JRD – the Father of Air India

Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata (JRD) represented an exalted idea of Indianness: progressive, benevolent, ethical and compassionate. He loved France, Flying and Freedom struggle of India. Taking inspiration from JRD, Kalpana Chawla opted for career in aeronautics.

Born in Paris in 1904, in the family of business partner and relative of Jamsetji Tata, he was educated in France, Japan and England before being drafted into the French army for a mandatory one-year period. JRD was keen to stay in the forces to avail a chance to attend a renowned horse-riding school, but father didn’t permit. That saved his life, because the regiment he served in, was wiped out during an expedition in Morocco.

Starting Young

JRD desired to have Engineering Degree from Cambridge, but father R D Tata summoned him back to India and made him enter Business Career in a country that he was not familiar with. He entered as an unpaid apprentice in Dec’ 1925, under mentorship of John Peterson, a Scotsman and Ex-ICS. At the age of 22, after the death of father, JRD was on the board of Tata Sons. In 1929, aged 25 years, he surrendered French citizenship to embrace the country that became the central motif of his life.

First Flight

Right from childhood JRD was fascinated for flying. He grew up in France watching early flights of famous aviator Louis Bleriot, and had taken joyride in airplane as a 15-year-old. In 1929, JRD was the first Indian to be granted commercial pilot's license. A year later, a proposal came to the Tata headquarters to start an airmail service to connect Bombay, Ahmedabad and Karachi. Peterson convinced Dorabji Tata, then Chairman of Tata Sons, to let the young ace have his way.

In 1932 Tata Aviation Service, the forerunner to Tata Airlines and Air India, took to the skies. The first flight in the history of Indian aviation lifted off from Karachi with JRD at the controls of a Puss Moth. JRD nourished and nurtured his airline baby through to 1953, when the Govt of India nationalised Air India.

Nehru and JRD had been friends and there was mutual respect, but they differed on the economic policies that India needed to follow. JRD was votary of liberalisation long before it was implemented in India. Air India saga hurt JRD, but he continued to head up to 1977, when an act of government forced him out. Though, reinstated by Indira Gandhi, when she came to power, JRD had lost interest and declined the responsibility.

Air India was passion for JRD; it was felt by some that JRD spent more time for the airline than he did for the entire Tata group. It was his ardour for and commitment to the Air India that made it world-class carrier.

Expanding an Empire

JRD took over as Chairman of Tata Sons in 1938, as the youngest member of the board. Over the next 50-odd years, the group expanded into chemicals, automobiles, tea and information technology. JRD favoured professionals to manage the group enterprises, turning the Tata group into a business federation where entrepreneurial talent and expertise were encouraged to flower.

Building institutions

JRD played a critical role in increasing India's scientific, medical and artistic quotient. The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), the Tata Memorial Hospital, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, the National Institute of Advanced Sciences and the National Centre for the Performing Arts, are examples of excellence in respective fields.

'National interest' to JRD meant advancing country's scientific and economic capacities. JRD set up multipurpose JRD Tata Trust for public welfare in 1944, to which he added sale proceeds of his shares and an apartment in Bombay, naming it JRD and Thelma Tata Trust, to work for the lot of India's disadvantaged women.

He was aware of India's "desperate race between population and production" and was concerned about propagating methods to control the country's population growth. The International Institute of Population Studies was the outcome of this initiative that was recognised with UN Population Award in 1992.

JRD never cared after honours, but was perhaps the only industry leader to be conferred Bharat Ratna. He married Thelma, after a Paris romance in 1930, didn’t have children, but always appeared most comfortable with kids. A great nationalist, JRD breathed his last on Nov’ 29, 1993.

It's a TRIBUTE to JRD on his death anniversary, when Air India is back into the fold of the founder, The Tata Sons.

[Based on https://www.tata.com/about-us/tata-group-our-heritage/tata-titans/jrd-tata]