How budget airlines can survive

US-based management guru Kevin Freiberg on Wednesday cautioned that survival of low-cost airlines depended on their ability to deliver 'value' to the target customers and asked them to review their services.

Despite the boom in the low-cost airline segment in India, the biggest challenge for them was to survive the competition, Freiberg said, addressing the 'Leadership Summit'.

"These carriers need to ensure that they over and over again redefine the 'value' they are offering to their target customers. These airlines need to constantly update themselves on the pulse of their target customers and ensure that the airlines was service oriented to cater to their specific needs," he said.

The airlines that could execute the promised value services alone could be assured of a long staying power, said Kevin, who has traced the success of the low-cost airline carrier, South-West Airline in his best selling book 'Nuts-The Secret of the South-West Airlines.'

Tracing the factors that created a dent in the aviation business in US, he said the management-union conflict had taken a heavy toll. However, it was the 9/11-terror attack that inflicted a strong blow on the aviation industry back home.

The South-West Airlines policy of resolving the management-union deadlock contributed in ensuring that it was still flying high.