Useful Links

Here I have listed links to other sites which you may find interesting. You will find that Air-India is constantly in the news, and has a large fan following. I have listed these topically, and hope to add many more as we go along.
ps: I may not agree with everything they say, and sometimes the information may be wrong. However, that is for the reader to judge.

---

Tata Group Civil Aviation History

• Magic Carpet, The Staff Magazine of Air-India, Vol. 6, No. 8. October 1962. Released on the 30th Anniversary of the First Airmail Flight of Tata Sons piloted by JRD Tata, Neville Vincent and Homi Barucha is stages, this entire issue is dedicated to the flight with lots of rare pictures and information. I have provided a link for you to view or download the pdf from my dropbox account.

• The TATA review published in December 1982. This issue is devoted to the 50th anniversary celebrations of Tatas in aviation. JRD Tata re-enacted his historic flight from Karachi to Bombay, in an almost similar airplane, and this time at the young age of 78 years. There is other material in the issue besides this flight, and I have provided a link for you to view or download the pdf from my dropbox account.

• Ahmedabad Milestones: TOI records history's 1st drafts. On June 6, 1929, Captain N Vintcent - an American Pilot who was touring India in a De Haviland's DH-9 aircraft - completed the journey between the two cities in four hours.

• Vistara introduces retro look on new Airbus A320neo to celebrate Tata Airlines legacy on September 1 2018 by Tata Media Release.

J. R. D. Tata

• GENTLEMAN JEH. An article in the Sunday Mid-Day, December 5, 1993, by R k Karanjia. Jeh's life was like a perfect Victorian sonnet: with a beautiful beginning, robust middle and gentle ending.

Air-India History

• Air India International. An article in Shell Aviation News, Number 239, May 1958 by K. U. Matthew. India's international airline celebrates the 10th anniversary of its inception in June 1948. An early contemporary account of the airlines early years.
• Aviation News Volume 1 November 22. An article on Indian Aviation dated c. 1972.
• Airliners International (Fall 1973) salutes Air-India for using the vast dimensions of the 747, outside and inside, to convey a national motif. Well done! (courtesy John Evanich).
• Palace Intrigues. As Air-India's chairman and managing director fight, the Maharajah's profit slump.17 - 23 July, 1988, by An Ananda Bazaar Publication (Sunday).
• Air India's Inaugural Flight. (nd) dadinani.com
• Air India : The history of the aircraft fleet. 26 July 2004, by Sean Mendis
• When Air India Was Owned By Tata’s, February 4, 2016, By Al Arafat Sherfuddeen.
• Air India Flew Its First International Flight 68 Years Ago. Here’s All You Need To Know About It. Jun 10, 2016, by Shumali Sharma
• 3 November 1950. On the crash of the Malabar Princess by Bryan R. Swopes.
• Creativity in Advertising. Speech by Mr. S.K.Kooka at the World Advertising Conference, London in June 1967.
• Time for the Maharaja to Stand Tall. Sep 17 2016 : The Economic Times (Mumbai) by Anirban Chowdhury and Mihir Mishra. Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju in his inimitable way is attempting to bring back the glory that Air India once commanded. But more interesting is the kinship that Raju, a scion of the royal family of Vizianagram, finds with the airline's iconic mascot: The Maharaja.
• Here is a link to Airwhiners.net. It contains a complete list of Air-India aircraft, with registration numbers, names and more information. This is complied by Seam Mendis. Unfortunately, it mixes up both Air-India Ltd., and Air-India International Ltd. However, it is very comprehensive, and a useful reference tool.
• Air-India like you've never seen before. May 14 2018: 'Revisiting the Golden Age of Travel with Air-India' With the help of private collectors and archival material, AD revisits the beauty and grace of the Maharajah Lounges and the Emperor fleet, before the titles came to an end in 1988. by Arcihtectual Digest (AD).
• When JRD Tata used to clean Air India's toilet and wiped dust off an airline counter. As chairman of Air India, JRD Tata would take personal interest in even minute issues like a dirty toilet inside the aircraft, wordings on Air India hoardings or the level to which wine was poured into a wine glass. The remarkable success story of Tata Airlines, which was later nationalised, also holds business management lessons for present day airlines which are facing losses year after year. 24 November, 2018, by Nikhil Agarwal, LiveMint.

