J. R. D. Tata founded Tata Airlines in 1932 as a division of Tata Sons Ltd. (now
Tata Group).
After World War II in 1946, regular commercial service was restored in India and
Tata Airlines became a public limited company under the name of Air India.
Under the Air Corporations Act of 1953, the Government nationalized the air
transportation industry and Air India International Limited was born.
In 1960, Air India flew its first international flight to New York via London.
In 1962, Air India became the world's first all-jet airline and its name was officially
truncated to Air India.
In 2007, Air India and Indian Airlines merged into one airline, with its name
remaining Air India. Air India is now a part of Star Alliance and is supposed to be
joined by Alliance Air and Air India Express soon.
On 1 March 2009, Air India had made Frankfurt Airport at Frankfurt am Main as its
international hub for onward connections to United States from India; however, the
airline shut down the Frankfurt hub on 30 October 2010.
However on 14 July 2010, Air India chief, ArvindJadhav announced their intention
to make the new terminal 3 at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport the hub for
international and domestic operations with the plans of starting new direct flights to
Chicago (USA) and Toronto (Canada) and also taking almost all international long
haul flights away from its former Primary hub at Mumbai's ChhatrapatiShivaji
International Airport due to lack of space.
This would streamline passenger movements and reduce operating costs. The
airline also plans to open a new hub for its international flights at UAE's Dubai
International Airport
The national flag carrier of India with a worldwide network of passenger and cargo
services, Air India is the only state-owned airline in the country, having recently
merged with Indian Airlines.
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With its main base at ChhatrapatiShivaji International Airport, Mumbai and Indira
Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, Air India connects 146 international and
domestic destinations around the world, including 12 gateways in India with Air
India Express, a fully-owned subsidiary of Air India.
On 27 February 2011, Air India and Indian Airlines merged along with their
subsidiaries to form Air India Limited.
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INTRODUCTION TO AIR INDIA
Air India, the state-owned international carrier of the country, today has an
extensive worldwide network offering both passenger and cargo services to more
than 140 destinations across east and South Asia and the Middle East, East Africa,
South East Asia, Western Europe and the UK.
With Air India and Indian Airlines aligning their resources together, it has now
become a part of National Aviation Corporation of India Ltd along with two of their
subsidiaries, i.e. Alliance Air and Air India Express.
In addition to together servicing 52 cities within the country, both these airlines offer
direct connections to more than 35 international destinations all over the world.
As per Air India baggage policy, luggage more than 115 linear centimeters (55 + 40
+ 20) in size needs to be checked-in. Anything less than that, as per baggage rules,
can be treated as cabin luggage and taken inside the cabin.
However, the baggage weight should not exceed 8 kgs. The Air India check-in
baggage policy states that 25 kgs of luggage can be checked-in by Economy Class
passengers, 35 kgs by Executive Class Passengers and 40 Kgs by First Class
Passengers, free of charge.
Air India flies to and from many international destinations today. These
include Osaka and Tokyo in Japan, Lahore in Pakistan, Seoul in South
Korea, Male in Maldives, Dar-e-Salaam and Nairobi in Africa, Shanghai
and Hong Kong in China, Dhaka in Bangladesh, Kathmandu in Nepal,
Toronto in Canada and Colombo in Sri Lanka.
Other than these, many middle east destinations are serviced as well
such as Kuwait, Dammam, Riyadh, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Abu Dhabi and
Sharjah.
Air India's fleet has a total operational fleet of a whopping 149 passenger
planes, out of which 35 are Wide Body Planes and 114 are Narrow Body.
Other than these, there are 10 freight careers. While most of the planes
are used by Air India itself, a few of them have been leased out as well.
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Airlines Agencies
* Air India
* Jet Airways
* Kingfisher Airlines
* Air India Express
* Emirates Airlines
* Lufthansa Airlines
* Thai Airways
* Singapore Airlines
* American Airlines
* British Airways
* Sri Lankan Airlines
* Malaysia Airlines
* Etihad Airways
* Qatar Airways
* Air Arabia
* Alaska Airlines
* Delta Airlines
* Gulf Air
* Continental Airlines
* Air France
* Cathy Pacific Airlines
* KLM Airlines
* United Airlines
* Air Asia
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LOGO-LIVERY
The logo of the new airline is a red coloured flying swan with the `Konark Chakra' in
orange, placed inside it. The flying swan had been morphed from Air India's characteristic
logo, `The Centaur', whereas the `Konark Chakra' was reminiscent of Indian's logo.
