“It is with a profound sense of loss that we bid farewell to Ratan Naval Tata, a truly uncommon leader whose immeasurable contributions have shaped not only the Tata Group but also the very fabric of our nation,” N. Chandrasekaran’s statement confirmed the news, that hit millions of Indias like a ton of bricks. The nation stood still in tribute to a leader, industrialist, and philanthropist whose legacy would forever be etched in the hearts of millions. People spoke about him, remembered their times with him with smiles and tears together. Very few people in this world have this profound power that leaves anyone and everyone, remotely knowing him with a sense of deep loss and despair.

Last few days, we have seen and everything about Ratan Tata, the more we read, the more we are mesmerised and intrigued by his life, his principles and his good deeds. Recalling one such incidence in his life, Ratan Tata was facing a steady stream of questions from students in Havard Business School when one of the students asked him, “Sir, it’s a simple question, what excites you the most?” Ratan Tata took a second, and in his usual jovial manner replied, “How can I say that in public!” leaving the students in splits of laughter. Most of us know the answer to the above question, the one thing that excited him the most was ‘flying.’

Ratan Tata’s determination to acquire Air India, despite numerous setbacks and opposition, showed his unwavering commitment to reviving the airline’s legacy under the Tata name

Interestingly Ratan Tata was one of the few civilians to experience flying two of the world’s most advanced fighter jets – the F-16 and F-18 fighter jet. The year was 2007, at the Aero India show, a 69-year-old Ratan Tata, excited like a kid took hold of the control stick in the fighter’s cockpit. He fulfilled his longheld dream in that half-hour ride. Ratan Tata, who held licenses to fly both jets and helicopters flew a Lockheed Martin F-16 Jet for half-hour. Soaring through clear skies and reaching altitudes as low as 500 feet, he described his experience as nothing short of ‘exhilarating.’ At Aero India 2011, Ratan Tata took to skies once again - this time on a Boeing F-18 Super Hornet, larger and more powerful than the F-16. “It was a terrific, terrific ride. I really enjoyed today’s flight,” he said while speaking to media later.

Ratan Tata passion for aviation is well known. But it was not just his passion that made him special to aviation, he turned his passion into his dream and made sure he fulfilled it. Ratan Tata, in his quest to take Air India back under his fold, failed, failed and failed yet again. But he kept trying until he brought home his beloved ‘Air India.’

JRD Tata established Tata Airlines on October 15, 1932. JRD Tata, father of aviation in India, flew India’s first commercial flight a single-engine de Havilland Puss Moth, from Karachi to Mumbai, paving the path for civil aviation in India.

Post independence Tata Airlines was nationalised in 1953 and renamed as Air India. During the government tenure Air India lost its inaugural charm and charisma. The airline accumulated debt worth ₹50,000 crores. This was further complicated by disruptions caused by unions. All this and much more led to slow bleeding of Air India. This downfall of Air India, deeply disturbed Ratan Tata who vowed to bring back Air India, and took it up as a challenge.

“JRD Tata would have been overjoyed if he was in our midst today,” said an emotional Ratan Tata after acquiring the government-owned Air India on October 8, 2021 for a whooping ₹18,000 crore. Anyone with a little knowledge of finance and aviation can clearly see, this was a loss-making deal. Ratan Tata could have simply built and started a new airline, a new legacy – but he chose to bring back his dream. The dream nurtured and cherished by JRD and breaking all barriers he finally did. Air India’s ‘ghar wapsi’ to the Tata’s was one of his biggest dreams coming true.

But this journey of Air India’s ‘ghar wapsi’ was not an easy one. It was full of hurdles, oppositions and failures. Ever since taking the spot at Tata Sons as Chairman in 1991, Ratan Tata made many attempts to venture into the aviation sector only to face disappointment every time.

In 2021, Ratan Tata succeeded in bringing Air India back home after the Tata Group acquired the government-owned airline for ₹18,000 crore, marking a historic moment of ‘ghar wapsi’ for the Maharaja

In 1994, the aviation sector in India was opened up for privatisation and Ratan Tata made his first move acquiring Air India. The Tatas along with Singapore Airlines wanted to establish a joint venture carrier in India with the SIA holding 60 per cent stake, and Tata’s taking the remaining 40 per cent stake. The proposal was reportedly met with strong resistance from everyone - politicians, bureaucrats as well as airlines.

In 1996, Ratan Tata made a renewed attempts with various assurances like switching the proposed shareholding stakes between the Tatas and Singapore Airlines to pacify the opposition to the deal about the concerns over a foreign airline holding majority stake in an Indian carrier. But the deal didn’t go through as the then Civil Aviation Minister opposed the deal backed by many politicians.

Since then, six major private airlines entered the market and ventured into Air India’s territory. They were – Jet Airways, Air Sahara, Modiluft, Damania Airways, NEPC Airlines, and East-West Airlines.

It was in 2001 the government decided against state participation in civil aviation. It tried to reduce the government’s stake by 40 per cent in the airline. Tata in partnership with Singapore Airlines was the sole bidder of the deal. But he was faced with strong opposition from the labour unions and rival airlines once again putting off his dream. Thus, government’s futile attempts to privatise Air India could not be executed.

As a band-aid to this, in 2006 the UPA government merged Air India and its domestic arm Indian airlines in what appeared to be the unlikeliest of all airline mergers. The idea was to leverage the combined assets and capital to push growth. But, from 2006 the merged carrier continued to bleed losses into India’s economy. During these years, Ratan Tata made two unsuccessful bids to take over Air India in partnership with Singapore Airlines.

