The 15th of October is a historic day for Air India and Tata group as its former chairman JRD Tata flew India’s first commercial flight from Karachi to Mumbai on this day in 1932. An ardent aviator, JRD Tata was the longest-serving chairman of the Tata group and is regarded as the father of civil aviation in India. He piloted the inaugural flight of the then Tata Air Services from Karachi to Bombay via Ahmedabad on 15th October 1932 in a single-engine de Havilland Puss Moth, paving the path for civil aviation in India. 

Remembering the historic day, Tata Sons’ Brand Custodian Harish Bhat on Saturday wished Air India a happy 90th birthday and shared how the former chairman described his maiden flight from Karachi. In a LinkedIn post, Bhat said: “Today is a historic day. Exactly 90 years ago, on this day (15th October 1932), India’s first commercial airmail flight took off from Karachi and landed in Mumbai. The inaugural flight was piloted by JRD Tata, and this was the start of Air India.”

The official then shared what JRD Tata, who launched civil aviation in the country, said after landing in Mumbai.  “On an exciting October dawn in 1932, a Puss Moth and I soared joyfully from Karachi with our first precious load of (air) mail, on an inaugural flight to Bombay. We hummed to our destination at a ‘dazzling’ 100 miles an hour. I breathed a silent prayer for the success of our venture and for the safety of those who would work for it,” the former chairman said as he touched down in Mumbai. 
 
“We shared successes and failures, the joys and heartaches, as together we built up the enterprise which was later to blossom into Air India and Air India International,” he further said as per Bhat. 

Founded in 1932 by JRD Tata, Air India was nationalised by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1953. However, after being under the government’s control for decades during which it accumulated debt of over Rs 50,000 crore, the airline was put on sale and was sold to Tata group in January this year after the group emerged as the highest bidder. 

After Tata won the bid for Air India, former Tata Sons chairman emeritus Ratan Tata in an emotional tweet said: “Welcome back, Air India.” “The Tata group welcomes Air India’s new customers and is excited to work together to make Air India the airline of choice in terms of passenger comfort and service,” he said.  
 

Source link

You May Also Like

Top 15 Most Affordable, Unique Airbnbs in the US: Report | Entrepreneur

Finding a unique Airbnb doesn’t have to mean emptying your wallet. According…

McDonald's opens first restaurant of nostalgic spinoff chain CosMc's

thad McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) has begun testing a new small store format called…

Etihad Adds Three New Destinations

Etihad Airways has added three new destinations to its network, the carrier…

‘We will have to sack every player,’ says Glenn Maxwell jokingly on the possibility of Suryakumar Yadav playing in BBL

India’s star performer Suryakumar Yadav, who has been in the spotlight for…