The De-Mumbaikarisation Of Air India: An Airline Estranged From Its Very Home Which Gave It A Flight

Mumbai: On Thursday, the Air India signages were removed from the walls of the iconic Nariman Point building, which formerly acted as the airline headquarter. The sorrowful sight has been rightfully termed by aviation enthusiasts as the end of an era for Indian aviation as the airline’s long relation with Mumbai practically came to an end with Maharashtra Government taking over the prime property.

Woven into Mumbai

For nearly a century, the story of Air India was inextricably woven into the very fabric of Mumbai. It was here, on a dusty mud flat in Juhu, that India’s civil aviation was born. It was from Nariman Point that its global empire was micro-managed and it was in the sprawling suburban enclave of Kalina that its workforce raised generations of Air Indians.

However, the airline – once a proud Mumbaikar – has been slowly uprooted from the financial capital over the recent period of little more than a decade, with the corporate nerve centre being shifted to the National Capital Region, the iconic Marine Drive headquarters changing hands, and the historic staff colonies being dismantled. Mumbai witnessed the final chapter of a profound corporate shift as India's national carrier slowly, then suddenly, severed its deepest roots with the city that gave it flight.

94-Year Romance

The romance between Air India and Mumbai began around 94 years ago, in October 1932, when JRD Tata flew India’s first commercial flight, operating under the name of Tata Airlines, by carrying mail from Karachi to Mumbai’s Juhu Aerodrome on a De Havilland Puss Moth aircraft. The historic event marked the birth of India’s civil aviation and Mumbai’s dreams of becoming Asia’s top aviation hub.

The fledgling carrier was entirely a Bombay affair and from this very city, the carrier took Mumbai to the world with commencement of its international operations. Rebranded as Air India International, with a minority stake of the Indian government, the airline launched its first international flight in June 1948 from Mumbai’s newly built Santacruz Airport to London, with stops at Cairo and Geneva. Mumbai was firmly established as the primary gateway and operational heart of India's international ambitions.

Air India Colony

The city became home to Air India and the Air Indians in the 1950s after the airline’s employees were provided official residence quarters near the airport. The growing airline also saw an increase in workforce and expansion of the Air India Colony in Kalina, which ultimately sprawled across 184 acres, housing more than 1,600 families, of employees associated with AI Airport Services Ltd (AIASL), AI Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL) and AI Asset Holdings Ltd (AIAHL).

Shashikant Salunke (58), a former employee with Air India's cabin catering department who lived in the Air India colony for 19 years, said, "The Air Colony was more than just staff quarters. It was an extended home with all the colleagues living together. The children of Air India employees studied in the school here and are today excelling as scientists, politicians, bureaucrats and engineers. The colony's local ground has given out cricketers playing on nation and international level.”

Iconic Building

The airline and the city’s relation grew even stronger in the 70s with the opening of the iconic Air India Building at Nariman Point, solidifying Mumbai as the permanent brain of the airline. The 22-storey modernist skyscraper, designed by New York architect John Burgee, featured the iconic revolving centaur logo at its crest. One of the most creatively genius advertisements from Air India, which showed the airline’s animated Maharaja sitting atop a high-rise building and saying “Nariman has a point and I’ll be on it!” implied that it wasn’t just an office block but a symbol of post-independence Indian corporate prowess.

Radhakrishnan Nair, who had worked with Indian Airlines and Air India from 1982 to 2017, recalled the golden days of working from the Nariman Point building. He said, "The office used to be always crowded with passengers coming in to book their tickets. Air India was truly a great organisation, which supported artists and sportspersons as well.”

Beginning of the End

From the edge of the Arabian Sea, Air India continuously expanded its domestic and international operations for more than 40 years. However, its relationship with Mumbai started falling apart after its merger with Indian Airlines. Under the state ownership, Air India was ordered to relocate the corporate headquarters to New Delhi, leaving behind the operations and commercials teams in 2013.

When the Tata Group officially took back the debt-laden carrier in January 2022, many in Mumbai anticipated a corporate homecoming. However the Tatas cut the cord on Mumbai's remaining administrative units and consolidated all entities into a single, massive campus in Gurugram’s Vatika One On One.

Colony Eviction

Amid the repetitively changing ownership of Air India, the most painful blow fell upon the retired and serving workforce who were asked to vacate their staff quarters in Kalina after the airline was finally handed back to the Tatas. The land’s lessor, Mumbai International Airport Ltd., had asked for the humongous land parcel to be handed back for airport expansion. On the other hand, its premium rent was becoming unaffordable for AIAHL

On May 31, the last remaining residents of the Air India Colony were supposed to vacate their homes, leaving behind a decades-old community that represented the operational muscle of the airline. Among these residents, one was Salunkhe and his family, who surrendered their quarter on Friday. "First I had to opt for voluntary retirement as the Tata-owned Air India shut down the department I was working in. Then we were asked to vacate our houses. By now more than 90% of the residents have vacated the quarters and moved to different parts of the city," he said.

The final symbolic tie was severed when the iconic Nariman Point building was officially sold to the Government of Maharashtra for Rs 1,601 crore. The state cabinet approved the procurement of the historic building from AIAHL in November 2023 to use the tower for its own expanding ministerial offices, leaving the legendary Air India signage to look over Marine Drive as a relic of a bygone era rather than an active corporate beacon. On June 3, the state government took ownership of the building and started its restoration work, under which the Air India signs were replaced with that of the state government.

"It was painful to watch the iconic building, which was once my workplace, to be sold off. Today, India lacks a national carrier of the stature of Indian Airlines and the erstwhile Air India," said Nair, adding that thousands of former employees like him have been ripped off their post retirement benefits, including pension and medical insurance.

For those who remember the golden age of the Maharaja, this migration feels like a betrayal of heritage. However, stripping away the nostalgia reveals that the shift to Gurugram was an unavoidable business decision driven by harsh realities of operational efficiency, corporate integration and economic viability.

Although Mumbai will always remain a core station for Air India as it commands a massive slice of its premium international capacity, its relationship is now purely commercial. Its status as the heartbeat, the home, and the nervous system of the Maharaja is officially over. Nariman still has a point but the Maharaja is nowhere to be seen. The Maharaja has packed its bags, turned its back on the Arabian Sea, and settled firmly in the north.

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