Since the Tata takeover, India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation has repeatedly fined Air India over safety and other regulatory violations, including an Rs8mn ($95,000) penalty last year for exceeding flight duty time limits. At home, it is competing in a near-duopoly with IndiGo, which has been boosting its international long-haul routes.

Indian authorities have started handing over remains of the victims of one of India’s worst aviation disasters after identifying some through DNA tests.

Air India's Chairman N. Chandrasekaran on Monday told staff that last week's plane crash that killed at least 271 people should be a catalyst to build a safer airline, urging employees to stay resolute amid any criticism.

Abdhi Patel had traveled to India to care for her mother, but was "very nervous" to leave her young son for two weeks, Atif Karim, Patel's colleague at Zone Beauty Studio in Northampton, England, told The Independent. Karim said that Patel, 40, felt a "sense of duty" to travel to India, but "you could tell it was weighing on her."

Tragedy struck this week when a plane crashed in the city of Ahmedabad just shortly after takeoff, leaving investigators and aviation officials with many questions.

A Boeing and AAIB investigation team arrived in Ahmedabad on Monday to inspect the Air India crash site. The June 12 disaster involving a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner resulted in over 270 fatalities, including former Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani.