Air India was for many years under state ownership, a byword for underinvestment, crippling losses, and inefficiency.
Now back in the hands of its original private owners, it announced combined purchases of 470 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing on Tuesday, which together form one of the largest orders in aviation history.
And it has haemorrhaged money in recent years, with successive Indian governments spending nearly $15 billion to prop it up from 2009 until Tata bought it back in a $2.4 billion deal a year ago. Tuesday's announcements amounted to"not just the largest order ever made by an Indian airline, it is one of the largest single aircraft orders by any airline, anywhere, ever", CEO Campbell Wilson said in a message to staff, calling it a"major milestone... in the journey of restoring this airline to greatness".
India is the world's fastest-growing major economy and its fifth-largest, and while inequality is rife with vast numbers of people remaining grindingly poor, it also has a growing middle class with an increasing appetite for air travel. "Tata, with its experience of running large organisations, has what it takes to take a local brand global," he added.Founded in 1868 by Jamsetji Tata, the eponymous group owns Jaguar Land Rover, software giant TCS, and Tata steel. Its subsidiaries include 29 listed entities with diverse interests in chemicals, hospitality, steel, automobiles and consumer goods.
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