Today, January 27, 2022, is when the transaction between the Government of India and the Tata conglomerate, the original owner of Air India, before its nationalisation is to be completed. The Tata Group had won the bid towards the airline’s privatisation in October 2021 and signed a share purchase agreement the same month.

Enhanced Meal Services to be one of the first actions of the private Air India

As per various people at the airline, and something reported in the media already, the two measures which will be rolled out almost immediately are soft touches onboard the airline with the crew expected to play a pivotal role in enhancing the airline’s representation, and also, the meal services will be improved.

The newswire, PTI, reported that four flights will see an enhanced meal service on January 27, 2022, without elaborating on the details. The four flights are:

• AI864 (Mumbai-Delhi)
• AI687 (Mumbai-Delhi)
• AI945 (Mumbai-Abu Dhabi)
• AI639 (Mumbai-Bengaluru)

The Times of India Group further added more flights to this list, including the Mumbai – Newark and the Mumbai – London Heathrow flights later in the week.

As per The Times of India, Air India staff have already received feelers on the transition to a private-sector entity this week, and they are expected to behave accordingly. Small nuances will be introduced, such as the transition to referring to the passengers as guests and a specially recorded message on board from Ratan Tata, the chairman emeritus of the Tata Group.

Another front-end move, which has run into some hot water already, has been the focus on the grooming of the cabin crew, which is intended to be evaluated pre-flight. The Air India Cabin Crew unions have objected to this move. The Tata group have put Megha Singhania, current head of in-flight services at AirAsia India, and Sandeep Verma, the ex-head of Vistara’s in-flight services, in charge of revamping in-flight services at the airline.

Amongst the other areas where the initial focus will be for the Tata Group will be to focus on the airline’s On-Time Performance, with doors close to be done 10 minutes before the flight departure.

Bottomline

The Tata Group will take over the Air India operations on January 27, 2022, and enhancements to the meal service onboard and the airline’s on-time performance are some of the first moves that are expected to be addressed.

Have you flown Air India (not Alliance Air!) on January 27, 2022, and onwards. Please do report back if you notice any changes at the airline.

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