CORPORATE COMEBACK

Aman Nath: Justice delivered! It’s not a takeover but a stolen item auctioned and re-bought by the creator. In India we had just got conditioned to accepting the political and administrative injustices thrust upon us as if the British were still the rulers and we had to take their whims and fancies as law inscribed on stone.

CC: You have done exhaustive research on the Tatas and put it all comprehensively in a book. This includes a chapter on Air India. Could you tell us about Air India, when it was previously with the Tatas?

They created a global brand in a field that involved the high technology of the 1930-1940s. This was cross-current in history. A long-enslaved country cut into the skies of all the European countries which had colonies in India, the Danes, Portuguese, Dutch, French, British. Tata Airlines made us buoyant citizens.

Ever since I grew up, Air India has been the carrier for politicians as its first priority and no answerability to its citizens. When I first went abroad in 1972, I flew Alitalia and Lufthansa. Later, I flew Air France-Air India was obviously not the first choice of my family. But, when I did fly Air India to New York, I found it a very homely and rather human airline-or was I just lucky? I was doing a two-day trip to lecture at Saatchi & Saatchi-they sent me a Business or First Class ticket. I told them that I was slim and had a tiny frame so they could offer me an economy seat and the difference could be given to a charity. But when I was just about settled in the first row of the economy cabin, a bursar came up to me and said, “Are you not Aman Nath? I read about you in our magazine. Just give me a minute”, and he ran towards the cockpit. On his quick return he said, “We’d like to upgrade you.” I explained my story of how I had comfortably de-classified myself and was happily settled and at perfect ease. So, he ran the length of the aisle again and returned with a bottle of Champagne. I was deeply moved and sorry that we always generalized about the public sector.

But on another international flight, Air India didn’t have enough plastic trays for all the passengers, so they were serving and re-using them, apologizing for the delay. I took it in the same spirit. It wasn’t their fault. It was a dispassioned bureaucracy busy serving themselves, making plans about plush postings and retirement consultancies, also demeaning themselves as our system demanded, by being obsequious to politicians. It was not just Air India we had grounded but the whole nation.

"They created a global brand in a field that involved the high technology of the 1930-1940s. This was cross-current in history. A long-enslaved country cut into the skies of all the European countries which had colonies in India, the Danes, Portuguese, Dutch, French, British. Tata Airlines made us buoyant citizens"

CC: You have scripted several anecdotes/episodes of Air India through the eyes of various people. Could you narrate some of them to us?

1953 - Nationalised. Created two airlines for domestic and international travel.

1955 - JRD Tata was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian award in recognition for his services to Indian industry in general and aviation in particular. It seemed more a lollipop bribe for stealing what was rightly not the government’s. Poor JRD first heard about his removal from the chairmanship in the news. 1955 was also the year that Naval Tata (the father of Ratan Tata) married Simone Therése Dunoyer as his second wife. They’d met the previous year in Geneva at a reception for Indira Gandhi. Simone created Lakmé.

1958 - Air India culture had deteriorated. All promotions involving more than Rs. 1500 salary needed a board approval. Or they began inviting men to the Air India board without consulting the Chairman. JRD was disillusioned.

1962 - JRD Tata re-enacted his Karachi–Bombay flight in 1962. Though much had changed in three decades, he flew the Leopard Moth because he felt that the younger lot had never seen that plane. He said he did this “to illustrate the truth and the fact that from absurdly small beginnings, worthwhile things can be built and built fairly quickly.” To honour the plane, he said at the Juhu aerodrome reception: “The flight was performed with the poise and decorum expected from an old lady of the age of this Leopard Moth and her elderly pilot.”

Despite differences and altercations with the government, the Tatas offered Rs. 3 million for national defence in 1962.

"It’s not a takeover but a stolen item auctioned and re-bought by the creator! In India we had just got conditioned to accepting the political and administrative injustices thrust upon us as if the British were still the rulers and we had to take their whims and fancies as law inscribed on stone"

CC: As a chronicler of contemporary history, what does this takeover mean to you?