The new logo would feature prominently on the tail of the aircraft. 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 painted on red palace style carvings on the outside of the windows refer to their slogan "your
palace in the sky" which is written on the back of the aircraft
The Maharajah began merely as a rich Indian potentate, symbolizing graciousness and
high living. And somewhere along the line his creators gave him a distinctive personality:
his outsized moustache, the striped turban and his aquiline nose.
The Maharajah began merely as a rich Indian potentate, symbolizing graciousness and
high living. And somewhere along the line his creators gave him a distinctive personality:
his outsized moustache, the striped turban and his aquiline nose.
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VARIOUS SCHEMES FOR TICKETS
Special Schemes:
Air-India keeps launching special schemes to attract tourists to India. Of these, two
successfulschemes are as follows:
i) Stopovers
Forthis scheme Air-India. Indian Airlines, and the participating hotels, offer
special concessionalfares, and all tariffs remain frozen for the duration of the
scheme which is April-September,These packages have proved to be
popular, and in 1992 generated some 10,000 additionaltourists.
Other schemes:
1) Air India American Express Gold Card
The discounts mentioned above are not available when you book
through Air India Call Centers, Air India's website or any other online
portal.
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Get a complimentary upgrade voucher to Business Class the moment
you become an Air India American Express Gold Cardmember. These
vouchers can be used on any of Air India destinations.
The Air India American Express Gold Card offers you amazing value
and benefits:
User Development Fee (UDF), Passenger Service Fee (PSF) and any
other govt taxes are applicable for all Domestic complimentary tickets.
Fuel Surcharge, User Development Fee (UDF), Passenger Service
Fee (PSF) and any other govt taxes are applicable for all international
complimentary tickets.
With no pre-set spending limit you can now charge virtually all your
expenses to the Card, without being constrained by a credit limit,
anywhere in the world. Your charges are approved based on your
financial particulars and spending and payment patterns. What's
more, you can pay conveniently in Indian Rupees.
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5) Accident Insurance up to 75 lakhs
You are automatically insured against loss of life in an air accident for
up to Rs. 75 Lakhs when you purchase your Air India ticket on the
Card (up to Rs. 40 Lakhs if the tickets are not purchased on the Card)
and Rs. 3 Lakhs for non air accidents. What's more, an insurance
cover of Rs. 4 Lakhs is available to your supplementary Cardmembers
as well.
Exclusive offer for all Air India Domestic Passengers, Buy or Redeem amazing deals.
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MTV Promotion
Air-India, In association with the Department of Tourism and the Taj Bengal,
Calcutta,sponsored a promotional programme through the popular MW channel
network. The programmefocussed on Calcutta. Calcutta being the gateway to
Eastern India, this promotion generated good publicity for this key metropolis and
enhanced its position on India's tourism map.
From mid-April till September 93 a major exhibition of Living Indian Crafts was
organised at Schallaburg Castle (Lower Aush).
This was the first time that an Indian presentation was made in Austria on such a
large scale.India is the first non-European theme to be so featured.
Theme Campaign
A theme campaign in colour "Fly With Your Very Own" won the awards of the
AdveqisingClub and also AdveRising & Marketing magazine. Besldes, the
advertisement given by AirIndia not only mention the qualities of the airline but talk
of India as a destination.
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AI Environment policy
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Oldest man flies AI to Delhi
A very special passenger, AdigalarAsiriyar, was among the group of Tamil scholars
and dignitaries who flew to Delhi on May 4, 2011 by flight AI 439.
AmbedkarJayanti celebrated
Employees of Air India proudly celebrated the birth anniversary of Dr B
R Ambedkar on April 14, 2011 by paying rich tributes and holding various functions
in his honour in different offices all over the country.
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Air India introduces mobile check-in
The mobile check-in facility is available to all domestic passengers from the six
major metro cities viz. Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bengaluru
from April 7, and will be subsequently extended to other stations
and international flights.
Health camp
Northern Region Medical Department had organised a Diabetes Awareness Week
from May 9 toMay 13, 2011, at Terminal I. The camp was held for two hours daily
to screen, educate and guide employees on the health problems triggered by
increase in blood glucose (sugar).
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International Womens Day International Womens Day
Celebrations started a day earlier in Western Region in Mumbai.A greenery
drive was organised at the New Engineering Complex Sahar, Mumbai, on March
7, 2011. Saplings were planted by women employees near the security
department. The team, led by GM Finance WR, MrsSarit Sharma, turned up
dressed in green, to spread a message about nurturing the environment
through greenery.
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Blood donation camp
As part of its third anniversary celebrations, Air India SATS (Singapore Airport
Transport Services) Limited organized a blood donation camp in association
with Lions Club of Bangalore Sanjay Nagar, on May 23. As many as 100
employee donated blood during the day, with a total of 134 units being donated to
the Lions Club.
The Lavasa Womens Drive is a popular event in Mumbai that seeks to spread
awareness about cancer. This year, the drive was held on February 27 and
Manager Personnel, Ms Mohana Kumar, took part in it representing Air India.
Having been selected out of 352 entries to take part in the rally,
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PUBLIC RELATIONS AND TOURISM GENERATING ACTIVITIES
Air-India undertakes a number of activities to attract individual tourists, special
interest groups,- c conventions and congresses, adventure lovers, etc. The whole
idea of these exercises is to:
i) Mainline Activities
ii) Ancillary Activities
i) Mainline Activities:
These include:
Sponsoring visits to India of travel agents and writers (FAM trips), thereby
increasing awareness of the country's various attractions for the foreign
tourists.
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Achievements
Tourism has a direct bearing on air transport. 90% of the tourists arriving into
India come byair. However, India's share in the world tourist traffic is less
than 1%. Further India's shareof total world international air passengers
traffic has been quite low at 3%.
Out of total trafficof 4218 thousand passengers (1984) travelling to and fro
between India and various foreigncountries, Air India carried 1473 thousand
(35%).
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INTERNAL CONTROL SYSTEMS
The Company continues to ensure proper and adequate internal control systems and
procedures commensurate with its size and nature of business. These control systems
ensure that all assets are safeguarded and protected against loss from unauthorized
use and that transactions are authorized, recorded and reported correctly.
The internal control system enables documented policies, guidelines, and authorization
and approval procedures.
The Company has an extensive system of internal controls which ensures optimal
utilization and protection of resources, IT security, accurate reporting of financial
transactions and compliance with applicable laws and regulations as also internal
policies and procedures.
The Company has a well defined manual on delegation of authority and administrative
powers, based on which, the authorities exercise their powers. This manual is reviewed
periodically to cope with the changes necessitated by the needs of the organization.
The said manual, along with the Companys key functional process manuals, further
strengthens the internal control system of the organization.
The Company has independent internal audit systems to monitor the entire operations
and services spanning over all locations, business and functions on a regular basis. The
Company has also employed outside consultants in its various areas of functioning in
order to reduce/monitor its cost platform.
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FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Balance sheet(Rs crore)
Mar ' 09 Mar ' 08 Mar ' 07 Mar ' 06 Mar ' 05
Sources of funds
Owner's fund
Loan funds
Uses of funds
Fixed assets
Current assets, loans & advances 8,746.02 7,478.95 4,386.48 3,164.77 2,116.88
Less : current liabilities & provisions 5,255.55 5,209.61 2,019.38 2,670.86 3,090.82
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Capital structure
Equity
2005 2006 Share 425.64 153.84 153836427 10 153.84
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FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE:
The financial performance of the Company during the year 2010-11 was as under :
(Rupees in Million)
Particulars 2010-11 2009-10
Profit / (Loss) Before Depreciation (51735.7) (41621.4)*
& Tax: Depreciation
Less 16901.0 13887.6*
Profit / (Loss) Before Tax (68636.7) (55509.0)*
Less : Provision for Tax 15.0 15.4*
Add : Deferred Tax Benefit - - -
Net Profit / (Loss) (68651.7) (55524.4)
(Rupees in Million)
Total Loan due as on 1 April 2010 1,98,801
22,939
Add : Amount drawn during April 2010 to March 2011
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Annual Plan Outlay 2010-11
The Government had approved an Annual Plan Outlay of Rs.56,348.0 million
(including Rs.12,000.0 million for equity infusion) for the year 2010-11. Against this
outlay, the actual expenditure for the year was Rs.34,189.6 million (including
Rs.12,000.0 million for equity infusion) as detailed below :
Aircraft Financing
During the year 2010-11, Air India availed a Bridge loan amounting to US$473 million for
financing 3 B777-300ER aircraft and 1 GE spare engine. Subsequently, this Bridge loan
was re-financed through US Exim financing in August 2011 at a highly competitive
interest rate structure resulting in savings of Rs.800 million p.a. by way of interest.
Similarly, the loan for acquisition of Airbus aircraft amounting to Rs.55000 million given by
a Consortium of Banks led by IDBI was refinanced in September 2011 with the ICICI
Bond issue maturing in 15-20 years at a lower rate of interest which resulted in a saving
of approximately Rs.1800 million p.a.
