On 15 October 1932, a defining moment in Indian aviation took place: J.R.D. Tata piloted the inaugural flight of the Tata Sons’ aviation division, carrying 25 kg of airmail from Karachi’s Drigh Road to Bombay’s Juhu via Ahmedabad. That flight marked the start of India’s first scheduled air service, later becoming Tata Airlines and ultimately Air India.

The aircraft used was a De Havilland Puss Moth, a light single-engine plane. On that first year, the fledgling service carried 155 passengers and nearly 10 tonnes of mail over a network stretching Karachi–Ahmedabad–Bombay–Madras, achieving early profitability. 

JRD Tata, who had earned India’s first aviator licence in 1929, nurtured the airline’s growth through turbulent decades. Post–World War II, in 1946, the company was reconstituted as Air India Ltd. and later nationalised in 1953. 

Today, that modest maiden flight is seen as the cornerstone of modern civil aviation in India, a legacy tied forever to Tata’s vision and pioneering spirit.