International Journal of Engineering and Advanced Technology (IJEAT) ISSN: 2249 – 8958, Volume-9 Issue-2, December, 2019 3663 Retrieval Number: B2827129219/2019©BEIESP DOI: 10.35940/ijeat.B2827.129219 Published By: Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering & Sciences Publication Factors Affecting the Sales of Airlines in India with Special Reference to Air India Chetanya Singh Abstract: India's aviation industry is largely untapped with enormous growth opportunities, provided that air transport is still expensive to most of the country's population, almost 40 per cent of whom are the upwardly mobile middle class. The industry will engage and work with policy makers to adopt effective and rational decisions to improve India's civil aviation industry. The primary aim is to identify the factors responsible for low sales of Air India. Secondly, the aim is to evaluate the causal relationship between factors identified and the dependent variable airline choice. It was found that Air India should reduce the cost of ticket on both domestic and international flights. Customer doesn’t find services delivered up to the mark. The quality of food, service of cabin-crew, lateness of flight and safety should be improved by Air India to remain competitive in the market. It has become and more imperative for the Air India to prove its mettle and not just settle on the taxpayers money bailed out by the exchequer but also on price, service and safety ground. Keywords: Sales, Air India, Airlines, India I. INTRODUCTION The transport sector of the country plays an integral part in the growth and development of the economy. India is currently the ninth largest aviation market in the world, according to the Indian Aerospace Industry Analysis report. As far as air cargo tonnage is concerned, India is leading the South Asian region, which includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. India currently has 128 airports, including 15 international airports. Over the past three years, India's civil aviation industry has emerged as one of the country's fastest growing industries. India is currently the world's third largest domestic market for civil aviation. India has become the third largest domestic aviation market in the world and is expected to be the third largest air passenger* market by 2024 to surpass the UK. II. LITERATURE REVIEW Gilbert and Wong (2003) have compared and measured the differences in expectations of passengers’ of airline service quality on the factors like Assurance, Facilities, Reliability and Flight Patterns, Employees, Responsiveness dimensions and Customization. Other researchers have analyzed the relationship between behavioral loyalty, passenger satisfaction, and airline service quality, (Ostrowski & O’Brien, 1993; Chan, 2000). Etherington and Var (1984) and Furrer, Liu, and Sudharshan (2000) have studied the relationships between airline service and service quality. Revised Manuscript Received on December 15, 2019. *Chetanya Singh, Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad, Delhi NCR E-mail: chetanyasingh16@gmail.com (Crespo-Almendros & Del Barrio-García, 2016) found that, while purchasing any airline ticket discounts are the major contributors for online buyers while accommodation is vital for expert users. (Alireza Aghighi, 2015) found that sale promotion also adds to the sales of airline ticket but the attitude and behaviour of the customer should be borne in mind. A study conducted on the online buying behaviors clearly indicated that the ease of use and perceived usefulness are the key driver for buying a airline ticket(Ruiz-Mafé, Sanz-Blas, & Aldás-Manzano, 2009)(Daramola, Okafor, & Bello, 2014; Groves & Gini, 2013). The purpose of the given research is to find out factors which negatively affect sales of Air India and to provide recommendations to improve passenger satisfaction based on actual situation, theoretical and practical research results. III. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY After many private players in the airline industry the present focus is that how can Air India improve passenger experience and satisfaction to improve sales. Over the past few years, market share, passenger satisfaction and operating revenue of Air India has declined drastically. Objective of the study is to identify the underlying causes of passenger dissatisfaction and evaluate the causal relationship between those factors and airline choice. The primary aim is to identify the factors responsible for low sales of Air India. Secondly, the aim is to evaluate the causal relationship between factors identified and the dependent variable airline choice. IV. HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT Based on the review of literature and the objective Following are the hypotheses formulated from the causes identified: H 01 : Air fare has a direct and negative impact on airline choice H 02 : On time performance has a direct and negative impact on airline choice H 03 : Age of aircraft has a direct and negative impact on airline choice H 04: In-flight service has a direct and negative impact on airline choice H 05: Airline staff has a direct and negative impact on airline choice