Government fires the starting gun on Air India's second sale attempt
Two years after the 2018 privatisation attempt drew zero bidders, the government released a fresh Preliminary Information Memorandum on January 27, 2020 offering 100% of Air India and Air India Express plus 50% of ground-handler AISATS.
The government is trying to sell the Maharaja again. The Alternative Mechanism released a fresh Preliminary Information Memorandum today, and this time the offer is the whole airline: 100% equity in Air India and Air India Express, plus 50% of ground-handler AISATS.
That “100%” is the headline, because it’s what was missing in 2018. The first disinvestment attempt kept the government on the shareholder register and attracted exactly zero bidders. Nobody wanted to buy an airline with Delhi still in the boardroom. Round two removes that objection entirely.
Why should a points desk care about a divestment memo? Because whoever buys Air India buys its frequent flyer programme with it — along with the lounge and interline relationships that have been in limbo since the Jet Airways collapse. Miles sitting in the programme now have a future owner to worry about.
Our take: this is the process that decides whether Air India’s FFP becomes something worth earning into or a museum piece. Watch who bids. If the Tatas show up, this gets interesting fast.