Tata brings Air India home: Here's the carrier's 90-year journey

Air India returns to Tatas after group puts in winning bid of Rs 18,000 cr

* 1932 – J R D Tata pilots Karachi-Mumbai flight carrying mail, the first such mail service by an Indian company

* 1946 – Tata Airlines became a public company and renamed Air India.

* 1948 -  Air India operates Bombay-London flight using Lockheed Constellation aircraft

* 1952 – Planning Commission recommends merger and nationalization of private airlines

* 1953 – Nine private airlines merged into two – Air India and Indian Airlines. The government agreed to Tata’s demand to keep separate entities for domestic and international operations and appointed him chairman of Air India.

* 1960- Air India receives its first Boeing 707 aircraft enabling non-stop flights Mumbai and London. By 1962 it became the world's first all jet airline.

* 1971 – Air India receives its Boeing 747 aircraft

* 1978 – J R D Tata removed as Air India chairman

* 1985 – Indian Airlines becomes first airline in the world to operate flight by all women crew

* 1986-89 – Ratan Tata serves as Air India chairman

* 1990 – Air India and Indian Airlines evacuate 116,000 Indians following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. The airline operated 451 flights to Ammman.

* 1994 – Government repeals Air Corporation Act paving way for scheduled private airlines

* 2005 – Air India Express commences operations

* 2005 – Air India orders 68 Boeing aircraft. Launches non stop flights to New York two years later

* 2007 – Air India and Indian Airlines merged into a single airline

* 2012 – Govt approves turnaround plan which included equity infusion, loan guarantees and restructuring of debt. Over Rs 30,000 crore equity pumped in till 2019.

* 2013 – Air India’s engineering (AIESL) and ground handling subsidiaries (AIATSL) begin operations. These two companies are not part of the airline disinvestment. 

* 2014 – Air India joins Star Alliance, a grouping of global airlines to provide seamless connections to its customers

* 2018 – Air India operates flights to Israel via Saudi Arabia. This is first time ever Saudi Arabia opened airspace for commercial flights to Israel

* 2021 – Govt announces Tata Sons as the winning bidder for 100% stake in Air India for Rs 18,000 crore