In the initial days, Tata was enthusiastic. In August 1953, he wrote to one of the pilots that the government had assured him that "the new corporation will be run on business lines, with adequate freedom of action". But the disillusionment didn't take long to settle in. In January 1958, Tata told Humayun Kabir, the civil aviation minister at the time, about the need to "de-officialise" the boards of the two companies. "With the growth of the state sector in industry," he wrote, "it is time the government made up its mind whether it wants state corporations operated like government departments or as commercial concerns. If [it's] the former, there is no room or need for men like myself." Two months later, he complained to Kabir about not being consulted before an appointment on the board of directors was made. The next month, he protested the order that all promotions to posts that exceeded Rs 1,500 per month should require the government's approval.
In January 1962, almost 30 years before India embraced economic liberalism, Tata could be found writing to P Subbarayan, the minister for transport and communications, that "the first and foremost thought of all managers or administrators of state enterprises is to protect themselves against possible mistakes and criticism, thus avoiding responsibility and initiative". Only the brave and foolhardy, he added, "are prepared to take commercial risks which would be considered normal in a private enterprise". He concluded by saying that the government was going about the task of running state-owned enterprises "the wrong way". In January 1981, he was complaining about the government's announcement that it would set up a feeder airline without consulting the board members of Air-India. The government, he lamented, has not realised that if the "large public sector it has created has to function efficiently, and if the morale of its management has to be maintained, it must be given a minimum degree of autonomy". There was no mincing of words, no sugar-coating of criticism and certainly no cowing by the might of the state. Compare this with the banal and syrupy public statements of the current crop of business leaders and you will realise what I am talking about.
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Notwithstanding the frequent run-ins with the government, almost always over autonomy, Tata was deeply involved in running Air-India, noting things minutely and then passing on his observations to the managers. Thus, in August 1955, he was complaining about the quality of "worn and filthy" playing cards he was given during a flight. "I was told they had not been replaced for over a year." About the food, this is what he had to say: "When the main dish consists of lamb chops and these are being cooked in the oven, the fat lets out fumes which fill the whole cabin. We should specifically order lean chops."
In February 1968, he wrote that one hostess on the London-New York sector "had an enormous hair bun at the back, larger than her head" which made her looks "ridiculous". Then, in November 1969, he could be found trashing the calendar designed for 1970. Any calendar, according to Tata, should attract the eye and be "viewable" for 30 days of a month. "Except for its originality, the calendar does not pass either test," he wrote. "The February page, picturing a washed-out woman's mouth and nose plus large expanses of nothing, is a typical example. Can it be expected to draw pleasurable attention and a warm reaction from employees or visitors for 30 consecutive days in an office or shop?" In July 1970, he called the coffee served on a Bombay-Beirut flight "watery" which "looked like tea and tasted like bean soup".
On February 4, 1978, Morarji Desai wrote to Tata that there would be one chairman for Air-India and Indian Airlines, and that post would go to Air Chief Marshal P C Lal, the part-time chairman of Indian Airlines. This was done, Desai said, to "secure the efficient working of the two airlines". On February 13, Tata wrote back: "In light of the work I performed for government as a labour of love during the past 25 years, I hope you will not consider it presumptuous of me to have expected that when the government decided to terminate my services and my 45 years' association with Indian civil aviation, I would be informed of the decision directly and, if possible, in advance of the public." He disclosed in the letter that when the two had met in January, Desai hadn't given the slightest hint of the decision. So far as efficiency was concerned, Tata said: "Perhaps, busy as you are with more important national matters, you are not aware that in no time in its history has Air-India been as successful as in the current year, 1977-78." Not the one to be cowed, Desai shot back on February 26: "Frankly speaking, I thought that after so many years of useful service to the corporation you would yourself offer to place the responsibilities on younger shoulders. You did not do so." Tata didn't want to prolong the slugfest. His reply of March 17 said: "I do not wish to prolong this conversation which I am sure is as distasteful to you as it is to me."
In October 1982, Indira Gandhi reappointed Tata on the Air-India board.