a3 interim project report

8/3/2019 A3 Interim Project Report

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Table of Contents

1. About the Company.................................................................................................................3

1.1 Fleets.....................................................................................................................................3

1.2 Destinations...........................................................................................................................3

1.3 Onboard services...................................................................................................................4

2. Growth.....................................................................................................................................4

SDM Institute for Management Development Page 1

SUBMITTED BY

GROUP 3, SECTION A

ANKUR KHATRI (10008)

PUSHPALATHA K (10033)TAMAL SARKAR (10054)

GHIYA CHIRAG (10077)

SANJAY SOMASHEKAR (10102)


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3. The Triangle of Service...........................................................................................................4

3.1 Skills......................................................................................................................................4

3.2 Strategy.................................................................................................................................4

3.3 System...................................................................................................................................5

4. Interdependence of Marketing, Operations and Human Resource..........................................5

4.1 Operations.............................................................................................................................5

4.2 Marketing..............................................................................................................................6

4.3 Human Resource...................................................................................................................6

5. Service Classification..............................................................................................................6

6. 8Ps of Service Marketing.........................................................................................................7

7. Customer Expectations............................................................................................................8

7.1 Adequate service...................................................................................................................8

7.2 Desired service......................................................................................................................8

8. Customer perception of service quality...................................................................................8

9. Consumption Process...............................................................................................................9

9.1 Pre-purchase phase................................................................................................................9

9.2 Service Encounter...............................................................................................................11

9.3 Post purchase phase............................................................................................................12

9.3 Post purchase phase

1. About the Company

Indigo Airways, since its inception in the year 2006 has come a long way. It is a subsidiary of

the Gurgaon based InterGlobe Enterprises Limited jointly managing it with former US Airways

chief Rakesh Gangwal. It has primarily focused on the Budget carrier segment in India . Due to

its very well principled policies and transparent features, a solid brand name has been made for

Indigo Airways. Recently Indigo Airlines has been planning to increase its capacity greatly and

has placed the largest ever aircraft by any Indian firm when it placed an order of 100 Airbus

A320s at the Paris Air Show. The deal is worth 6.5 Billion dollars and clearly shows Indigo

Airline's Intentions for the long run.



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Under the guidance of Interglobe Technologies which has been a leading travel company in

India since its establishment in 1989, Indigo airline has sufficient market experience to

understand and react to the market with considerable maturity.

Indigo Airways has brought a transparent and vibrant style with itself. Their ground staffs is

well groomed and prompt in their services and ensure that the passengers know clearly the

various day to day nuances like ground take off delays and other problems well in advance

without any attempts to hide it from them. It helps the passenger understand the scenario betterand has so far given Indigo Airlines a good brand image. Also despite being a budget carrier it

has pre-allotted seating arrangements compared to the free sitting provided by the other budget

carriers which creates problems of its own kind like rush for good seats and families, groups are

not being able get seats together. The Indian Aviation Industry is on the verge of tremendous

growth and is showing great potential with regards to the future. Indigo is well positioned to take

full advantage of this scenario and likely to emerge as a major player in the aviation Industry in

the future as indigo airlines grows.

1.1 Fleets

IndiGo placed an order for 100 Airbus A320 aircraft during the 2005 Paris Air Show. The totalorder was worth US $6 billion, one of the highest by any domestic carrier during the show.

1.2 Destinations

IndiGo operates to 26 destinations in India with 259 flights each day. It obtained a license to

operate international flights after completing five years of domestic operations. On 22 August

2011, it was announced that the airline planned to begin international services on 1 September,

initially on the New DelhiDubai route, but over the following weeks expanding to serve

Dubai, Bangkok, Singapore, Muscat and Kathmandu from New Delhi and Mumbai.

1.3 Onboard services

IndiGo's domestic flights operating within India have no Business class or First class sections. Itoffers only Economy class seating. As a low-cost carrier, IndiGo offers only complementary

mineral water to passengers on board its domestic flights. Snacks, meals and drinks are available

as a buy-on-board option.

2. Growth

IndiGo becomes the fastest growing airline in the country. It has flown over 32 million

passengers on over 223000 flights in the last 5 years.

Current market share grown up to 19.6 per cent, since launch with the fleet of 42 A-320

aircraft.

Orders 180 Airbus-320 aircraft for future expansion Launch maiden International flights to Singapore, Dubai & Bangkok, effective

September



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1. The Triangle of Service

3.1 Skills

Following skills are required for a person to be in this industry.

Good communication skill

Welcoming manner

Pride in appearance

Physically fit

Common sense

Calm and reassuring manner

Able to tackle tricky and critical situations

Lesser response time

Knowledge about aircraft

Punctuality

3.2 Strategy

Indigo is in LCC (Low Cost Carrier) segment of the airline industry, but it didnt position itself

as a low fare airline. It has positioned itself as On time airline. According to them, competitors

match them in cost, but cant match them in punctuality.

3.3 System

Indigo has lowest turnaround time (30 minutes) in the airline industry which shows their

commitment for position as On time airline. IndiGos On-Time Performance has been 94.6 per

cent (April 2011) - best in the industry.

