With the submission of financial bids, the stage is finally set for the privatisation of Air India, the debt-laden Indian national carrier. It was a daunting task to find a possible buyer for Air India after coronavirus shattered the aviation and travel industry in early 2020 but the submission of bids by Tata Sons and consortium led by SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh yesterday has raised the hopes of one of the big disinvestment targets being met before the end of this year. The airline was started by JRD Tata way back in 1932 as Tata Airlines.
Ratan Tata and the love for aviation
Ratan Tata’s love for aviation is widely known. A trained pilot, he always wanted to come back to skies with an airline and tried to bid for Air India earlier as well but Jet Airways owner Naresh Goyal allegedly didn’t let it happen. Thereafter every now and then Ratan Tata’s name cropped up for being in pilot’s seat for aviation JVs. Even when Jet Airways was shutting down, news came that Ratan Tata was testing waters there as well. Ratan Tata’s flirting with aviation ventures turned into serious affair when it entered a JV with Malaysia’s AirAsia in 2014 for a low-cost carrier. And soon after when it announced another partnership with Singapore Airlines for a full-service carrier Vistara, the partnership with other erstwhile partner AirAsia turned sour. However, it is still not clear how Singapore Airlines and Air Asia will react once the Air India is acquired and how much risk can Tata Group take with 3 airlines under its fold.