It means the end of retrogressive thinking. I quote what Nehru infamously said to JRD Tata in my book and it sounds even more jarring today - “Nehru once told me, ‘I hate the mention of the very word profit.’ I replied, ‘Jawaharlal, I am talking about the need of the public sector making a profit.’ Jawaharlal came back, “Never talk to me about the word profit, it is a dirty word.” Is that why the government enjoyed taking a soaring airline and grounding it, just to prove that profit was a dirty word?

CC: What inspired you to write, Horizons: The Tata India Century?

I was commissioned by the Tatas-even compelled by coercing and flattery, because they had loved my large Jaipur book which Christie’s chose as the first book India had produced to distribute worldwide. Also, my book Dome Over India, as the official gift of the Presidents of India had impressed them greatly. So I was reluctantly trapped, but Dr. J.J Irani and Mr. Ratan Tata’s insistence, or mainly their relentless faith in me convinced me I must do it. It is great practice to believe in someone to bring out the best in them.

Later Mr Tata wrote, “We were quite astonished when the book appeared. It couldn’t be faulted on any count. Many have called it the best corporate book they have seen and I certainly don’t have any in my library that can beat this publication. Aman said to me at the end, that this could only be produced because of our complete faith in him.”

CC: What inspires you to write on various places and precincts in India? How do you choose the subjects? Which book has inspired you so far?

The stellar service shown to
passengers by Air India personnel

I am inspired by my own ignorance, if I may say. It is often one’s curiosity to fill one’s own darkness with light that leads to passionate research. When new facts emerge, often contrary to common belief or knowledge, a new necklace demands to be strung with new facets that glint from the rare jewels which have just been unearthed. It’s a very stimulating road to become a specialist from a pure novice because one drives oneself without any goading. The books on Shekhavati, Jaipur, Pushkar, Jodhpur, the Rashtrapati Bhavan and more, a part of that process.

CC: Tell us a bit about your book, Dome over India: Rashtrapati Bhavan…

I’m not normally the argumentative Indian, nor contentions. And although my name Aman means ‘peace’, I can still be provoked and brought to the brink when people try to make ignorant facts into gospel. My research about the making of New Delhi showed that Lord Hardinge was indeed the father of this city-a fact Lutyens conceded eleven years before his death when his pricking conscience caught up with him. But the book looks at New Delhi as an exercise in monumentalism to intimidate the subjects of the Empire. It was hugely appreciated by the Royal Institute of British Architects and Lutyens scholars like Gavin Stamp. Many myths were exploded and Lutyens became less holy.

CC: You are credited with pioneering the heritage hotels movement in India. Please elaborate

Not quite. Neemrana made ruins honourable. It taught dozens of citizens of India that you didn’t have to be manor born to enter heritage tourism. When I acquired Neemrana with two Indian friends, I was considered quite crazy, but as we performed this turnaround property after property with Francis Wacziarg, it became India’s youngest chain with the oldest properties. The market responded to each destination we opened. I must say that the Neemrana team has great joy in waking up the dead or the dying, just as the Tatas will now resurrect their Air India.

CC: Tell us about your Neemrana Hotel chain

Neemrana Hotels are a fight against cultural and heritage waste. India needs to turn much of its waste into assets, especially if it adds to the economy in the big way that it can impact us. The idea began with a small haveli I restored in Khohar, Haryana, near Delhi. This led to the Neemrana Fort-Palace which became a bench mark. We have done some thirty-plus properties in eighteen states of India and the eclectic heritage brand that Neemrana has become.

CC: How do you get time to be an entrepreneur and an author?

The days are endless and life is long-Leonardo da Vinci was a painter, sculptor, engineer, inventor, athlete and much more. We have enough time in our lives to do what we are really passioned to. And, I still feel young enough to venture into many more projects and books.

CC: What is your philosophy in life that you live by? Please tell us in three to four sentences.

Any waste is unacceptable, especially in India where we have ample opportunities to use our creative and inventive faculties to metamorphose the redundant and to beautify all that we touch. I also feel that we must try and better the lives of all those who cross our path. Noblesse oblige doesn’t just apply to 19th century nobility. The onus is always upon the privileged. Sharing is important-for destiny has two ways to ruin us: either by denying us what we want or by giving it to us.