Here, we can see that all 3 corners of triangle of service in Indigo are interrelated with each

other. All are working for the companys goal (i.e. On time airline).

1. Interdependence of Marketing, Operations and Human Resource

4.1 Operations

The airline has trained its crews to de-plane the passengers in 6 minutes and unload the baggage

in 10 minutes. It regularly achieves turnaround times of around 28-30 minutes (Industry average

is more than 35-40 minutes). The lesser the time taken at the airports, the more the airplane can

fly and earn more revenues. On an average, an IndiGo aircraft flies for around 12 hours a day,

compared to 8 or 10 hours logged by most competitors.

4.2 Marketing

As mentioned above in operation plan, IndiGo has very low turnaround time; it leads to greater

customer experience in terms of on-time performance. IndiGo markets itself as an On-time

airline carrier, instead of Low cost carrier.



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4.3 Human Resource

As mentioned above, IndiGo gives training to its crew to de-plane and unload the baggage in

very short time, which will help it to low turnaround times and greater customer satisfaction.

2. Service Classification

The service offered by Indigo is mainly People Processing. Here they are in direct contact with

customers while providing service.

3. 8Ps of Service Marketing

6.1 Product

Currently, Indigo airline operates 42 aircrafts of Airbus A-320 and ordered 180 A-320 for future

expansion.

In terms of service, we can divide their products into Core, Supplementary and Augmented

products in terms

Core: TransportationSupplementary: Check-in, Food on board, Connecting flight, Frequent Flyer Program

Augmented: Web- Check in, Online booking, Mobile booking

6.2 Place

IndiGo operates to 26 destinations in India with 259 flights each day. Apart from these domestic

filghts, IngiGo started international services, initially on the New DelhiDubai route, and over

the following weeks expanding to serve Dubai, Bangkok, Singapore, Muscat and Kathmandu

from New Delhi and Mumbai.


Nature of Service

TANGIBLE

INTANGILBE

PEOPLE POSSESSION


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6.3 Process

To avail of the air service, there is online or manual booking of tickets followed by confirmation

at security desks on arrival at the airport at least 2 hrs before the scheduled commencement of

the journey. Besides, arranging for passenger travel post landing to the convenient destination,

arrangements made if flights are delayed or rescheduled etc are some of the value additions that

the airline offers to provide improved customer satisfaction.

6.4 Productivity and QualityIndiGo is very punctual about its timings of scheduled flights. Indigo has lowest turnaround time

(30 minutes) in the airline industry and its On-Time Performance has been 94.6 per cent which

is the best in the airline industry.

6.5 People

A team of skilled & professionally trained pilots, ground staff, flight attendants, freight movers

and packers, security personnel, management decision makers and most importantly, customers.

6.6 Promotions

IndiGo promote themselves in different ways. For example, advertisements on internet,

hoardings, print ads in newspapers, media and press releases, etc.

6.7 Physical evidence

At IndiGo airlines, the aircraft itself, the seating configuration which is meant to be comfortable

and spacious, On time scheduled flights, would make up the physical evidence in this service.

6.8 Price

Price of IndiGo varies from the date you book ticket from the day you are going, based on yield

management. Still IndiGo provides service at one of the lowest fare in the industry withcompare to other competitors.

4. Customer Expectations

7.1 Adequate service

Adequate levels of service are the minimum requirements that must be fulfilled by a service:

Safe journey

Reaching on-time

Comfortable and convenient journey experience

Easy online booking

Proper baggage handling



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7.2 Desired service

Proper service by the staff in a polite and courteous manner

On-board food at low prices

Regular update of flight status through messages and emails

Alternate option in case of cancellation of booked flight

1. Customer perception of service qualityTangibility: The physical appearance of the indoors, the food served, in-flight services,

appearance of the staff and the stewardess, etc is kept at a decent level for people to admire and

enjoy the total experience.

Reliability: The trust which the airline enjoys from its customers and living upto their

expectations, in terms of meeting time requirements, safety standards, hygiene factors and other

standard requirements of the airline travel.

Responsiveness: The attention given to service quality by responding quickly to the customers

queries and other processes such as quick delivery of baggage, quicker check-in procedure,ensuring safety measures in-flight and treating emergencies on time has made IndiGo a customer

loyal airline.

Empathy: Factors such as staff giving personal attention to customer, staff attending to specific

needs of customers, and convenient flight schedules. Passengers expect airline staff to have

customers best interest at heart and so has IndiGo always delivered.

Assurance: Highly trained staffs at IndiGo ensure that they handle all the passenger queries

appropriately and give them the assurance through certainty in their answers. They also provide

assurance through courteous and strong moral support for first-time fliers who have a fear of flying.

2. Consumption Process

The consumption processes of the airline services are varies according to the way of purchase

(regular, special event, holiday trips, business work etc). So, the first challenge to coordinate

the consumer in the way they perceived. While purchasing service from airline service, there are

many phases through which customer will pass such as pre- purchase phase, service encounter

and post- purchase phase.

