Air India's flight plan: What it would take to get airline soaring again

Aviation experts reckon this could entail a bill of around $40 million for 100 aircraft

Nearly two decades after the Tata group made an aborted attempt to buy Air India with its partner Sin­ga­pore Airlines, the Maha­raja has made a grand re-entry into gro­up headquarters, Bombay Hou­se, after 68 years. Now the question is: With the contentious and long-winding disinvestment process over, can the Tatas turn around an airline that is making losses of Rs 30 crore-plus a day?

The Tatas are tight-lipped. The strategy is a work in prog­ress, they say. But aviation exp­erts, former Tata airlines executives, competitors and those closely involved in the disinvestment process offer a glimpse of what it would