About the Book

A Century Encapsulated

Founded in the late 19th century by the great industrialist and philanthropist Jamsetji Tata, the Tata Group has been a pioneer in such nationally vital industries as steel, hydroelectricity, aviation, and information technology. The history of the Group is in significant measure the history of India’s industrial development. Horizons: The Tata-India Century, 1904-2004, commemorates the death centenary of Jamsetji Tata and the birth centenaries of two men who helped guide the Group’s destiny, JRD Tata and Naval Tata. Illustrated with rare archival images as well as spectacular contemporary photographs, the book interweaves the Tata story directly with the history of modern India, allowing the reader to make connections between two parallel narratives.

When dreams took flight

Airhostess-former Miss World Airlines no lessturned corporate trainer and etiquette expert, Suneeta Sodhi Kanga, on the halcyon days of Air India. Also what it means for the Maharajah to be recreated by the Tatas, so many years after they first created him.

Suneeta Sodhi Kanga, Ms. World Airlines 1989

When the cabin crew walked in, heads turned. The epitome of glamour and sophistication in the eighties and nineties-they were not flight attendants or stewardesses, but actual airhostesses-with all the graciousness and elegance in the world to go with it. And the money was amazingly good. However, avers Suneeta Sodhi Kanga, she was in it for the thrill of travelling the world.

Perks of the job included pickup and drop by limousines, stays at 5-star hotels and the airline taking care of the passports and tickets-not to forget the shopping. “In pre-liberalization India, the thrill of picking up a moisturizer from Paris and a shampoo from Sydney-not to forget a perfume on practically every flight, was something else. Plus, the money was great, comparable to the salaries made by MDs of companies those days,” she smiles. The figures say it all. “Prior to applying for Air India, I worked in a hotel where I made Rs.1200 a month. Flying for the Maharajah, one made Rs.1000 a day. This is the kind of disparity I am talking of between flying and other professionals.”

But the money was well-earned considering the hallowed standards of hospitality. Looking after passengers, the young ladies were told, was an act of premium care and required the hostesses to go that extra mile to be observant and thoughtful. “Air India required us to gauge the needs of the passenger even before they were spelt out. If it was hot, we were to offer a cold towel. If it was hot, a cool, refreshing drink was in order. If the passenger had a book in hand, we were to ensure the reading lamp was on. The service had to be personalised, warm and on the ball,” she reminisces.

In those days, flying was a treat reserved for the elite and the chosen few. “Going to the airport was something to look forward to. Ladies dressed their best-it was quite the occasion to remember. Of course, the air traffic was very less as compared to today,” she adds. And if you were flying First Class, the service was nothing less than Seven Star. “Champagne on ice and lobsters, chocolates and choice fruit; the finest bone china crockery offset by Damask napkins. A single rose positioned just so. Trays, not trolleys. It was quite the experience of a lifetime.”

So coveted was a career in flying that it attracted talent from unlikely quarters. “We actually had the son of a royal family from Sikkim flying for Air-India on the quiet. He had lied to his family about pursuing a course in Mumbai,” she smiles. Though the early days of the airline attracted girls from Parsee and Anglo-Indian homes, by the time Suneeta entered, she had batchmates from all communities and walks of life-provided they had the pre-requisite chutzpah and polish, exuded in the perfect nips and tucks of the saree, in their ability to smile ceaselessly under pressure, as well as the grace to carry off those achingly high heels, without losing their balance or cool. “Knowing a foreign language was definitely helpful. For my part, I spoke French and it definitely helped to have geography as my favourite subject back in school,” says the lady who went on to become Ms. World Airlines 1989 despite stiff competition.

