders) |
175 (0/06/169) |
Domestic, Asia | PTV with AVOD |
| Airbus A330-200 | 2 | Singapore-Changi, Zurich | On lease | |
| Boeing 747-300M | 2 | 283 (16/40/227) |
Tokyo, Osaka, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Europe | Replaced by: Boeing 777-300ER to be converted to Cargo |
| Boeing 747-400 | 7 | 431 (12/34/385) |
London-Heathrow, Frankfurt, New York-JFK, Newark-Liberty International, Los Angeles-LAX, Chicago-O'hare | some with AVOD, retiring by 2015,6 Owned & 1 Leased from Malaysia Airlines |
| Boeing 747-400M | 1 | 296 (0/43/253) |
Frankfurt, Los Angeles-LAX | Leased from Air Canada |
| Boeing 777-200 | 1 | 258 (12/49/197) | Middle East, London-Heathrow | Leased from United Airlines |
| Boeing 777-200ER | 3 | 292 (12/49/231) | London-Heathrow, Toronto-Pearson, Newark-Liberty International | Leased from United Airlines PTV with AVOD |
| Boeing 777-200LR | 5 (3 orders) |
238 (8/35/195) | Direct Flights to New York-JFK | PTV with AVOD |
| Boeing 777-300ER | 4 (11 orders) |
342 (4/35/303) |
Paris-Charles De Gaulle, London-Heathrow, New York-JFK | First of the order delivered on 10th October 2007 PTV with AVOD |
| Boeing 787-8 | 0 (27 orders) |
Asia, Europe | Replacing: Airbus A310 (Delivery TBA) |
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| Total | 101 + (65 orders)=166 |
The average age of the fleet is 9.1 years as of April 2008 (excluding Freighter aircraft).
[edit] Fleet orders and changes
[edit] Orders
The first Boeing 777-200LR aircraft was delivered by Boeing to Air India on 26 July 2007.[6] The 777-200LR will operate on non-stop routes to North America. These new aircraft will also allow Air India to open up new routes to Australia, Canada, Europe, East Asia, Africa and the United States (Air India plans to add flights to additional cities in the United States, which include San Francisco and Washington D.C.[7]).
Air India has also ordered 18 Boeing 737-800 for its low cost subsidiary Air India Express, of which 8 have been delivered.[8]
On July 28, 2007 Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel proposed a further fleet expansion of 60 aircraft.[9] Air India is working with both Airbus and Boeing, and since this order will be only for extra widebody aircraft, it may include the Boeing 747-8, additional Boeing 777, Boeing 787 or the Airbus A380-800, Airbus A350-1000, Airbus A340-600, Airbus A330-300. Air India will replace 7 of their Boeing 747-400 by 2010 and is evaluating the Boeing 747-8 or the Airbus A380 as the replacements. The remaining 3 Will operate Medium-Haul flights until 2015, when they will be retired.
[edit] Fleet changes
Meanwhile, Air India is refurbishing the interiors of its 6 owned Boeing 747-400's. This refurbishment includes in-flight entertainment systems in all classes. The first has already arrived and has been deployed.
Air India plans to use their Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to replace their older Boeing 747-300 aircraft and the leased Boeing 767-300's and operate on routes to their European and North American Destinations. Air India also plans to use the Boeing 787-8 to replace their aging Airbus widebody fleet on routes to the Middle East and Asia.
[edit] Livery
Air India's livery is mostly in red and white. The bottom of the aircraft remains unpainted metal but the upper portion is given a white background with the airline's name in red. The name is in Hindi on one side and in English on the other. The red palace surround to the windows refer to the slogan "your palace in the sky" which is written on the back of the aircraft. Planes are named after Indian kings or landmarks. The tail is mostly red with the carrier's name written in Hindi on one side and English on the other.
As of January 2007, Air India has refreshed its livery, making the Rajasthani arches along the windows slightly smaller, extending a stylized cheatline from the vertical tail of the aircraft to the nose, and painting a small portion of the underbelly red. Additionally, engine nacelles are now deep red, and a gold-colored version of the airline's stylized centaur trademark now adorns both the vertical tail and engine nacelles. This livery can be seen on Air India's first 777-237/LR aircraft, registered VT-ALA. [3][4]
On May 15, 2007, the Government of India had released[10] the new livery. The design seen here[5] is a cross between the Air India and Indian Airlines livery. The new livery has been showcased to the world on July 17, 2007 on its new Boeing 777-200 and, when Air India and Indian Airlines formally became one airline, and Indian Airlines came to be known as Air India. The old fleet of both airlines will also slowly be painted in the new livery.
