Page 2 - Air India Privatisation

Air India, Airbus in talks to set up Rs 3,500 crore pilot training facility

The facility is expected to be formed under a joint venture between the two companies where each will have a 50% stake

Air India borrows $120 million from Japan's SMBC to buy Airbus plane

Japanese lender SMBC on Wednesday said the Tata Group-owned Air India has borrowed USD 120 million from it for purchasing a wide-body aircraft from Airbus. The transaction has partly financed Air India's purchase of an A350-900 aircraft from Airbus, which was delivered in October 2023, according to an official statement. SMBC said this is a secured debt facility through its Singapore branch, while Air India's GIFT City-headquartered arm AI Fleet Services is the borrower. The purchase is part of the mega announcement by the Tatas to buy a total of 470 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus, and AI has also contributed equity. According to some reports, an Airbus A350-900 aircraft is priced above USD 300 million. "SMBC Group is pleased to expand upon its long-established relationship with Tata Group through this deal," the lender's country head for India Hiroyuki Mesaki said. He added that this is the the bank's first-of-its-kind transaction for aircraft finance lease. Nipun Aggarwal, Ai

Air India moves its computational workload to cloud; shuts two data centres

Air India has shut down its two data centres and has moved its computational workload to the cloud, a move that will help the loss-making airline save nearly USD 1 million annually. In a release on Tuesday, the Tata Group-owned airline said it has successfully migrated to a cloud-only IT infrastructure, having closed its historic data centres located in Mumbai and New Delhi. "The closure of the data centres will further result in net savings of nearly a million dollars every year," it said. The entire process of migration to the cloud was managed by Air India's people in Silicon Valley in the US, Gurugram and Kochi in India. The computational workloads were migrated to the cloud from several mainframes, hundreds of servers, a large amount of data, and hundreds of pieces of equipment. According to the release, the now-closed data centres were once used to drive innovations and automations across multiple spheres of the airline's commercial and financial functions. "We have adopted

Air India announces senior level appointments; Klaus Goersch new COO

Air India on Friday announced the appointment of Klaus Goersch as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer, as well as various other senior level appointments. In the newly-created position at the airline, Goersch will oversee flight operations, engineering, ground operations, Integrated Operations Control and cabin crew functions. Air India said incumbent chief of operations R S Sandhu will transition to an advisory role. In a release, Air India said Goersch's role includes focus on the harmonisation of the four Tata airlines' operating procedures, the Airbus A350 entry-into-service programme and assisting the team establishing the carrier's new training academy. A licensed B777/787 pilot, he had served in similar positions in both British Airways and Air Canada. Air India has also announced the appointment of Manish Uppal, who transitioned from AirAsia India a few months ago, as Senior Vice President for flight operations. Besides, Henry Donohoe's corporate saf

Air India to invest $200 million towards training its pilots, cabin crew

The airline will partner with plane manufacturers Airbus and Boeing to train its staff

Air India processes refunds worth over Rs 150 crore after privatisation

Handles 250,000 refund cases in just the first few months since Tatas took over, says eligible request lodged on website will typically be processed within 2-3 days

Govt begins sale of erstwhile national carrier Air India's 2 subsidiaries

The government has initiated the process of privatising 2 subsidiaries AIASL and AIESL of erstwhile national carrier Air India, an official said. The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) has initiated investor meetings and roadshows to gauge interest in AIASL and AIESL. We will soon invite EoIs from interested bidders, the official said. A debt-laden Air India was sold to Tata Group in October last year for Rs 18,000 crore. The actual handover to Tatas happened on January 27, 2022. However, four Air India subsidiaries -- Air India Airport Services Ltd (AIASL), Air India Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL), Alliance Air Aviation Ltd (AAAL), and Hotel Corporation of India Ltd (HCI) -- and other non-core assets, painting and artefacts, besides, non-operational assets were not part of the deal. These subsidiaries and non-core assets valued at about Rs 15,000 crore have been transferred to an SPV Air India Assets Holding Ltd (AIAHL). The government had then sai

Air India Group starts vacating its offices from govt-owned properties

The Air India Group has started vacating its offices, which are currently being operated from government-owned properties, from this month, as part of its strategy to consolidate workspaces across the country. The loss-making Air India and its international budget arm Air India Express were taken over by The Tata Group on January 27 this year, after successfully winning the bid for the airline on October 8, last year. Besides these two airlines, Tata Group also holds a majority 51 per cent stake in Vistara, its joint venture airline with Singapore Airlines (SIA), and a 83.67 per cent stake in budget carrier, AirAsia India. Air India, Air India Express and AirAsia India will be housed jointly in a modern office campus in the National Capital Region by March next year, in line with this consolidation strategy, which is being undertaken to improve collaboration and more easily deploy new technology, among others, according to a statement. Air India has its largest base of staff locate

