Natarajan and Jain Efficiency of Airlines in India EFFICIENCY OF AIRLINES IN INDIA Ramachandran Natarajan, College of Business, Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville TN, 38505, U.S.A. E-Mail:
[email protected] , Tel: 931-372-3001 and Ravi Kumar Jain, Icfai Business School, IFHE University, Hyderabad-501203 (AP) India. E-Mail:
[email protected] , Mobile: 91+94405-71846 ABSTRACT This paper measures the technical efficiency of various airlines operating in India over a ten-year period, 2001-2010. For this, the Input Efficiency Profiling model of DEA along with the standard Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is used to gain additional insights. The study period is divided into two sub-periods, 2001-2005 and 2006-2010, to assess if there is any impact on the efficiency of airlines due to the significant entry of private operators. The study includes all airlines, private and publicly owned, both budget and full service, operating in the country offering scheduled services on domestic and international routes. While several studies on efficiency of airlines have been conducted globally, a research gap exists as to similar studies concerning airlines in India. This paper addresses that gap and thus contributes to the literature. Key Words: Airlines in India, DEA analysis, Input efficiency profiling, Productivity analysis, Technical efficiency. Introduction The civil aviation industry in India has come a long way since the Air Corporation Act was repealed in the year 1994 allowing private players to operate in scheduled services category. Several private players showed interest and were granted the status of scheduled carriers in the year 1995. However, many of those private airlines soon shut down.