Air India's cup of woes brims over

The crash and the recent problems that passengers face due to technical glitches have led to an important question: What went wrong with Air India? To answer the question, let’s look at the history of the airline.

JRD Tata laid the foundation of Air India in 1932 as Tata Airlines. Renamed Air India Limited in 1946, it soon launched international services, becoming a prominent player in the aviation sector. However, in 1953, the Indian government nationalised the airline, consolidating it with other domestic carriers to form Indian Airlines and Air India International, with JRD Tata remaining at the helm until 1977.

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After spending decades under state ownership, Air India found itself in a turbulent period, accumulating significant debt. Public dissatisfaction with the airline's services grew, leading to increasing scrutiny of its operations. Much like for some other government-owned organisations in India, public discontent mounted, culminating in widespread demands for Air India's privatisation.

The airline was eventually sold back to the Tata Group in 2022. Under the Tata Group, and the leadership of Campbell Wilson, who has formerly worked with Singapore Airlines (SIA) for 25 years, Air India embarked on a transformative journey, including record-breaking aircraft orders, substantial fleet modernisation and strategic mergers. In November 2024, the merger of Air India and Vistara (a joint venture between Tata Sons and SIA) was completed, creating a larger full-service carrier. SIA acquired a 25.1 percent stake in Air India.

What Went Wrong?

After the Tatas took charge of Air India, there was a ray of hope—among flyers and the Indian aviation sector. This was because, as Mark Martin, founder and CEO of aviation consulting firm Martin Consulting LLC, puts it, “Tata knows how to turn around businesses.” He adds: “We all thought the Tatas would give us something good. And that clearly never happened.”

Even prior to the crash, since the Tata Group acquired Air India, the airline has continued to face complaints, particularly concerning staff behaviour, flight delays and baggage handling. The Tata Group started internal reforms, including crew sensitisation programmes, to enhance service quality. However, recent incidents faced by passengers who posted their grievances against the airline on X, indicate these efforts haven't completely resolved anything.

And now the airline faces backlash for the June 12 crash—one of the biggest air disasters in India. It is also the first time that a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner has been involved in a fatal crash.

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Why couldn’t the Tatas turn around Air India? According to Martin, the Tatas were traditionally passionate about aviation. Today, there's nobody passionate about aviation in the group. “Basically, Air India today is in the hands of a Tata without the Tatas. You have Chandrasekaran as the chairperson of Air India, but he is not an aviation guy. He's a tech guy. What would he know about running an airline?”

Martin explains that in the operation of a government airline, there are no restrictions and budgets. But when you're in a private organisation, it becomes difficult to run an expense. “India is typical of ‘Lala-nomics’. In any organisation, if things need to be approved, the approval has to come from a bunch of people, bosses etc who either refuse or delay it. This happens repeatedly in airlines. This is precisely what happened with Air India.”

Martin is of the view that many pilots and crew members working with the airline had noticed that the Tata Group and SIA didn't want to spend on maintenance. At the time of the change in ownership, Air India already had its set of problems. “The organisation was breaking from the inside. Its maintenance was bad. Its operating systems were bad, its structures were bad, its technical capability was bad,” he says. Martin believes that after going private, instead of fixing the real problem—the interiors, the structure, the fundamental organisation, maintenance, the engineering, the old systems—what Tata and SIA ended up doing was nothing but a “jugaad”. “It’s like they got a building which is crumbling down from inside and outside, and instead of fixing the real building, all they did was put a new coat of paint on the building exterior. They didn’t repair the airline from inside. That's exactly what went wrong with Air India.”

From public to private + SIA

After the crash, the Tata Group released a public statement expressing anguish at the tragic event involving Air India flight 171 and said they will provide Rs1 crore to the families of each person who lost their life in the incident.

It’s bizarre that SIA, which partly owns the airline, has been silent since the crash. Former Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel posted on his X account on Wednesday questioning their silence. “In all the sorrow and din surrounding the Air India crash, there remains a surprising silence—or perhaps ignorance—about the role of a substantial shareholder, and the entity responsible for maintaining a large number, if not all, of Air India’s wide-body aircraft. Guess the name: Singapore Airlines. They seem to be in hiding. Let’s not forget—they have a say in management and a codeshare agreement with Air India. Importantly, Campbell Wilson, the CEO of Air India, is a nominee of Singapore Airlines,” he wrote.

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Aggrieved by the crash and SIA’s silence, Martin feels Tata and SIA do not have the right to use ‘India’ in the name of their airline. “How can a Singapore airline company own the word ‘India’? As an Indian, I believe Air India is close to our hearts, and if the Tatas and Singapore Airlines want to run it, they should call it Tata SIA. Why are they destroying the name of India?”