Air India Collectibles

• Airline Timetable Images is a wonderful website put up by Björn Larsson and David Zekria. You will need to navigate through the site for a glimpse of very old and rate timetables and baggage labels of Air-India.
• Club Maharaja. An absolutely fabulous aviation website called Aerocollectors Club by Ken Sequeira, built in 2014. Ken worked for Air-India and now lives in Australia. He has dedicated a section to Air-India, and has the most amazing gallery of items on display.
• All the Maharaja’s men. March 10, 2016, by Riaan Jacob George. - a great article on Air-India collectibles and the growing tribe of collectors.
• Air India to host rare ancient artefacts on August 15. By Neha Tripathi, The Asian age, Jan 30, 2017.
• In return, Señor Dali would like a baby elephant by Reema Gehi, Mumbai Mirror, August 6, 2017.
• Air-India museum likely to be opened by January in Mumbai by Express News Service, The Indian Express, August 23, 2017.
• 'I once flirted with a Maharajah' Nargis Wadia reminisces about the joy of creating Air-India's iconic posters by Salil Deshpande, Conde Nast Traveler Magazine, May 11, 2018.

Air-India Art Collection

• First ever exhibition of the Air India art collection. 17 Aug 2013, by Gargi Gupta
• How the Maharajah become an art lover by Reema Gehi, July 16, 2017.  Air-India has one of India's biggest art collections. How did the national carrier come to acquire it in the first place?​
• Culture Ministry will take over AI's art collection. National carrier’s priceless artwork will be taken over by the Ministry of Culture, which will display it in the National Gallery of Modern Art in various metros. by Mumbai Mirror, July 2, 2018.
• Air-India to give away 4,000 artworks gathering dust at Mumbai office to NGMA. “The Maharaja collection”, as it is generally called, has more than 4,000 works, including paintings by legendary artists such as M F Husain, V S Gaitonde, Jatin Das, and Anjolie Ela Menon.by Divya A, Indian Express, July 4, 2018.

Air-India Trivia

• Air-India adds more color to Diwali Stamp Celebrations by Bidisha Roy. 21 Oct 2016. Gifts free return tickets to India to winners in AI Raffle to promote Diwali Stamp
• Air-India flies Delhi-San Francisco nonstop over Pacific, and into record books by Saurabh Sinha, Oct 23, 2016.
• AI lines up an all-woman, round-the-world flight, by Manju V. Feb 17 2017 : The Times of India (Mumbai). To fly to San Francisco from Delhi, Air India flies eastwards over the Pacific, making a 15,300km journey, which happens to be the world's longest non-stop route to be operated by any airline.
• Air-India: Crew recall good old days when the Maharajah was pride of the nation by Jane Borges. July 09, 2017. As Air-India gets ready to move into private hands, crew members share memories of flying around the world with the Maharajah.​

• A video clip from Movie Mera Naam Joker, which was released in December 18, 1970 shows  Raj Kapoor along with Dara Singh bidding goodbye to Russian star Kseniya Ryabinkina at Bombay Airport and in the video you can also see the splendor of the Air-India Boeing 707 preparing for take off. A rare glimpse of Bombay Airport in the early 1970s. In the background you will hear a super-hit track from his earlier film, Awara.

---

Indian Civil Aviation

• Victory week Air Display - Souvenir Program Saturday 9th March 1946, Willingdon Airport, New Delhi. Victory week was celebrated in the Nation's capital with a fine display of military aircraft. Willingdon Airport was later renamed as Safdarjung Airport, New Delhi.

• Indian Travellers Take to the Air, Air Transport, May 1947. By J.K. VanDenburg Jr. A fact filled article about the state of Indian Civil Aviation in pre-Independence India. The War had finally come to an end, and aircraft requisitioned for military purposes had returned to civil duties, and a large number of military surplus C-47's were bought at throw away prices for civilian use as Dakota DC-3's

---

Airmails

• Abhishek Bhuwalka manages a very useful website on philatelic literature, including a section on India: Airmails and Maritime. This lists many publications on the subject.