9.1 Pre-purchase phase

Pre-purchase phase includes factors which will play a vital role in customers decision whether

to purchase the service or not. The factors which will be affecting decision of customers in oneor the other way are internal factors (needs and wants), external factors (competitive), firm

produced factors and perceived risk.

a. Internal factors :



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Needs & wants: The need of every customer is to have safety, comfort and convenience

journey, while travelling. The comfort and convenience varies person to person. For

example: A business person wants punctuality, holiday trip family wants good

experience with less fare. So, according to their needs and wants the expectation on

particular airlines service will vary.

Past experience: Past experience has a greater impact on the information search process.

Generally, if they had a very good experience then, they will directly opt for the sameservice with any information search.

Expectations- Indigo is known for their punctuality. It has a simple philosophy: offer

fares that are always affordable, flight that are on time, and a hassle free travel

experience. Today because of the enormous competition there are chances that

unknowingly customers may end up making comparisons between IndiGO and Airline

service, although their positioning and the way of operation is different from others. The

learning curve of customer on IndiGO over the year increase customer expectation,

because of its consistency in on-time performance.

Involvement Level - Customer involvement level will be very low as IndiGo has very

standardized procedure of boarding and all other operations.

a. External factors (Competitive)

Options- Currently the many players providing low fare services, but Indigo were able

to differentiate their service from competitor. Customers have many options to evaluate,

but they need to maintain their operational efficiency to maintain their leadership in low

fare Airlines service.

Social context- IndiGo not only worked on low cost but also on operational efficiency.

This make them not create a brand image as a low cost airline. Even the services are

cheaper than the other services, but still they are able make service as on-time

performing airlines. This gave chance for the companies as cost cutting measure.

a. Firm produced factors

Promotions- Promotional scheme will include discounts, article and Press release on

leading Newspapers, online site, pop-ups , print ads and advertisements.

Pricing- Tickets are available at extremely affordable prices which shows that indigo

always make pricing strategies according to the desires of their consumers. They are able

to do this by standardizing the ways to fulfill their various operations. They are able to

attain with the help of their operational efficiency, which help them to differentiate from

competitors.

Distribution- Indigo has a three way distribution channel. One is with agents, other oneis online booking and third one is directly from the airports. With the proliferation of the

Internet as a distribution channel, the airlines eventually sold their interests in these

Computerized Reservations Systems (CRS), which are viewed as "just another cost of



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Low DivergenceHigh DivergenceHigh ComplexityLow ComplexityService Quality(Technical Component)

CustomizationService Quality(Functiional Component)

Cost efficiency

distribution". Direct booking of the airline ticket lower the cost of booking, which will

reduce the third party distribution commission. The site will allow customizing tripsaccording to the customer convenience and affordability, thus making the vacation a

hassle free experience. Except the most loyal frequent fliers prefer the convenience of

one-stop shopping from a third-party distributor. So, three way selling is able to reach

maximum number of consumer with less operating cost.

a. Perceived risk Performance- There is always a performance related to airline services, but

Performance risk is very low for IndiGo customers. It is one of the airline services,

which has not recorded any accidents in its career.

Financial- IndiGo service provides the assurance of on-time Performance with

affordable fare. Even though there is financial risk but still they are able get off this with

their operational and consistence in performance.

Time loss- In cases of delay and cancelling, customers will have to waste their time in

waiting for service or searching for other option. But Indigo gave confidence to their

though their consistence in performance.

Opportunity- While opting for IndiGo airline service, customers might be leaving the

option of going through other airline service like kingfisher, jetlite etc So, it becomes

extremely essential for them service to in timely manner as in both the above options,

customer will not be facing any problem as far as time factor is concerned. But IndiGo

made customer not to think of other service with their consistency in performance.

Psychological- Every individual has different needs. Indigo airline service are catering

to two kinds of customers- price sensitive, who just want low fare and second, who

want to reach their destination on-time. So, as far as customers first kinds of customers

are concerned they will be obviously satisfied with their low price. But for the second

kind of customers on-time arrival and departure are two big issues. So there will be cases

when customers will not be satisfied with the good service except on-time performance.

But indigo reduce this risk with standardizing processes.

9.2 Service Encounter

Position Mapping

IndiGo has very standardized

procedure and number of steps inoperation is also not large, so

according to that, it will come



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under Cost efficiency. Standardizing procedure helps IndiGo to cut down overheads and helps

to gain more profit.

9.3 Post purchase phase

This is a phase of service usage when the customers will make an evaluation of the service

quality they received and their overall level of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. This, in the case

of Airline service will happen after the customer has made use of the service .The first encounter

thus is a very important airline service is to impress the customers so that the single encountercould be extended to a long term association. With their effective services, Indigo is able to

achieve Repeated purchase (by being a regular customer to IndiGO airline service), Firm

Loyalty and Positive word of mouth (by recommending friends and colleagues to use IndiGo

airline service). They achieved all the above by satisfying customers and commitment towards

their services with effective utilization of resources. For constant improvement they had a

feedback system in their website. They also send mail to their consumer about their offer and

discounts. They also have membership process to repetitive consumer, loyal consumer and

corporate consumers, which will helpful in their booking process.


a3 interim project report

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