Abstract

Jet Airways was one of India's premium domestic airlines and arguably the most successful. The airline, which was set up in 1993 after the central government opened civil aviation to private investment, overtook India's national airline, Indian Airlines, in the early 2000s in terms of passengers carried. By 2005, Jet Airways had been listed on India's main stock exchanges and had obtained permission to operate international flights. This case discusses the mission, strategy, and operations of Jet Airways in the Indian airline industry. It also details the airline's competitive position vis-à-vis other full service carriers as well as newly emerging low cost airlines in India. Details of Jet Airways' international operations are also given. The case concludes with an analysis of the threats to Jet Airways' long-term success.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• The mission, business strategy, and operational aspects of a successful Indian airline
• The nature of competition in the Indian airline industry and Jet Airways’ competitive position vis-à-vis rivals
• The differences between low cost airlines and full service airlines, and the potential of low cost airlines in the Indian airline industry.

Keywords

Jet Airways, Indian Airline Industry, Naresh Goyal, Low Cost Airlines, Air Sahara, Air Deccan, Department of Civil Aviation, Open Skies Policy, Boeing, Airbus, hub-and-spokes system, Indian Airlines, Full Service Airlines, SpiceJet, Kingfisher Airlines, Go Air