IEMS Journal of Management Research

Abstract

The Indian aviation industry has witnessed significant growth and transformation over the past few decades, with several challenges and opportunities shaping the landscape for domestic airlines.
The civil aviation industry in India has emerged as one of the fastest-growing industries in the country during the last three years. It can be broadly classified into scheduled air transport service which includes domestic and international airlines, non-scheduled air transport service which consists of charter operators and air taxi operators, and air cargo service, which includes air transportation of cargo and mail. Domestic traffic contributes around 69% of the total airline traffic in South Asia and India’s airport capacity is expected to handle 1 billion trips annually by 2023. The Indian aviation industry has recovered fully from the covid-19 pandemic shock as indicated by the air traffic movement which stood at 327.28 million in FY23 compared to 188.89 million in FY22.
Air India suffered for its inconsistent service standards, low aircraft utilization, dismal on-time performance, antiquated productivity norms, lack of revenue generation skills, and unsatisfactory public perception.
This case study explores the process of acquisition of Air India by Tata Sons. Air India was acquired by the Tatas in January 2022. It had last acquired aircraft in 2006. The airlines negotiated the deal for over one year and finally settled on an order that will cater to all segments. It opted for four variants for its 70 wide-body aircraft - A350-900, A350-1000, 787-9 and 777-9.