Air India is home. Now what?
Bringing the airline back to the Tata fold is just the beginning of a strenuous test that lies ahead of Tata Sons chairman N. Chandrasekaran.
Why read this story?
Editor's note: “Welcome back, Air India!” The joy in Ratan Tata’s words was unmistakable. After all, he was just a helpless teenager back in 1953, when the Jawaharlal Nehru government forcibly took away the ownership of the airline that was founded by his uncle, J.R.D. Tata. The emotive aspect apart, financially too, the Rs 18,000-crore deal to acquire the national flag carrier would have brought a smile to the face of the Tata group’s chairman emeritus. Talace Pvt. Ltd, the Tata Sons subsidiary under which the acquisition has been done, will pay Rs 2,700 crore in cash to take complete ownership of the national airline. That is small change compared to what it brings: control over an operation that has 141 aircraft, flights to over 200 destinations, over 7,000 airport slots and bilateral agreements with 43 countries. The Tata group will now have the largest market share of international traffic in and out of India, and the second most in domestic, just behind IndiGo. To put the equity number in perspective, if the Tata group’s treasury had managed to get a 10% …
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