[Sebring]

I always thought the staff were as competent as the rest, the few dozen times I've flown Air India (Plz don't go by (probably biased) media reports). They just need a morale booster and a great trainer. Of all the PSU's this one will emerge stronger, I feel

Originally Posted by am1m

Also hope it has really gone to the Tatas. It will certainly benefit from being run as a private enterprise, but a National Carrier (capital N, capital C!) has to also be so much more! I think they will ensure that.

[V.Narayan]

Something is fishy for sure. Respected print dailies such as Mint, Eco Times etc and online business news channels like MoneyControl would not have printed on basis of a rumour. I know from industry sources very close to the process that indeed the decision had been taken and put out for the media. So why this last minute turnaround? Spicejet can't run a mid-sized domestic operation on time with all the political clout they enjoy! This sort of unprofessional behaviour is watched closely by potential bidders of other PSU privatization programmes and it does not encourage faith in transparency.

[shancz]

Originally Posted by Sebring

I always thought the staff were as competent as the rest

They just need a morale booster and a great trainer. Of all the PSU's this one will emerge stronger, I feel[

Agree, have flown on them quite often.
Sometimes the stuff(courtesy passengers) they had to go through and how they handled it was commendable.
Quite a few instances, will spare the details but I felt they deserve better behaviour from the passengers starting with the international routes.
Always felt they desperately needed better leadership and management which wasn't possible in their current setting.

Good Luck to Air India, its crews(maintenance, ground, cabin, flight), support staff and to whoever takes over next, we shall meet again, revamped.

[m8002?]

So much for transparency!!! Whats the point in inviting bids if the politicians can just override them at their will?
Do we know who the backer is for Ajay Singh? I read that he is interested in this in his personal capacity and not through SpiceJet.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by m8002?

So much for transparency!!! Whats the point in inviting bids if the politicians can just override them at their will?
Do we know who the backer is for Ajay Singh? I read that he is interested in this in his personal capacity and not through SpiceJet.

I'll put my $ on the Adani Group.

[m8002?]

Thanks Narayan Sir. My guess was also on one of the two A***is. I wanted to put that in the original question :-).

It falls in line with Adani since they already had taken over 7 airports as well.

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Air India did not deserve to be nationalized in the first place in 1953.....The argument of the Govt did however hold true for the myriad small domestic carriers that mushroomed between 1945 and 1953.....While the father of nationalization and PSUs, Nehru however, had the good sense to permit JRD stay on as Chairman. A saving grace. Then came Morarji Desai who in February 1978 summarily and most shabbily sacked JRD through an announcement on All India Radio! How much more petty could he have been. .....In his letter to Nehru in 1953 JRD had written that Indian civil aviation could not thrive or meet the national need under a PSU run by bureaucrats. He was right after all. God bless JRD.

Read in a book about the Tata family, not sure what the name of the book was. Not exact words, but from my memory, this was in JRD's section...

'Between 1947 and 1953, the aviation market was opened up for all, and everyone who was anyone was granted a license to run airlines. Something to do with leftover planes of the WWII(?). JRD literally begged Nehru to stop issuing license for new airlines as the aviation market in India at that time could barely sustain 2-3 airlines. But in that period, India had some 12-15(?) airlines. And as suspected, they all went bankrupt or something and the government used the situation to declare that private entities couldn't run airlines profitably. They nationalised the airlines and then had the audacity to invite JRD to become the chairman of Air India.'

Not sure of the exact words. This is from my memory

[shancz]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Something is fishy for sure. Respected print dailies such as Mint, Eco Times etc and online business news channels like MoneyControl would not have printed on basis of a rumour.

They were correct and Tatas have won the bid.
Edit : still not confirmed.

This popped up a few minutes ago and I got click-baited by India Today spinning off a new story from an older news piece
India Today : Tatas Win Air India Bid

Seems like they're still waiting announcement, false flag
MoneyControl : Air India - Tatas win Bid


Hopefully soon.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by DicKy

Read in a book about the Tata family, not sure what the name of the book was. Not exact words, but from my memory, this was in JRD's section...