On May 22, 2007, the Government and Air India and Indian Airlines unveiled their new livery. The logo of the new airline is a Flying Swan with the Konark Chakra placed inside it. The Flying Swan has been adapted from Air India’s characteristic logo, ‘The Centaur’ whereas the ‘Konark Chakra’ is reminiscent of Indian’s logo. The new logo will feature on the tail of the aircraft. The Konark Chakra will feature on all the engines of the aircraft. The choice of colours are red for “Flying Swan” and orange for “Konark Chakra"[6].
While the aircraft will be ivory in colour, the base will retain the red streak of Air India. Running parallel to each other will be the orange and red speed lines from front door to the rear door, subtly signifying the individual identities merged into one. The brand name ‘Air India’ will run across the tail of the aircraft. The design of the new Air India can be seen here. The B777-237 in the new merged airline livery can be seen here. Also a view of an Indian Airline's A321 which will now be running as Air India here.
[edit] Incidents and accidents
- Air India Flight 101 crashed on Mont Blanc, on the border between France and Italy, killing 117 on January 24,1966. Among the dead was the noted Indian scientist, Homi J. Bhabha.
- Air India Flight 855 Ashoka crashed into the Arabian Sea after takeoff from Sahar International Airport (now Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport) in Bombay (now Mumbai) on 1 January 1978, killing all on board (213 persons – 190 passengers, 23 crew).
- On 21 June 1982 a Boeing 707-437 Gouri Shankar coming in from Kuala Lumpur via Madras (now Chennai) crashed at Mumbai airport after a heavy landing during a rainstorm. The fuselage exploded after initiating a late go-around. 90 occupants were on the aircraft. 2 of 12 crew members and 15 of 99 passengers were killed in the crash.[11][12]
- At 07:13 on Sunday June 23, 1985 an explosion in the New Tokyo International Airport (now Narita International Airport) baggage terminal killed two baggage handlers, and injured four. The Sikh terrorists intended the bomb in that bag for Air India Flight 301 with 177 passengers and crew on board, bound for Bangkok, Thailand.
- Air India Flight 182 Kanishka was blown up in mid-air, mid-flight on 23 June 1985 by a suitcase-bomb as planted by Sikhs as a revenge for the Indian Government's attack on their sacred Golden Temple. The flight was on the first leg on its Montreal-London-Delhi-Bombay (Mumbai) flight when it exploded off the coast of Ireland. The plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. All 307 passengers and 22 crew on board died. [13] After this incident Air-India suspended all services to Canada, which resumed after 20 years in 2005. [14]
[edit] Subsidiaries
Air India has the following subsidiaries:
- Air India Cargo
- Air India Express which operates using IATA code IX
- Air India Regional (formerly known as Alliance Air) which operates using IATA codes CD and IC (CD is always Air India Regional, while IC may be either Air India Regional or Air India (mainstream))
[edit] Destinations
Air India has 130 destinations (two of them only covered by Air India Express): East Asia and Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Middle East, East Africa, Western Europe and the United Kingdom. The airline also flies to 5 destinations in the United States and serves one in Canada. It will be starting nonstop flights from Bangalore to San Francisco in August 2008.
[edit] Codeshare
Air India has codesharing agreements with the following airlines:
With Air India's own entry into Star Alliance (SA) next year, code share and all other agreements through these Oneworld* and Sky Team** partners will be terminated by December 2009 [7].
[edit] Cargo operations
Air India operates the following Cargo fleet:
[edit] Cargo fleet
| Type | Total | Capacity (Max.Weight) |
Routes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A310-300F | 2 | Short and Medium haul routes | 4 more being added | |
| Boeing 737-200C | 1 | Domestic routes only | ||
| Boeing 737-200SF | 3 | Domestic routes only | 2 further planned for addition | |
| Total | 6 |
In 1954, Air India Cargo started its freighter operations with a Douglas DC-3 Dakota aircraft, giving Air India the distinction of being the first Asian airline to operate freighters. The airline operates cargo flights to many destinations. The airline also has ground truck-transportation arrangements on select destinations.
A member of IATA, Air India carries all types of cargo including dangerous goods (hazardous materials) and live animals, provided such shipments are tendered according to IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations and IATA Live Animals Regulations.
