1. AMITY BUSINESS SCHOOL,
NOIDA
DISSERTATION
SUSTAINING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE:
AIRLINES SECTOR
By:
Tanya Tandon
200507254
Section B
PGDM 2005

2. SUSTAINING COMPETITIVE
ADVANTAGE:
AIRLINES SECTOR
(A Comparison of Indian Airlines, Jet
Airways and Sahara Airlines)
Under the guidance of:
Prof. A.T.K. Raman

3. CONTENTS
 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
• Research Objectives
• Type of Study
• Nature of the sample
• Source of Data Collection
• Analysis of Data
• Statistical Analysis
• Graphical Representation
 INTRODUCTION
• A glimpse of the Indian (Domestic) Aviation Industry
• The Resurgence of Domestic Airlines
 PROFILE OF THE THREE DOMESTIC AIRLINES
• Indian Airlines
Organization Profile
Indian Airlines – Present, Past and Future Performance
Current Scenario- Merger and Disinvestments
Turn Around Strategy
• Jet Airways

4. Company Profile
Company’s Vision and Mission
Achievements in the past five years
Plans for 2003-04
Future Plans
Marketing Strategies adopted
• Sahara Airlines
Corporate Profile
Sahara Airlines-Introduction
Achievements – Slow and Steady Wins
Ingredients of Success
Marketing Strategies
 COMPARATIVE MARKETING STRATEGIES
• Three Domestic Airlines
• Marketing Strategy- An Overview and Comparison
• Marketing Strategy in response to the Marketing Mix
• Competitive advantage
• Generic Competitive Strategies
• Porter’s Five Force Model
• Value Chain Analysis
• Yield Management
 CUSTOMER PERCEPTIONS

5. • Factors influencing perception of traveler
Service encounters
Evidence of Service
Image or Price
• Aspects tapped in the questionnaire
 ANALYSIS OF CUSTOMER PREFERENCE
• General Information about the travelers
• Effect of Advertisement
• Ticketing Procedure
• Check-in and Baggage Handling Procedure
• In-flight Service
• Grievance Handling
 CONCLUSION
 RECOMMENDATIONS
 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
 COPY OF QUESTIONNAIR

6. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I consider it my grate privilege to have worked under the expert guidance of my
Professor A.T.K.Raman. His enlightened guidance, valuable suggestion & constant
encouragement saved me from many pitfalls through the course of my study.
I am also grateful to my parents for the moral support and motivation.
Last but not the least my sincere thanks goes to all the participants of the study who
extended help willingly and made the study highly enjoyable and interesting.

7. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The study was undertaken to gain an insight into the competitive strategies of the three
major domestic airlines in the country. The focus was mainly on the strategies in
response to the customer’s requirements. Therefore a detailed knowledge of customer’s
requirements was necessary. The information on these aspects was collected through
primary and secondary means including discussion with the airlines staff at various
levels. Accordingly a customer response questionnaire to know the perception of
customers regarding the services was evolved as the primary sources of information
while the airlines literature/pamphlets constituted the secondary source of information.
The sample size was 100 which included mostly business men in the age group of 30-55.
The study reveals that the healthy competition between airlines has brought about the
new trends in the quality of service. The customer care has been the focus of their
strategies which was earlier neglected due to monopolistic environment of single airline
run by the government. The Jet Airways has been characterized as the most preferred
airline due to their emphasis on the quality of service. The Sahara Airlines has been
focusing on the customer and evolved their strategy by detailed study of analysis of
psychological and demographic factor. The massive price cuts and holiday packages
have been their main thrust areas. The Indian Airlines, however, has been relying on
their vast infrastructure facilities and large fleet of aircrafts and aggressive advertising
campaigns.