'Between 1947 and 1953, the aviation market was opened up for all, and everyone who was anyone was granted a license to run airlines. Something to do with leftover planes of the WWII(?). JRD literally begged Nehru to stop issuing license for new airlines as the aviation market in India at that time could barely sustain 2-3 airlines. But in that period, India had some 12-15(?) airlines. And as suspected, they all went bankrupt or something and the government used the situation to declare that private entities couldn't run airlines profitably. They nationalised the airlines and then had the audacity to invite JRD to become the chairman of Air India.'

Not sure of the exact words. This is from my memory

Your recollection is correct. JRD did caution Nehru not to issue licenses to all and sundry but by this time Nehru was not given to listening to others. And all sorts of cattle shed operators sprouted buying ex-USAF war surplus Dakotas and running with little air safety or regulation.

[COMMUTER]

Privatization of luxuries that the common man is still dreaming about may sound like some proposition. But when the necessities like buses, hospitals, postal service, electricity are to be privatised it is a different picture. They, the private investors, will be keen on the profitable portion of these services only. The private player will wrap up unprofitable wings of operations which are the lifelines of a overwhelmingly major chunk of the populace. If regulated to forcibly run operations, then either the govt must pay to run them, which will make the situation doubly worse, or the private player will charge the loss to the profitable sources which will kick up costs. This means only Common man will keep suffering without minimum wages or basic amenities.

Ultimately, if corruption is not going to be rooted out and proper management by government is in place, things are going to be progressively difficult.

These organizations are ultimately going to use bank funding which is from the people. Selling public property to a greedy few and allowing them to use public money pay for them is not very different from the current corrupted scenario.

[DigitalOne]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Something is fishy for sure. Respected print dailies such as Mint, Eco Times etc and online business news channels like MoneyControl would not have printed on basis of a rumour. I know from industry sources very close to the process that indeed the decision had been taken and put out for the media. So why this last minute turnaround?

Originally Posted by m8002?

So much for transparency!!! Whats the point in inviting bids if the politicians can just override them at their will?

The final decision is of the Union Cabinet, not of any bureaucrat. This is normal government procedure. So the final decision will come in a week or two, when the cabinet ministers meeting is held.

---

IMHO, Tata's have taken a emotional decision to buy AI and are now saddled with the winner's curse. Their existing two airlines are struggling. Singapore Airlines, Tata's partner in Vistara, declined to partner with them for the AI bid. Indigo dropped out in 2018 itself. None of the other serious international players were interested in AI. I feel Tata's felt the emotional need to bring back the so-called 'family silver' that was once snatched from them.

Has Tata been compensated in a roundabout way for taking on the burden of AI :-) ? Hint: military aircraft

[r_nairtvm]

Originally Posted by DigitalOne

Has Tata been compensated in a roundabout way for taking on the burden of AI :-) ? Hint: military aircraft

There's substance and what you are saying, makes a lot of sense

Further Tata vehicles division has become almost the "sole supplier" of vehicle requirements of Indian Army - another way of compensating

Best Regards & Drive Safe

[Locomotive]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

While the father of nationalization and PSUs, Nehru however, had the good sense to permit JRD stay on as Chairman. A saving grace. This enabled Air India to pursue excellence in operations, cabin service and fleet quality. In 1961 Air India became the first airline in the world with an all-jet fleet {of Boeing 707s}. In 1971 it became the second Asian airline to operate the Boeing 747. In the 1970s when Singapore looked around for an airline to train its cabin crew it picked Air India. Same with Cathay Pacific. Then came Morarji Desai who in February 1978 summarily and most shabbily sacked JRD through an announcement on All India Radio! How much more petty could he have been....

.

And yet, we dont have a single airport named after JRD, not even one. What shame. And they want to name the Navi Mumbai Airport after some local politician..

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by Locomotive

And yet, we dont have a single airport named after JRD, not even one. What shame. And they want to name the Navi Mumbai Airport after some local politician..

Air India also ignored the recommendation of JRD's committee to purchase B767 instead of A310s. I think the airline would have been so much better off because those planes remained relevant to medium-long and thin routes for many airlines around the world until early 2000s. Air India could have continued to profitably run India-Europe, India-Asia-Pacific /Africa routes instead of having to use the giant B747 uneconomically and trying out various combos, including leasing L1011s, IL62s (!!)

[sparky@home]

Air India being taken over by Tata was good news, it was like coming home, and they will definitely make it a great airline again. But this news that its still not decided puts a spanner in the works, wheels within wheels, i would say.