Indian (airline)
|
The logo used while the company was called Indian Airlines |
Indian (
Hindi:
इंडियन) (formerly
Indian Airlines Hindi:
इंडियन एयरलाइन्स) is
India's state owned primarily domestic
airline, under the federal
Union Ministry of Civil Aviation and based in
New Delhi. Its main bases are
Chennai International Airport,
Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport,
Mumbai,
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport,
Kolkata and
Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi.
The company was formerly known as
Indian Airlines. On
December 7 2005 The company was rebranded as
Indian as a part of a program to revamp the company image in preparation for an
IPO.
[Indian Airlines to be called 'Indian' now -- Rediff.com] The airline operates closely with
Air India, India's national
flag carrier.
Alliance Air is a fully-owned subsidiary of Indian.
The airline was set up under
Air Corporations Act, 1953 with an initial capital of Rs.32 million and started operations on
1 August 1953. It was established after legislation came into force to
nationalise the entire airline industry in India. Two new national airlines were to be formed along the same lines as happened in the
United Kingdom with
BOAC and
BEA.
Air India took over international routes and Indian Airlines Corporation (IAC) took over the domestic and regional routes.
Seven former independent domestic airlines: Deccan Airways, Airways-India, Bharat Airways, Himalayan Aviation, Kalinga Air Lines, Indian National Airways, Air Services of India, were merged to form the new domestic national carrier. Indian Corporation inherited a fleet of 99 aircraft including 74
Douglas DC-3 Dakotas, 12
Vickers Vikings, 3
Douglas DC-4s and various smaller types from the seven airlines that made it up.
Vickers Viscounts were introduced in
1957 with
Fokker F-27 Friendships being delivered from
1961.The
1960s also saw
Hawker Siddeley 748s, manufactured in India.
The jet age began for IAC with the introduction of the pure-jet
Sud Aviation Caravelle airliner in
1964, followed by
Boeing 737-200s in the early 70s. April 1976 saw the first three
Airbus A300 wide-body jets being introduced. By
1990,
Airbus A320s were introduced.
The
economic liberalisation process initiated by the Government of India in the early
1990s ended Indian Airlines' dominance of India's domestic air transport industry. Indian Airlines faced tough competition from
Jet Airways,
Air Sahara,
East-West Airlines and
ModiLuft.
As of 2005, Indian Airlines was the second largest airline in India after Jet Airways while Air Sahara controlled 17% of the Indian aviation industry.
East-West Airlines and ModiLuft discontinued flight operations but the entry of several
low-cost airlines in India like
Air Deccan,
Kingfisher Airlines and
SpiceJet continues to give competition in its market, forcing Indian to cut down air-fares. However,
as of 2006, Indian Airlines is still a profit making airline.
In the face of increasing domestic competition, the airline is about to undergo restructuring of its organisation, management and finances, with a view to issuing an initial public offering in
2006. It has recently been renamed to 'Indian'. The airlines new logo is said to be contemporary graphic representation wheel of Sun temple in
Konark.
Indian Civil Aviation Minister,
Praful Patel, announced Government of India's plan to merge Air India and Indian into one giant airline consisting of 130-140 aircraft. This could take place anytime from the end of 2006 to the middle of 2007. If these airlines merge then they will be in direct competition with other air giants like
British Airways,
Air France,
Air Canada,
Lufthansa,
KLM,
JAL,
American Airlines, and
QANTAS.
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Indian Airbus A320,(Indian is written in Hindi). In all Indian aircraft the left side of the aircraft is painted in Hindi. |
Indian flies to 64 domestic and 16 international destinations offering 35,000 seats per day and is India's largest airline. It operates the following services (at January 2005):
It is fully owned by the
Government of India and employs around 19,600 employees (at January 2005). Its annual turn-over, together with that of its subsidiary
Alliance Air, is well over Rs.4000 crores (around US$ 1 billion). Together with its subsidiary
Alliance Air, Indian carries a total of over 7.5 million passengers annually.
The Indian fleet consists of the following aircraft (
as of 2006)
[Fleet listing from Airfleets.net][Details and Fleet History from Planespotters.net]:
*3
Airbus A300B4*47
Airbus A320-200*1
Airbus A319*2
Boeing 737-200 (8 for Alliance Air)
*2
Dornier 228*4
ATR 42The average Indian fleet age is 15.8 years old
as of 2006.
[Fleet age from Airfleets.net] Indian has recently ordered 43 Airbus jets
comprising of:
*19
Airbus A319 *4
Airbus A320 *20
Airbus A321These orders will start arriving from the middle of
2006 and will go until
2007. Indian has planned many new destinations to increase its market. The ageing Boeing fleet will be converted to freighters. The airline is also planning to spruce up for competition in the
Persian Gulf Arab States sector, which accounts for 12% of its revenues. It is in the process of negotiations for 12 widebody aircraft with
Airbus and
Boeing. It also plans to introduce flights to
Europe and the
USA.