At the warehouse in Mumbai, Air India has developed a system of inventory management for cargo handling of import/export functions. This takes care of the management of cargo, supports Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) messages with Indian Customs and replaces to a great extent paper correspondence between Customs, Airlines, and the custodians. This also replaces manual handling and binning of cargo at the warehouse in Mumbai by Air India.
Air India has also sent 6 of its Airbus A310-300 for a complete cargo conversion in Germany, this conversion is at a cost of $7 million each, first two converted freighter aircraft are now operating for AI Cargo with scheduled two weekly cargo flights from Paris and five weekly flights from Frankfurt, two services each to both cities are routed via Dammam, with a total of 14 destinations involved. Air India will also be converting both their Boeing 747-300 Combi to cargo configuration after the arrival of replacement aircraft.
The merger of Indian Airlines and its domestic subsidiary Alliance Air led to the acquisition of one Boeing 737-200C cargo aircraft from Alliance's fleet, five of their passenger Boeing 737-200s are also being converted, two of which are already in Miami for the purpose, while another has joined AI Cargo fleet after briefly operating for Indian Airlines[15].
In November 2007, Air India partnered with GATI, a leader and pioneer in express distribution and supply chain solutions for a dedicated freighter Service.
[edit] Financials
The profitability of Air India as published in the 2004 annual report by Ministry of Civil Aviation with figures in millions of Indian Rupees.
| Year | Revenues | Profit/(Loss) |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 41,741 | (1,810) |
| 2003 | 63,220 | 923 |
[edit] Awards and recognition
- The Airline entered the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest evacuation by a civil airliner, involving evacuation of over 111,000 people from Amman to Mumbai – a distance of 4,117 km, by operating 488 flights in association with Indian Airlines, during August 13 – October 11, 1990, lasting a total of 59 days. The operation was carried out during Persian Gulf War in 1990 to evacuate Indian expatriates from Kuwait and Iraq.
- The airline received The Mercury Award for the years 1994 and 2003, from the International Flight Catering Association, for finest in-flight catering services.
- The United Nations presented Air India the Montreal Protocol Public Awareness Award for environmental protection, especially in the ozone layer.[16]
- Air India won the preferred international airline award for travel and hospitality by Awaz Consumer Awards 2006 [17]
- Air India's security department became the first aviation security organization in the world to acquire ISO 9002-1994 certification (January 31, 2001).
- The Department of Engineering, Air India, has obtained the ISO 9002 for its Engineering facilities for meeting international standards.
- In an episode of The Simpsons, Air India was the airline Manjula flew when coming to Springfield from Mumbai.
- In The Simpsons episode Kiss Kiss Bang Bangalore, Homer flies Air India from Springfield to India when he learns that the nuclear power plant is being shut down and outsourced to India.
[edit] See also
- Indian Airlines
- Air India destinations
- Air-India Express
- List of commercial airlines in India
- Air India (football club)
[edit] References
- ^ Air India and Indian merger attains official status. Air India (2007-08-23). Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
- ^ All-women crew on AI
- ^ Air India Express, Alliance Air to merge
- ^ http://www.hindu.com/2007/12/16/stories/2007121656481300.htm Air India joins Star Alliance – The Hindu
- ^ http://www.dailyindia.com/show/199544.php/Air-India-to-join-Star-Alliance Air India to join Star Alliance
- ^ "Boeing, Air India Celebrate First 777-200LR Delivery", Boeing, 2007-07-26. Retrieved on 2007-07-27.
- ^ "Air India links the two silicon valleys of India and US. Now you can fly straight from San Francisco to Bangalore", India Daily, 2007-07-07. Retrieved on 2007-08-31.
- ^ "AI Express receives eighth Boeing 737-800", The Economic Times, 2007-07-19. Retrieved on 2007-07-30.
- ^ "Air India May Buy 60 More Planes to Tap Travel Demand", Bloomberg.com, 2007-07-28. Retrieved on 2007-07-30.
- ^ PIB Press Release
- ^ Accident Database: Accident Synopsis 06221982
- ^ Fatal Events Since 1970 for Air India
- ^ Indepth: Air India. CBC News. Retrieved on 2007-05-08.
- ^ "Package grounds Air-India flight", The Globe and Mail, 2006-09-20. Retrieved on 2007-05-08.
- ^ Aviation Photos: VT-EHH
- ^ UN Environment Award for Air India – India Airline News, Airport developments, Aviation, A380, B787, Kingfisher, Deccan, Jet Airways, Air India, Indian Airlines, Spicejet
- ^ The Hindu : Business / Briefly : Air India bags Awaz consumer awards 2006
[edit] External links
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