JRD Tata, Father of Indian Civil Aviation

The year was 1914. World War I had just begun. German zeppelins were bombing Paris, and French anti-aircraft rifles on the Eiffel Tower were trying to gun them down. Ten-year old JRD Tata was watching this from the terrace of his family home in Paris. He ran to his mother and complained that if she would have had the good sense to marry his father six years earlier, he too would have been a fighter pilot!

Image: Young JRD Tata, 1910s

Years later JRD recalled his preadolescent naïve thoughts, ‘I fervently hoped that the war would last long enough for me to become one!’ It wasn’t surprising for JRD to have had such a fascination for flying in those early years of life. His friend, with whom he spent time during summer holidays at Hardelot (Northern France) was the son of Louis Bleriot, the first man to fly across the English Channel in 1909. After taking a joy ride in a plane at Hardelot at the age of 15, JRD decided to become a pilot and make a career in aviation. A decade later, when the Aero Club of India gave him his flying license, it had No.1 written on it, indicating that he was the first Indian to have qualified to become a pilot.

Image: JRD Tata's Pilot License

The following year, he was among many participants contesting for the Aga Khan prize to become the first Indian to fly solo between England and India. One of the Indian participants – Manmohan Singh had left London twice but lost his way over Europe and returned to London. Those were the days when planes did not have radio, navigation or landing guides of any kind. Much of the flying depended on the pilot’s judgement and a simple compass. Punning on the name given by Singh to his plane, the editor of The Aeroplane observed, ‘Mr Manmohan Singh has called his airplane ‘Miss India’ and he is likely too!’ The real competition was between JRD and the other contestant Aspy Merwan Engineer, who JRD met near Alexandria in Egypt. Aspy was stranded and struggling to find spark plugs. In true sportsman’s spirit, JRD gave his spare plugs. Aspy reached Karachi before JRD reached London and won the prize. His achievement gained him admission in the Indian Air Force in 1933. By 1960, he became the fifth Chief of Air Staff in independent India. JRD’s journey was to be very different from his competitor – one that would pioneer India’s civil aviation industry. Nearly three decades later, when JRD was conferred the Padma Vibhushan (1955), Aspy had written a congratulatory letter to him. In reply, JRD wrote: ‘I was glad I lost to you (in the Aga Khan prize) … Our friendship ever since has been much more worthwhile than winning the competition would have been.’

First Civil Aviation Flight in India

The first known commercial civil aviation flight in India happened in February 18, 1911 when Henri Piquet flew a Humber Biplane from a polo ground in Allahabad carrying mail across the Yamuna river to Naini. Two months earlier on December 28, 1910, Brothers Jules and Jean Tyck took-off two planes from Tollygunge Club’s golfing greens at Calcutta and registered their name in India’s aviation chronicle. This was exactly seven years after Wilbur and Orville Wright invented the airplane and made four brief flights at Kitty Hawk in North Carolina (USA) on December 17, 1903. In the next decade and a half, India took baby-steps in the development of aviation-related infrastructure. This included commencement of the first domestic air route between London, Karachi and Delhi in 1912 by Imperial Airways (now British Airways), construction of civil airports in Calcutta (now Kolkata), Allahabad and Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1924, and establishment of the Department of Civil Aviation by the British Government in India in 1927.

Tatas pioneer Civil Aviation in India

In 1929, JRD was approached by Nevill Vintcent, a retired Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot, with a proposal to start air services between Karachi and Bombay. The Imperial Airways had regular service between London and Karachi. Vintcent suggested that the Tata-backed airline could start services to Western and Southern India. Starting from Karachi, the air service could transport post and people up to Madras on the eastern coast via Ahmedabad, Bombay and Bellary. JRD was convinced of the idea and approached Sir Dorab Tata, then chairman of Tata Sons. Sir Dorab was hesitant to commit an investment into the embryonic aviation sector. However, Peterson, director-in-charge of Tata Steel and JRD’s mentor, convinced Sir Dorab for the initial investment of ₹200,000. For the next two years, Tatas tried to persuade the British Government to subsidize the fledgling aviation business. They requested an assistance of just ₹75,000 for the first two years. But the government declined. When Tatas decided to donate a free air service to the government, the proposal was instantly accepted. No airline in the world operated without government support. But Tatas were willing to accept the financial risk associated with the new venture. Immediately after the government approval, JRD visited England to purchase two Puss Moth aircrafts from Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, acknowledged as father of British aviation. (The De Havilland Company was sold to Boeing of Canada in 1985. In 1992, it was acquired by Canada-based Bombardier Inc.) JRD wanted to fly one of them to India, but he fell sick at Naples and the airplane came as his personal baggage on-board the Victoria. From Ballard Pier in South Bombay, where the ship had docked, the aircraft was taken to Juhu in a bullock cart!

The Tata Airlines was formed in April 1932. (It was then called Tata Air Services and was renamed Tata Airlines in 1938.) The story of Indian commercial civil aviation began at 6.30 am on October 15, 1932, when JRD took-off on his first official Tata Airlines flight from Karachi’s Drigh Road aerodrome. He landed ahead of schedule at Bombay’s Juhu airstrip by 1.50 pm. There was a brief stop at Ahmedabad where four-gallon Burmah Shell company cans were brought in a bullock cart for refueling the airplane. The aircraft was a single engine De Havilland Puss Moth and carried 25kg of airmail letters. Within ten minutes of JRD’s arrival, Vintcent flew the aircraft to Madras with the airmail from Bombay. The government had permitted the Tatas a four-anna postage charge per airmail.

