Explaining firm level performance of the airlines industry in India: how business strategy formulation and implementation matters?

Abstract

Indian Aviation Industry is one of the most rapidly growing aviation sectors in the world. Given the rise in Indian Economy and the forecasts of prospective sustenance of the same, it makes India an attractive destination for Airline companies. India s civil Aviation Industry is the 9th largest in the world with a market size of $16 Billion and hopes to become 3rd largest by 2020. As of now, in terms of domestic passenger volumes, India ranks 4th with passenger volume of 139.3 million. The industry has been on an expansion spree with growth of 6.2% in 2014 (8.3 billion USD) and estimated to grow by 59.9% to reach to 13 billion USD by 2019. This is owing to the factors such as modern airports, low cost carriers, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in domestic airlines, advanced Information Technology tools and growing adoption from the rising middle-class population. It is amidst these huge market potential, favorable macroeconomic conditions in India, supportive government policies and the competitive nature of Airlines Industry, this project intends to study comprehensively the strategic choices that are made by the players in Indian Domestic Airline Industry, which is 79.4% of total Indian Industry volume.