The aircraft livery used while the company was called
Indian Airlines was one of the longest in terms of time. Its aircraft were mainly white. The belly was in light metallic grey. Above the windows, "Indian Airlines" was written in English on one side and Hindi on other. The tail was bright orange in color with its logo in white. In most of the aircraft, the logo was also painted on the engines over its bare metal color.
After the name change to
Indian, the company's aircraft are sporting a new look inspired by the Sun Temple at
Konark in
Orissa.
*There have been at least 12 fatal events in the history of Indian Airlines and Indian. [
1]
*
29 August 1970; Indian Airlines F27; near
Silchar, India: The aircraft crashed into high ground shortly after takeoff. All five crew members and 34 passengers were killed.
*
9 December 1971; Indian Airlines HS748; near Chinnamanur, India: The aircraft was on descent into Madurai when it crashed into high ground about 50 miles (80 km) from the airport. The event occurred in daylight and reduced visibility. All four crew members and 17 passengers were killed.
*
11 August 1972; Indian Airlines F27;
New Delhi, India: The aircraft lost altitude and crashed after abandoning a landing attempt. All four crew members and 14 passengers were killed.
*
31 May 1973; Indian Airlines 737-200; near New Delhi, India: The aircraft crashed and caught fire during landing. The crash killed five of the seven crew members and 43 of the 58 passengers.
*
12 October 1976; Indian Airlines Caravelle;
Bombay, India: The right engine caught fire shortly after takeoff and the crew elected to return. Fuel flow to the engine was not stopped and the fire spread through the fuselage and led to hydraulic system failure and a loss of aircraft control shortly before landing. All six crew members and 89 passengers were killed.
*
4 August 1979; Indian Airlines HS748; near Bombay, India: The aircraft was approaching the airport at night and in poor weather when it collided with high ground about six miles (10 km) from the airport All four crew members and 41 passengers were killed.
*
10 May 1980; Indian Airlines 737-200; near Rampur Hat, India: The aircraft experienced severe en route turbulence. Two of the 132 passengers were killed.
*
19 October 1988; Indian Airlines 737-200;
Ahmedabad, India: The aircraft hit an electric mast five miles (eight km)out on approach in poor visibility. All six crew members and 124 of 129 passengers were killed.
*
14 February 1990; Indian Airlines A320;
Bangalore, India: Controlled flight into terrain during approach. Aircraft hit about 400 meters short of the runway. Four of the seven crew members and 88 of the 139 passengers were killed.
*
16 August 1991; Indian Airlines 737-200; near
Imphal, India: The aircraft hit high ground during descent about 30 km from the airport. All six crew members and 63 passengers were killed.
*
26 April 1993; Indian Airlines 737-200;
Aurangabad, India: The flight crew initiated their liftoff late and the aircraft struck a large vehicle on a road just outside the airport. The vehicle strike damaged one engine and the aircraft later hit power lines and crashed. Four of the six crew members and 52 of the 112 passengers were killed. The administrators of the airport were also cited for failing to regulate traffic on that same road.
*On
Christmas Eve,
24 December 1999:
Indian Airlines Flight 814, which had just taken off from
Kathmandu,
Nepal to
Indira Gandhi International Airport in
Delhi, India was hijacked. The plane flew around different points in
South Asia and
Southwest Asia as officials of the government of India and the
Taliban negotiated. One passenger was killed and some were released. On
December 31, 1999, the rest of the hostages on Flight 814 were freed.
*On
18 January 2006; Indian Flight IC-809,
Patna, India: The right rear wheel tires of an A320 plane from
Delhi to Patna, burst at 1530 hours while landing at Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport, Patna. All 56 passengers and 7 crew members escaped unhurt.
*On
12 March 2006; Indian Flight IC-955 from
Chennai to
Kuala Lumpur had to return to Chennai after engine problems. The problem was fixed and the flight departed again at 5:30 am. All 130 passengers and crew were unhurt.
*On
3 June 2006; Indian Flight IC-860, an Airbus 320 en route Singapore-Delhi was forced to make an emergency landing at Biju Patnaik on because of a mechanical problem.
Given below is a chart of trend of profitability of Indian Airlines as
published in the 2004 annual report by
Ministry of Civil Aviation with figures in millions of Indian Rupees.
| Operating Profit/(Loss) |
|---|
| 2002 | 41,015 | (1,347) |
| 2003 | 46,498 | 1,251 |
*
Indian Airlines*
Indian Airlines UK Reservations*
Indian News*
Indian Passenger Opinions*
Airline Codes Website*Flight International, 5-11 April 2005
