Air India is the flag carrier airline of India owned by the government run Air India Limited (AIL).

The airline operates a fleet of Airbus and Boeingaircraft serving various domestic and international airports. It is headquartered at the Indian Airlines House in New Delhi. Air India has two major domestic hubs at Indira Gandhi International Airport and Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, secondary hubs at Chennai International Airportand Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport. The airline formerly operated a hub at Frankfurt Airport which was terminated on account of high costs. However, another international hub is being planned at the Dubai International Airport. Air India remains as a state-owned company through Air India Limited. However, government ownership of the airline has subsequently led to multiple problems, such as mounting financial losses, shrinking market share, over-staffing, and escalating labour disputes. Historically, there have been attempts to re-privatize Air India to turn it around, but in 2001 Singapore Airlines pulled out of the bidding process.[15][16] Since then there has been a change in Government, and the new Government's policy is to not privatize Air India. Furthermore, it is also believed that mismanagement and corruption have impacted Air India's financial performance. As of 2013, Air India has showed signs of recovery with its domestic market share increasing to 19.1% as of May 2013 but still lags behind other major carriers IndiGo, Jet Airways and Spice Jet. Air India was a private airline. The Air India of today was formed in 2007 after the merger of two PSUs, Indian Airlines and Air India. But these PSUs had been created in 1953 after nationalising the private airlines in operation at that time. Air India was owned and operated by the Tatas. Its international operation was nationalised into Air India and its domestic operation, along with other private domestic airlines, into Indian Airlines.