For the B787-8 financing, the airline is exploring a number of options including Sale and
Lease Back. The US Exim Bank hasalready issued a Commitment Letter to support
delivery financing for the first 12 B787-8 aircraft to be inducted into the fleet.As of date,
bids for the first 7 B787-8 aircraft for Sale and Lease Back have already been floated and
the response is awaited.
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FINANCIAL CRSIS AND RESTUCTURING
In July 2009, SBI Capital Markets was appointed to prepare a road map for
the recovery of the airline. The carrier sold three Airbus A300 and one
Boeing 747300M in March 2009 for $18.75 million to survive the financial
crunch.
For 3 months (JuneAugust 2011), the carrier missed salary payments and
interest payments and Moodys Investor Service warned that missing
payments by Air India to creditors, such as the State Bank of India, will
negatively impact the credit ratings of those banks.
Due to high fuel and loan costs, Indian government pumped 32 billion into
Air India since April 2009 and in March 2012 government bailed out Air
India Ltd. with a 67.5 billion ($1.4 billion) which the amount almost double
of the federal government has spent on new hospitals over the three years.
As of May 2012 the carrier invited offers from banks to raise up $ 800
million via external commercial borrowing and bridge financing.
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RETURN TO PROFITABILITY PLANS
Year Traffic
1957 395
1960 521
1965 1074
1969 1524
1971 1781
1975 3528
1980 6597
1985 7668
1989 9082
2000 12006
FINANCIAL REORGANIZATION
The new Chairman and Managing director wants to change the order of
some of the 111 planes ordered in 2006 to get narrow-body aircraft instead
of the wide-body aircraft.
On 4 May 2012, the airline was fined $80,000 by the U.S Transportation
Department for failing to post customer service and tarmac delay
contingency plans on its website and adequately inform passengers about
its optional fees.
On 15 May, the Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh stated that the
Government was giving Air India one last chance and that it must perform
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in order to qualify for a bailout. The financial restructuring plans were hit
hard when Air India pilots decided to go on a strike on 8 May 2012 in order
to protest management decisions to train Air India and former Indian
Airlines pilots for the newly inducted Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleets.
In spite of the Delhi High Court ruling the strike illegal, the strike continued
for 58 days. The already reeling airline lost an additional 600 crore because
of the pilot strike.
State ownership
Star Alliance
When the final deadline for joining came in July 2011, Air India's
application was suspended, and was told it failed to meet the
minimum criteria to join. In response, many of Air India's officials
complained to Star Alliance about the suspension of its application,
claiming that they already met all of the requirements. [But in
October of that same year, talks between Air India and Star
Alliance have resumed.
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REALISTIC REVIVAL PLAN
Induction of brand new fleet on several domestic & international routes thereby
increasing passenger appeal. Introduction of non-stop services to USA &
Canada.
Removal of overtime and certain staff perks and relocation of officers from
abroad to India. Closure of some foreign stations including offline offices.
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BUDGET ALLOCATION TO AIRLINE INDUSTRY
Government of India has taken several steps to tide over the crisis," the statement said
mentioning that the government in the federal budget 2011-12 had allocated Rs 2,000 crore
for the airline and that another Rs 1,200 crore was expected to be infusedthis year".
Currently the airline, which is laden with a cumulative debt of Rs 40,000 crore it incurred
over aircraft acquisition and as short-term loans to maintain its operations, expects a fresh
equity infusion of Rs 1,200 crore in July. The cash-strapped carrier is also seeking a total
infusion of Rs 17,000 crore, which includes Rs 5,000 crore for this fiscal year alone, the
report pointed out.
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AI LINKS MORE CITIES
On April 18, Minister for Civil Aviation, MrVayalarRavi, and Minister of State
for Commerce and Industry,MrJyotiradityaScindia, flagged off the inaugural
flight from Gwalior to MumbaIat the RajmataVijayaRajeScindia Civil
Terminal in the presenceof CMD ArvindJadhav,MRO-SBU Head
VipinSharma, ExecutiveDirector (North)Vijay Paul and otherdignitaries.
With this flight, AirIndia has linked Gwaliorand Mumbai, therebyconnecting the
city withthe national capital aswell as the financialcapital of the country,
facilitatingthe movementof business and leisuretravellers.
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Air India continuedwith its expansion ofnetwork with Kanpurgetting linked to
Kolkata. The inauguralflight of Alliance Air at Chakeri Airport in Kanpurfor
Kolkata on May 24, 2011.
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