Air India handover to Tata group delayed, transition likely tomorrow

Air India employees were sent an email late on Wednesday, informing them that the plan for the handover of the airline to the Tata group had been put on hold.

The Air India handover to the Tatas that was slated to take place on Thursday is now expected to be done on Friday, January 28. From Ratan Tata's in-flight audio message to new, enhanced meal plans — everything was in place. So what changed within a few hours?

Around 10 pm on Wednesday, employees of Air India, who had been preparing for the airline’s new owners to formally take over on Thursday, received an email, informing them that the transition plan, barring a proposed up-gradation of the in-flight meal plan, had been put on hold.

Earlier on Monday, India Today Television had reported that the official handover of the ‘Maharaja’ to its new owner, Tata Sons, had been slated for 27 January.

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An internal communication on Monday from the director of finance at Air India, Vinod Hejmadi, to some of his colleagues, read, "The divestment of Air India is now decided to be on the 27th January, 2022. The closing balance sheet as on 20th Jan has to be provided today 24th Jan so that it can be reviewed by Tatas and any changes can be effected on Wednesday [sic]." A copy of the letter is with India Today Television.

On Wednesday, emails had been sent to the staff, asking them to prepare for the transition on Thursday. This included meal up-gradation on some domestic and international flights as suggested by Taj SATS, a Tata Group-led airline catering company.

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