After India began allowing private airlines in 1994, Air India struggled to remain competitive. Despite a significant loss in market share, the corporation was kept bloated with an oversized fleet and
labour force. It began posting losses in 2007 and merged with Indian Airlines later that year to form National Aviation Company of India Ltd. (NACIL; renamed Air India Ltd. in 2010). After accumulating billions of dollars in debt over the next decade, the government began looking to privatize the company in 2017. After years of little success, the airline was finally sold to the
Tata Group in 2021.