Security clearance to Air India CEO designate Wilson after background check

The Union Home Ministry is examining the application to give security clearance to Air India Chief Executive Officer designate Campbell Wilson and the nod will be given after background check

Air India writes to AIASL over continued deterioration of ground services

An Air India's top official wrote a letter to Air India Assets Holding Limited over the continued deterioration of ground handling services by Air India Airport Services Limited (AIASL)

Tata group's Air India takeover worries Singapore's antitrust body

Says move could limit competition on India-Singapore routes

Aviation Ministry's role doesn't end with Air India: Jyotiraditya Scindia

In a Q&A, the aviation minister says he believes govt shouldn't be in the business of running airlines and must develop the ecosystem of civil aviation instead

Win-win deal: Why Air India privatisation has drawn little to no criticism

That such a deal can be greeted with celebration in the camps of both buyer and seller speaks volumes about the airline and its recent history, writes T N Ninan

Top headlines: Air India returns to Tatas; PMC Bank resolution moves ahead

Government seeks India-specific standards for 5G spectrum in telecom. More on that story in our top headlines.

Top headlines: Tata group to take over Air India, Fed flags rate hike

The government is likely to put several non-strategic public sector undertakings on the block next year. More on that in top headlines.

Air India pilots warn legal action on dues two days before Tata handover

The development comes two days before the handover of the airline to Tata group

Privatisation: Changing tracks aided Air India, derailed BPCL sale

Changing tracks helps. But, not taking the beaten path isn't always helpful. This is the story of two of India's biggest privatisations - Air India and Bharat Petroleum (BPCL). Nearly two decades after the last privatisation, a landmark divestment concluded this year when the loss-making national carrier Air India was sold to the Tatas. This was made possible only after the government changed the track from selling 76 per cent of its stake in the national carrier to putting on block its entire 100 per cent holding as well as giving bidders an option of deciding how much debt they were willing to take over. But in the case of BPCL, the government ignored suggestions of following its time-tested policy of putting on block 26 per cent stake along with management control, just like it had done in the case of Hindustan Zinc and Balco. Instead, it offered its entire 52.98 per cent in the company operating in a sunset sector. The result - just three bids came in, and two of them struggled

Govt departments, autonomous bodies owe over Rs 244 cr to Air India

Government departments and autonomous bodies have dues of more than Rs 244 crore to Air India, of which a little over Rs 30 crore has been recovered, the government said in Parliament on Monday. "Government departments/autonomous bodies owe Air India Rs 244.78 crore as on September 30, 2021. Out of this, Rs 30.38 crore has been recovered as on November 30, 2021," Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. He was responding to a set of questions raised by several MPs regarding sale of Air India to Tata group. Karad said there was a huge accumulated debt on Air India, following which the government took an enterprise value (EV) bidding approach for strategic divestment of Air India and its identified subsidiaries and joint ventures. "The strategic disinvestment transaction has been carried out for the entire company as a going concern. Assets other than non-core assets and liabilities other than those excluded from the transaction will remai

'Govt making all efforts to complete AI disinvestment process by Dec-end'

The government is making all efforts to complete the disinvestment process of national carrier Air India by the end of December, according to a senior official. Tata group firm Talace Pvt Ltd has emerged as the winning bidder for loss-making Air India. On October 25, the government signed the share purchase agreement with Tata Sons for the sale of the airline for Rs 18,000 crore. The amount includes payment of Rs 2,700 crore in cash and take over Rs 15,300 crore of the carrier's debt. Along with Air India, Tatas will acquire low-cost carrier Air India Express and Air India's 50 per cent stake in equal joint venture AISATS. On Wednesday, Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Bansal said all efforts are being made to complete the disinvestment process of Air India by the end of December. Bansal is also the Chairman and Managing Director of the national carrier. Air India has been incurring a monthly loss of more than Rs 600 crore, he noted. The airline has 43 wide-body planes, including 2

Pilots seek settlement of outstanding dues pre-handover of Air India

The Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) has written to the Chairman and Managing Director of Air India for settling all outstanding dues with employees pre hand-over.