Then almost a decade later in 2012, the Centre relaxed FDI rules in aviation in 2012, allowing foreign airlines to own up to 49 per cent in Indian carriers. With the relaxation of FDI, Ratan Tata made a renewed attempt to enter India’s civil aviation space in partnership with Singapore Airlines and Vistara was born. On November 5, 2013, Vistara’s holding company, TATA SIA Airlines Limited, was incorporated. On January 9, 2015, Vistara started its operations with a maiden flight from Delhi to Mumbai and in a very short span of time rapidly expanded its footprint, both in terms of network and service proposition.

Around the same time, Ratan Tata ventured into an agreement with Malaysia-based Airline Group Air Asia Berhad (AAB) to launch Air Asia India (AAI). Now the Tata’s had begun to establish themselves in India’s aviation circles, with two strong JV airlines criss-crossing the nation. Thus, the launch of AirAsia India in June 2014 marked the group’s foray into the airline business a second time.

In 2017, government announced plans to disinvest its stake in Air India marking the beginning of a new chapter for the airline, as it sought potential buyers. Ratan Tata too, didn’t want to leave his unfinished ambition of bringing Air India back home to the Tatas. The once opulent and majestic Maharaja of Air India had become dry, sultry and fore lone under the government ambit. It was clear than unless a private player took care of the maharaja, it was to perish and soon!

In 2020, Tata Group submitted a bid to acquire Air India, including its low-cost subsidiary, Air India Express. The team under Ratan Tata pulled braced themselves for impact as they ventured for the impossible deal. Many experts must have advised Ratan Tata against acquiring the loss-making Air India, but Ratan Tata was firm on his decision. After a long bidding process, the Tata Group won the bid to acquire Air India, marking the airline’s return to its founders. The government sold its 100 per cent stake in Air India to the Tatas for ₹18,000 crore.

Finally in 2022, after living for almost 69-years under government ambit, Air India and Air India Express returned back to Tata-fold. Ratan Tata could have easily set up a new airline instead of acquiring debt-ridden Air India, but his dreams took priority over practical approach and Air India was saved.

After the acquisition and emotional Ratan Tata tweeted, “On an emotional note, Air India, under the leadership of JRD Tata had, at one time, gained the reputation of being one of the most prestigious airlines in the world. Tatas will have the opportunity of regaining the image and reputation it enjoyed in earlier years. JRD Tata would have been overjoyed if he was in our midst today.” the statement tweeted by Tata read. There after the Tata group announced plans to invest significantly in modernising the fleet and enhancing its service quality to make it into a world-class airline and restore it to its former glory.

In November 2022 AirAsia India was fully acquired by the Tata Group as they took over the remaining 16.33 per cent stake in AirAsia India from AirAsia Berhad, making it a fully-owned subsidiary. Soon after the plans to merge AirAsia India with Air India Express were set in motion to streamline operations.

It is a little-known fact that Ratan Tata also wanted to venture into business jets and even held two strategic meetings with Captain G.R. Gopinath (Founder of Air Deccan). However, the deal was not authorised by Cyrus Mistry (2013) and had to be called off. Cyrus Mistry took over as the successor of Ratan Tata for a short while in 2013.

Ratan Tata’s vision for Aviation was not limited to Commercial and Business Aviation. He also felt the need for having a robust indigenous Military Aviation ecosystem in India. Since early 2000s, the Tatas entered into various ventures with major global defence players with an aim to become a part of their global supply chain and to bring those capabilities to India.

In October 2022, he praised the establishment of the Tata-Airbus joint venture for the production of C295 aircraft in India as the realisation of his decade-old vision of establishing a private aircraft manufacturing facility in India.

Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL), a subsidiary of Tata Sons and Lockheed Martin established a JV in 2010 - Tata Lockheed Martin Aerostructures Ltd (TLMAL), which serves as the global sole source of the C-130J Super Hercules military transport’s empennage assemblies that are used in all new aircraft produced in the US. To date, the company has manufactured over 220 empennages.

TASL entered into a joint venture with the US’ Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation to manufacture components of the Sikorsky S-92 helicopter in India for both the domestic civil and military markets. The first S-92 cabin was reportedly delivered in November 2010. By October 2013, the S-92 helicopter cabin production in India had become 100 per cent indigenous. By then the India operation was assembling cabins along with producing all parts with over 5,000 associated precision components needed for the assembly, before shipping the cabins to the US for aircraft completion.

In April 2018, Tata Sons consolidated its various businesses across the aerospace and defence sectors into a single entity – Tata Aerospace & Defence (Tata A&D) with the sole intention of targeting emerging opportunities, enhance its competitiveness in global markets, and support the government’s “Make in India” initiative.

Then again in 2018, Tata Boeing Aerospace Limited (TBAL), a joint venture between Boeing and TASL, inaugurated a facility in Hyderabad that serves as an exclusive global manufacturer of AH-64 Apache attack helicopter fuselages, supplied to Boeing’s global clientele.

In January 2024, Airbus Helicopters announced its partnership with the Tata Group to set up a final assembly line for H125 helicopters in India. This facility will produce helicopters for both the Indian market and export to neighbouring countries.

Although the man, Ratan Tata left the mortal world behind, he left a long-long legacy behind. A legacy for India and every Indian by creating numerous employment opportunities, leading towards betterment of his motherland every step along the way! Thousands of people, young and old alike, who knew him or didn’t know him personally have mourned his death, that left a huge void in the country’s heart. May you have a smooth journey ahead Rata Tata – Rest in Peace!