Ratan Tata receives adorable flight-shaped cookie gift after Air India deal; shares image

Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of the Tata Group, took to Instagram to share his spirits of winning the final bid for the acquisition of Air India. Ratan Tata shared an image of adorable cookies shaped like an aircraft and coloured in red and white to denote Air India's colour palettes. On October 8, the Ministry of Finance approved the Air India disinvestment to the Tata Group, via a wholly-owned subsidiary Talace Pvt Ltd, which emerged as the frontrunner to acquire the commercial air carrier company. 

Having posted his Instagram story on October 11, Rata Tata tagged Sir Ratan Tata Institute (RTI), saying, "Thank you Sir Ratan Tata Institute for these adorable cookies." Also, the zip-lock bag sent across by the Institute read, "Welcome back Air India".

Notably, Sir Ratan Tata Institute is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) based bakery located in Mumbai. This bakery was established by Ratan Tata's wife Navajbai Tata in 1926. The idea behind the NGO was to aid poor women of the community by providing them with basic livelihood and employment. 

Tata Group acquires Air India with winning bid of Rs 18,000 Cr

Marking the third attempt of the Government of India (GoI) to get rid of the decade-long loss-incurring air carrier, the salt-to-software conglomerate placed a winning bid of ₹18,000 crores to re-acquire the airline more than 65 years after it ceded control to the government. The Tata Group – which owns stakes in Vistara airlines and Air Asia – has been eyeing to bring Air India back into Tata's folds for a long time. Air India, which was founded by J.R.D. Tata, a licenced pilot, in 1932, had been operating a few mail carriers in the 1930s between Karachi in then undivided and British-ruled India, and Bombay.

Air India then and now 

Air India was taken over by GoI in 1953 after the air carrier was nationalised. While JRD Tata was initially made head of Air India's board, he was later dropped from the re-constituted board of both Air India and Indian Airlines in 1978 - an incident that still stings the Tatas. Notably, Tata Sons, the holding company and owner of British luxury automobile manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover, managed to acquire the brand subsequent to PM Modi's bold privatisation plan to prevent a stretched budget deficit. 

After operating as a government-owned commercial carrier in the 1940s, Air India rapidly emerged popular among the affluent and contrary to today's branding, its advertisements and promotion featured Bollywood actresses while passengers on board were served expensive champagnes and designer-made porcelain ashtrays, as per archived reports. 

However, of late after Gulf and other private domestic brands started to order cheaper tickets en routes to Europe and the US via layovers in Middle East Asia, Air India suffered losses. Considering the conglomerate holds major shares in AirAsia India and Vistara which is a joint venture with Singapore Airlines Ltd, Air India has not earned a profit since 2007, after its merger with Indian Airlines. The Tata group can take advantage of the reputation it carries and other assets it possesses, such as Vistara's designated landing and parking spaces at London's Heathrow.

Image: PTI, Instagram/@ratantata