From JRD Tata to Ratan Tata: Air India's flight comes full circle | PICS

From the first airmail service flight from Karachi to Bombay in October 1932 with JRD steering a Puss Moth aircraft to wresting control of Air India 89 years later, the conglomerate has had a roller coaster ride in the Indian civil aviation history.

Air-India International became one of the best airlines in the world with staff, maintenance and services provided by Tatas' domestic airline Air India.

Contrary to the time taken to privatise the current Air India, it is said that JRD was surprised when the group's proposal made in October 1947 to float Air-India International with the government holding 49 per cent, Tatas 25 per cent and the rest by public was accepted "within weeks", at a time when it took at least two years "not to make a decision".

In 1953 when the then government of Jawaharlal Nehru nationalised Air India, JRD fought vehemently against it. There was very little the group could do when the government decided to nationalise 11 airlines, all of which except Air India were making heavy losses and merge them into a single state corporation.

After the nationalisation of Air India, the group's link with civil aviation was through JRD who served as the state carrier's Chairman for 25 years. Yet, the group kept the fire of re-entering the aviation sector burning. In the 90s, when India's civil aviation sector was opened up to private players, the group's attempt to float a domestic airline in partnership with Singapore Airlines ended in disappointment with the government rejecting the proposal.

In 1994, the Tata group under Ratan Tata's stewardship, had set up a joint venture with Singapore Airlines to start a domestic airline in India but it didn't take off as the then regulations did not permit foreign carriers to hold stake in domestic airlines.