"There is so much hope and genuine delight that the Maharajah will once again be kitted out by the Tatas. And why not? They are the original Indian conglomerate and muchrespected for their integrity, generosity and fair play"

Suneeta Sodhi Kanga

Nevertheless, the tardiness of delayed departures and landings as the norm rather than an exceptional, would be unacceptable to the jet-setting modern day passenger. “In my eight years of flying (1998 to 1996), we rolled on time just about once. The flight was from Rome to Mumbai and we were pinching ourselves in disbelief,” she laughs. “Of course, it was a different world back then. Today, everything is fast-paced, efficient and demanding. Flying as a career is not what it was back in our day.”

Even though the decline had started, the nose dive into losses was still some way. “Please note that in the pre-liberalized India of the 80s, there was no competition to Air India in the international airspace-not from home grown players at any rate. Sure, there was British Airways and Cathay Pacific but they were not seen as Indian. Air India, back then, could afford to spend money freely on their staff and take good care of them; that unfortunately, changed as time went on.”

As planned, Suneeta Sodhi Kanga decided to call it a day eight years into flying. “Initially, I had thought I would do no more than 5 years. But I managed to complete 8 years. The idea, however, was to get out while I was young, switch gears, get married, enjoy a family and a career that didn’t take me away from home so frequently. Besides, the physical wear and tear of walking 9 to 10 miles a day, between different airports and flights-not to forget the jet lag of varying time zones, becomes rather difficult to put up with as one ages,” she explains.

Now based in Mumbai, she is a successful and sought-after corporate trainer and etiquette expert, instructing the new age corporate professional on the niceties of social graces, business etiquette, power dressing, presentation skills, cross cultural sensitivities and her favourite – fine dining and wine appreciation.

Despite being away changed gears professionally, she has nevertheless stayed in touch with her batchmates and listened with dismay and a sinking heart to the stories of decline and losses. The cuts in perks and staff facilities, not to forget the declining standards of quality of service. “Each time I heard something like that, it would sadden me. After all, Air India was home ground for so long,” she says.

Naturally, the return of Air India to the House of Tata, is something she would celebrate-much like everyone else who has an emotional connect with the beleaguered carrier. “There is so much hope and genuine delight that the Maharajah will once again be kitted out by the Tatas. And why not? They are the original Indian conglomerate and much-respected for their integrity, generosity and fair play,” she says. “For the Tatas, too, it has been a very emotional decision and I do believe they would go the distance to turn its fortunes around.”

Besides, Tata’s experience in handling the carriers Air Asia and Vistara, will definitely come in handy when it comes to helping the behemoth that is Air India, get back on its feet. “So while I don’t believe that Air India can go back to being the full-frills airlines that it was given the competition and the demands of the market, I think it will be a winsome blend of old and new practices,” she says. “They are good people and know how to treat people well, be they employees or their passengers. Plus, lets’ not forget that The House of Tata owns India’s best loved and most respected hotel brand, The Taj, which has consistently topped the charts when it comes to hospitality, service, care and genuine humanity. They will bring in a similar hands-on positive approach to the Air India story, be it through HR practices or customer care.

Light at the end of the tunnel

Commander Rishabh Kapur, senior Air India pilot

While the entire country is proud and celebrating the news of the Tatas winning the bid for Air India, most people may actually be wondering why the employees of Air India are celebrating-after all we were government employees enjoying the perks. Well because, we the employees of Air India have been a resilient lot amid the downfall of the national carrier with hope that it will regain its lost glory someday.

We’ve served during pandemics, evacuations, floods, earthquakes, transported jawans to the borders and sometimes even brought them back covered in the Indian Flag. We are an emotional lot very deeply connected to the airline and want to see the airline do well against all odds stacked against us. With the Tatas finally taking back what’s their’s after 68 years and Rs 18000 crores invested, we finally see light at the end of the tunnel.

I have always said this, Air India is a first class asset of this country just badly run and we are truly humbled to be a part of this unclassified Navratan of the Nation. Air India will surely soar higher skies and as employees we cannot be happier that we are going to be a part of this journey and a company that holds nationalistic values with a nation-first philosophy.

It’s time for all the airlines in the Middle East and South-East Asia to put on their seat belts and get ready for a ride as this takeover will change the way we look at Indian aviation both for the passengers and the employees. Jai Hind!

