Air India Takeover: Know What Tata Is Introducing After Taking Maharaja Back In Its Fold

Tata Group will introduce "enhanced meal service" in four flights that will operate including AI864 (Mumbai-Delhi), AI687 (Mumbai-Delhi), AI945 (Mumbai-Abu Dhabi) and AI639 (Mumbai-Bengaluru)

(File Photo/ Getty Images)

New Delhi: Air India is set to return to the fold of Tata Group after almost 69 years on Thursday as the legal formalities for the transfer of ownership are complete, except for a mandatory no objection from Ireland-based lessors expected soon.

 “A final set of documents is awaited from Ireland. If that comes in time as is expected, then AI will be handed over on Thursday,” sources close to the development told publication Times of India (TOI).

However, Tata Group has taken its first step in its takeover of beleaguered airline by introducing "enhanced meal service" in four flights that will operate from Mumbai on Thursday, according to the officials mentioned in the PTI report.

It is to be noted that Air India flights will not be flying under the banner of the Tata Group from Thursday itself, sources clarified. But officials said the government is likely to hand over Air India to the Tata Group on Thursday.

What are the changes introduced by Tata?

The "enhanced meal service" will be provided on four flights -- AI864 (Mumbai-Delhi), AI687 (Mumbai-Delhi), AI945 (Mumbai-Abu Dhabi) and AI639 (Mumbai-Bengaluru) from Thursday.

Last year, the government sold Air India to Talace Private Limited -- a subsidiary of the Tata Group's holding company -- for Rs 18,000 crore.

The airline was given to the Tata Group after a competitive bidding process. The officials told the news agency that the new date from which all Air India flights will fly under "Tata Group's banner or aegis" will be told to the employees later.

The "enhanced meal service" will be served on Mumbai-Newark flight and five Mumbai-Delhi flights on Friday, they noted. The service devised by the Tata Group officials will be later extended to more flights in a staggered and phased manner, the officials added.

Meanwhile, two airline pilot unions Indian Pilots' Guild (IPG) and Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA) had warned Air India's CMD Vikram Dev Dutt of legal action as "multiple deductions and recoveries have been projected" on the dues owed to pilots.

"This recovery exercise is entirely illegal, and we demand that this anomaly is rectified and the amount due is repaid with immediate effect," a letter sent by the two unions said, according to the agency.

Additionally, two other unions have opposed the airline's recent order on checking grooming and measuring the body mass index (BMI) of cabin crew members at the airports just before their flights.

In their letter the unions, Air India Employees' Union (AIEU) and All India Cabin Crew Association (AICCA), opposed the order on the grounds that it is dehumanising and in violation of rules prescribed by aviation regulator the DGCA.