'Excited to work together.' Ratan Tata welcomes Air India passengers as airline takes off from Tata fold, after 70 yrs

Air India, which returned to the Tata Group after decades, welcomed its passengers on Wednesday morning with a special message by none other than the chairman emeritus of Tata Sons himself, Ratan Tata.

The 84-year-old businessman's soothing voice covered the cockpit as he welcomed the passengers.

"The Tata Group welcomes Air India’s new customers and is excited to work together to make Air India the airline of choice in terms of passenger comfort and service,” Tata said in a 19-second voice note.


The official Twitter handle of Air India shared the audio clip of Ratan Tata. The tweet's caption read: “A warm welcome extended by Mr Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus, Tata Sons, Chairman Tata Trusts, to our passengers onboard Air India flights.”


Air India took its first flight as part of the Tata Group family on Friday following its official return. The airline flew back home to Tatas on January 27 after nearly 69 years after its departure.

The salt-to-software conglomerate in October 2021 had won the bid for Air India through a competitive bidding war for Rs 18,000 crore including the cash component of Rs 2,700 crore.

This will be the third airline as the Tatas already operate Vistara in a joint venture with Singapore Airlines, and AirAsia India in partnership with AirAsia Group.