Vol. 2, Issue 11, Part A (2016)

Abstract
The civil aviation sector is the sunrise sector in the Indian economy, contributing significantly to the GDP. The rise in air travel at global level and the present civil aviation policy of the Indian government has changed the mind set of the Indian traveler to prefer airlines instead of the other modes of travel. It can be said that, in India, not only the private airlines, but also the public sector airlines have started considering customers as the focal point in their business. No matter how well an airline company is doing, there is always room for improvement. Only continuous assessment of strategic vision enables an airlines company to stay ahead of changes in the world and in the competitive landscape. Though a lot has been talked about ‘customer-centricity’, this concept will remain new until it is implemented in each and every activity of the airline. With the increase in the overall market size of the industry, as well as increasing competition, different players in the industry should invest in improving the customer relationship. This would not only involve implementation of CRM solution, but also internal marketing of the CRM concept. Proper CRM implementation would not only ensure customer delight and increased customer satisfaction, but also help in acquiring new customers, in retaining the existing ones, and in maintaining their loyalty. The present study has been undertaken to analyze the expectations and perceptions of the customers and also to gauge the effectiveness of the CRM practices adopted by the airline companies. It is expected that this study will help the management of the airline companies to frame CRM strategies to maintain customer loyalty.