The 15th of October is a historic day for Air India and Tata Group, as former chairman JRD Tata flew India's first commercial flight from Karachi to Mumbai on this day in 1932. An ardent aviator, JRD Tata was the longest-serving chairman of the Tata group and is considered the father of civil aviation in India. He piloted the inaugural flight of Tata Air Services from Karachi to Bombay via Ahmedabad on 15 October 1932 in a single-engine de Havilland Puss Moth, paving the path for civil aviation in India.
The former chairman told reporters on Saturday that Tata Sons' Brand Custodian Harish Bhat wished Air India a happy 90th birthday and shared how the former chairman described his maiden flight from Karachi. In a LinkedIn post, Bhat said: Today is a historic day. On October 15th, 1932 India's first commercial airmail flight took off from Karachi and landed in Mumbai. This was the beginning of Air India, as JRD Tata piloted the inaugural flight. The official said that JRD Tata, who launched civil aviation in the country, after landing in Mumbai. On an exciting October dawn in 1932, a Puss Moth and I soared joyfully from Karachi with our first precious air mail on an inaugural flight to Bombay. We hummed to our destination at a dazzling 100 miles an hour. The former chairman said as he touched down in Mumbai that he breathed a silent prayer for the success of our venture and the safety of those who would work for it.
He said we shared successes and failures, the joys and heartaches, as we built up the enterprise that was later to blossom into Air India and Air India International.
In 1932 by JRD Tata, Air India was nationalised in 1953 by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. After being under government control for decades during which it had debt of over Rs 50,000 crore, the airline was put on sale and sold to Tata group in January this year, after it emerged as the highest bidder.
After Tata won the bid for Air India, former Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata said in an emotional tweet: "Welcom back, Air India." The Tata group welcomes Air India's new customers and is excited to work together to make Air India the airline of choice in terms of passenger comfort and service.