Air India bids adieu to 'your palace in the sky'

Air India bids adieu to ‘your palace in the sky’

Air India has sold four of its last remaining Boeing 747-400 jumbo jetliners, marking the end of an era that had once thrust the airline to the global league.

People familiar with the matter said the four aircraft have been sold to US company AerSale, a supplier of aftermarket commercial jet engines and parts. While two aircraft are likely to be converted to freighters, two will be disassembled for their parts, the people said.

Vman Aviation Services, a Mumbai-based company, will manage the transfer of the planes to AerSale.

Used aircraft parts are a hot commodity as most still have plenty of remaining operational life but are much cheaper than new parts, resulting in cost savings for operators.

Air India’s new owner, Tata Group had no intention to use the 747s finding them uneconomical to operate in current conditions.

Air India last flew the 747 between Delhi and Mumbai in March 2021. After acquiring the airline, Tata group had mandated UK-based remarketing firm Skytech-AIC to sell the four planes.

Air India had taken delivery of its first 747 on March 22, 1971. The aircraft entered service on May 21 of that year, with four weekly flights from India to London. It had 423 seats in a triple-class configuration.

The aircraft was also used to ferry the prime minister, president and vice-president till the Indian Air Force acquired two Boeing 777s in 2020.

The airline had back then debuted a new look in its aircraft exterior: silver and white with red details and windows described as Rajasthani style arches, intended to give the effect of a row of ‘Jharokha’ type balconies reminiscent of the Hawa Mahal at Jaipur. The airline had also launched a branding called “Your Palace in the Sky”.

JRD Tata, the then chairman of Air India, had said acquiring the aircraft had become necessary as its competitors were offering a product which was superior.

“One is that we cannot remain a competitive carrier unless we ensure that no other airline in the world offers better equipment or better service to our passengers than we do. The other is that for the first time the industry has…an aircraft large enough to cater to a mass tourist market. With the expected rapid growth of the flow of tourists to India in the years to come, Air India must be equipped to carry its proper share of the traffic,” JRD had said after receiving the first 747.

Gautam Mehta, who flew the 747 for over a decade, said it was a real pilot aircraft with smooth handling, reliability and a grandiose look. “It is a very sturdy aircraft. With four engines, a very high redundancy has been built into it where even if you lose one engine, it would be safe to fly,” Mehta said.

A second pilot who flew the 747 and now has moved to a different aircraft type said the 747 will always remain special, despite the arrival of next generation planes with fly-by-wire technology where the pilot’s workload has reduced significantly.

“Once we had landed at Nagpur with the 747 and the entire airport was outside looking at the magnificent machine. We requested for 90 tonnes of fuel and the airport scattered to organise that because they didn’t need that much fuel in a single day,” he recounted.

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