When one uses the word ‘took-off’ and ‘landed’, one presumes the availability of elaborate infrastructure at an airport. In those years, there was none. The Bombay airstrip was the wetlands of Juhu beach. In the monsoon, when the ‘runway’ was underwater, the Tata Airlines would transfer its base to Poona (now Pune). An open ground in the neighbourhood of the historic Yerawada Jail acted as the aerodrome. Interestingly, in April 1933, JRD was forced to undertake a night journey to Bellary when the only light available was that provided by the crescent moon. Vintcent was supposed to meet him at the airstrip, but failed to turn up, and JRD ended up spending the entire night in the open under one of the wings of the Puss Moth. Despite these difficulties, the performance of Tata Airlines was outstanding. It completed its first year of service with 100 percent punctuality, even during the difficult monsoon months when the perilous Western Ghats made such journeys dangerous. Of those years JRD had once said, ‘I was tense only when there was bad weather. Tenseness because I was so anxious that the mail should not be delayed.’ Interestingly, the Directorate of Civil Aviation in India recommended that the Imperial Airways should send their staff on deputation to the Tatas to learn how this was done. In subsequent years, Tata Airlines’ services were extended to Delhi and Colombo. Success brought competition from other domestic players. Several Indian airlines like Indian Transcontinental Airways, Madras Air Taxi Services, and Indian National Airways commenced operations in India by 1934. (The government framed the Indian Aircraft Act in 1937 to oversee the domestic civil aviation sector.)

Image: A Timetable of Tata Airlines from the 1930s

Air India is formed

In 1946, Tata Airlines, till then a division of Tata Sons, went public by becoming a joint stock company called Air India Ltd. A year later, in October 1947, Tata Sons proposed the establishment of a new company – Air India International, for international air service to London. In the new arrangement, the Government of India was to have 49% stake, Tata Sons 25% stake and the remaining subscribed by the public. The proposal was accepted within three weeks by the newly formed Government of India, which was busy quelling communal strife in post-partition Delhi. During the tumultuous and traumatic post-partition period, Tata Airlines had flown refugees from Pakistan to India and vice versa, a gesture gratefully acknowledged by prime minister Nehru.

Image: JRD Tata (second from left) with his team at Air India International

Air India's First International Flight

8 June 1948 was the red-letter day. It marked the beginning of Air India’s journey across the oceans. The Malabar Princess, a 40-seater Lockheed Constellation, Air India International’s first overseas flight ascended over the Arabian Sea from the Bombay Airport for London. JRD and his wife Thelma were among the passengers along with Digvijay Singhji, the Jamsaheb of Nawanagar, Duleepsinhji, famous cricketer, Krishna Menon, India’s high commissioner to UK, several industrialists and two Indian cyclists on their way to the London Olympics. The airfare to London was a princely sum of ₹1,720. The entire Air India crew had rigorously rehearsed for months, flying dummy runs to various international routes under JRD Tata’s meticulous eye for detail. JRD landed on-time (after stops at Cairo and Geneva) at the London Airport to a battery of floodlights and cameras, which had gathered to welcome the first Asian airline connecting the east to the west.

Image: JRD Tata at the London Airport, 1948

The nationalization of Air India in the year 1953 and the subsequent years under the leadership of JRD as its chairman have been captured by me in a recent article published by Hindustan Times, which can be read here.

JRD’s last flight

Image: JRD Tata on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of his maiden flight

In the concluding decade of JRD’s association with his favourite company – Air India, he reenacted the solo-flight aboard a Puss Moth from Karachi to Bombay to commemorate the golden jubilee of the first flight. The only difference was that in October 1982, India’s foremost pilot was 78 years, and had even suffered from angina pain the previous month. His solo-flight at 78 was a feat applauded by one and all. It spoke volumes of his physical fitness, mental alertness and youthfulness of spirit. When he landed at the Juhu airstrip in Bombay, the governor, chief minister and several dignitaries were present to greet him. JRD had acted as a goodwill messenger between the two countries and carried a mailbag with messages from the president of Pakistan to the president of India, and from the mayor of Karachi to the mayor of Mumbai. Of the battery of journalists gathered to report the historic event, BBC correspondent Mark Tully asked him if he expected to be around for the centenary year of Indian civil aviation. ‘Of course. I will be there,’ was JRD’s spontaneous reply. ‘You see, I believe in reincarnation,’ said the septuagenarian in a witty repartee.

Image: Govt. of India commemorated the 50 years of JRD Tata's maiden flight as the Golden Jubilee of Indian Civil Aviation with a stamp

Will capture more stories on Air India under JRD Tata in future articles...

My short video captures the Leadership Lessons from JRD Tata:

More stories by me on Tata and Civil Aviation can be read on LinkedIn:

1. Civil Aviation, Politics and The Tata Group

2. Two Decades on the Tarmac

Published by Penguin Random House India, 'THE TATA GROUP' is available at your nearest bookstore and on most major airports. It can also be ordered on Amazon and Flipkart in Print and Kindle versions. A lot more information is available on my website: shashankshah.com