Indian Low-Cost Airlines and Their Future Sustainability:A Strategic Analysis

Masters Thesis from the year 2016 in the subject Business economics - Operations Research, grade: MERIT, language: English, abstract: The deregulation has revolutionized the air travel industry in India. The low-cost carriers entry in India has been fulfilling the dream of many Indian people. However, in recent years, low-cost carriers in India are facing huge operational losses and led few carriers to undergo bankruptcy. The impact of high fuel costs, government policies, strikes and infrastructure constraints has led Indian LCCs to pass through a turbulence period. These constraints together place a question mark on Indian LCCs future sustainability and their growth in Indian airline industry. Therefore, this research is undertaken with an objective to conduct strategic analysis on Indian low-cost carriers and examine their future sustainability in the market. The strategic analysis has identified the current situation, and the key challenges faced by Indian low-cost carriers in current operating environment. The impact of internal and external environmental factors caused on Indian low-cost carriers has been also discussed in this report. In addition, this report also discusses the various business strategies followed by major Indian low-cost carriers like INDIGO, Go Air, Spice Jet and Jetlite. A survey has been conducted to identify the customer perception towards travel in low-cost carriers. Data gathered through survey was analyzed to answer key research questions in the report. The analysis and findings have been presented with a set of recommendations that helps the Indian low-cost carriers in upcoming days to improve their situation in the industry.