- By Kalyani Sardesai

Tatas get back their Maharaja

The story of the return of the Maharaja or Air India, back to the Tatas who had founded it and ran it as one of the best airlines in the world, after its ignominious run of Indian Government ownership is a case study to learn: why governments should stick to governance and not meddle in the business of business. Now, it looks like all are happy-the Tatas who got back their Maharaja, the Government, which can see the cessation of a bottomless debt pit, employees who can look forward to a professionally run company, and we the people, whose tax money was funding the misadventure

This is the story about Maharaja, the maharaja of the sky and not about a king of any principality. Yes, you have rightly guessed, it is about Air India. It was born in 1932, founded by the highly respected business group of the Tatas. It started with the name of Tata Air Services but was later renamed Tata Airlines. The founding father was the illustrious JRD Tata, a licenced pilot himself, together with being a business tycoon.

Early runs

Puss Moth aircraft and a de Havilland Leopard Moth. The first flight was on 15th October 1932, when JRD himself flew the Puss Moth carrying airmail from Karachi to Bombay (now Mumbai). The airmail services were then extended to Madras (now Chennai) and Ahmedabad.

The airline launched its first domestic flight from Bombay to Trivandrum with a six-seater Miles Merlin in 1938. New destinations like Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Delhi were added in the same year. During the Second World War, the airline helped the Royal Air Force with troop movement and transport of supplies. After the war, a regular commercial service was restored in India under the name of Air India.

Govt. foot in

After independence, 49% of the airline was acquired by the Govt. of India in 1948. During the same year, it flew its aircraft named Malabar Princess from Bombay to London. The year 1953 proved to be a turning point as Air India was nationalised by the passing of the Air Corporation Act. The airline was taken over by the government and as a token of respect, JRD was allowed to continue as its Chairman until 1977.

Regal credentials

The ‘Maharaja’ is the Air India mascot, created in 1946 by Bobby Kooka, the then commercial director of Air India and Umesh Rao, an artist. They said that they called him Maharaja for want of a better description. The logo of Air India is a red coloured flying swan with the ‘Konark Chakra’ in orange, placed inside it. The flying swan has been morphed from the Air India characteristic logo, ‘The Centaur’, whereas the Konark Chakra is reminiscent of the Indian logo. Mascot and logo apart, it was the true regal service and hospitality on board that kept Air India flying higher and higher. Air India exhibited that it was the Maharaja in the sky, as it treated fliers in a similar fashion. The best gourmet delicacies cooked in Hotel Taj of the Tatas used to be served to the passengers, and cabin crew were said to be very gracious.

JRD was said to be giving more time to the airline, of which, he was only a titular head as Chairman than to his own Group companies, where he had a pecuniary interest. The Chairman JRD used to personally take interest in recruitment at Air India and he periodically even inspected the physical upkeep of the cabin crew.

It was also made to see that Air India worked as the brand ambassador of ‘Brand India’. Paintings and artefacts depicting the Indian culture were used all over the world in Air India offices and in airport lounges of the airline. Air India was considered one of the best global airlines. In fact, Singapore Airline had much to learn from our national flag carrier. The passion of JRD in civil aviation added much colour to our Air India.

More fleet and footprint

Meanwhile, there was a steady pace of adding more modern aircraft and more global destinations both during the pre-nationalisation and post-nationalisation periods. From 1948 to 1950, the airline introduced services to Nairobi in Kenya and to major European cities like Rome, Paris and Dusseldorf. In 1949, the airline took delivery of its first Lockheed Constellation L-1049 and inaugurated services to Bangkok, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Singapore. In 1960, Air India inducted its first Boeing 707-420, thereby, becoming the first Asian Airline to enter the Jet Age. Services to New York were also inaugurated in 1960. Boeing 747-200B was the next big acquisition and the same was named ‘Emperor Ashok’. The airline took delivery of its first Airbus A-310-300 in 1993. Thus, Air India kept on adding to its strength. As of today, Air India has 127 aircraft, the highest for any airline in India.

The only thing constant in the world is change and changes started happening in Air India too in the late seventies. JRD was no longer there at the helm. Air India was now under full bureaucratic and political control. Recruitment policy eased and there was no passionate regulation over work ethics and good hospitality on board. Things started deteriorating as global competition in the civil aviation sector increased. Things went very bad for Air India when Indian Airlines was merged with it in 2007 and since that year, our flag carrier started making huge losses. Indian Airlines was a domestic airline in the public sector, incorporated in 1953. Air India started losing market share globally, as passengers had a better option than other airlines.

"It was the true regal service and hospitality on board that kept Air India flying higher and higher. Air India exhibited that it was the Maharaja in the sky, as it treated fliers in a similar fashion. The best gourmet delicacies cooked in Hotel Taj of the Tatas used to be served to the passengers, and cabin crew were said to be very gracious"

JRD Tata disembarking from an Air India plane

Slippery slope

At this juncture, there was a double whammy for Air India as more aircraft were purchased at high-interest rate borrowings when it was unable to earn adequate revenue due to the falling number of passengers. Some commercially lucrative routes of Air India were taken away by foreign competitors. As of 31st August 2021, the cumulative loss of Air India stood at Rs.61,320 crores. From 2009 to March 2021, the government paid Rs.1.09 lakh crores to help Air India keep flying. The huge interest burden and salaries of its large sized employee base kept on adding to the losses. It was our money from taxes, which was used by the government to bail out Air India. Once a Maharaja, it had become a debt-ridden pauper, which was being kept alive by the scarce tax resources of the country. The government tried to sell off Air India but it failed. There were no buyers for this airline with the baggage of huge debt liability. Potential buyers did not find it attractive, as there was never a 100% stake sale proposal.

The government learnt from its past mistakes and then offered a much better proposal for the sale of Air India. The offer was of 100% stake sale while promising to keep the major portion of debt liability on its own head. Two bidders emerged in 2021, the Tatas and Spicejet. Finally, it was Tata Sons which through its subsidiary, won the bid. Air India is now sold to the Tatas for Rs.18,000 crores. However, the government will get only Rs.2700 crores as the consideration includes the acquisition of a loan to the extent of Rs.15,300 crores. The sale does not include some of the fixed assets of the airline and the same will be monetised by the government to clear the existing loan of Air India taken on its head by the government and the same may be around Rs.45,000 crores.

Win-win deal

As per the deal, the Tatas will not shed employees for at least one year, and later when they are removed, they will be given suitable payouts. So, everybody is happy with the sale of Air India. The government is happy that it will not have to continue to bear the annual loss of the airline, which used to be roughly around Rs.10,000 crores. Taxpayers are happy, as they will not have to pay off for this perpetual loss-making company. The Tatas are happy that their child is coming back to them after 68 years of separation. It is a very emotional moment for the Tatas. It is good for the country as a whole, as there is a good possibility that the Tatas with their expertise will transform Air India. Maharaja created by the Tatas will evolve as a new age strong player. Employees are happy that they may not be losers as per the deal.

The story of Air India throws light on the debate of privatisation vs nationalisation. The private sector airline was flying as Maharaja and after its tenure in the public sector, it was all good for Air India until JRD Tata was the Chairman of the company. JRD left the chairmanship in 1977 and a dark shadow started falling on Air India thereafter. It is a matter for the case study as to why one of the best airlines in the world got crippled after moving from private hands into government hands. The inference drawn out from such a study will help policymakers think twice before nationalisation. The role of the government should be limited to governance. Business should be left to the private sector and the government should only be a facilitator. A few strategic areas such as those connected to the security of the country should be in the hands of the government. We do not want to see Air India like situations in the future. The limited tax money which the country has got should not be lost in sustaining loss-making government companies.

Air India's new journey

Aman Nath, as is well known, is equally famous for his heritage-preserving and heritage-celebrating hotel chain, Neemrana Hotels, as for his singular heritage-centric illustrative books that bring history alive. A tête-à-tête with the author…

Corporate Citizen: What are your observations about Air India takeover by the Tatas?