Differences in Employee Motivation in Public and Private Sector:

Comparative Analysis of Employee Motivation in Air India and Indigo

Airlines

Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, it is owned by a government enterprise known as Air
India Limited. Headquarters of Air India are located at Indian Airlines House, New Delhi.
Primary Hub of Air India is located at IGI Airport New Delhi, Air India flies to a total of 102
destinations including 57 domestic destinations and 45 international destinations in 31 countries
across five continents around the world. Air India has 9,993 workers as of march 2019.1 IndiGo
is a private Airline owned by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd. Headquarters of IndiGo are located in
Gurugram. Primary Hub of IndiGo is located at IGI Airport New Delhi. The airline operates
1,500 flights every day to 87 destinations – 63 domestic and 24 international. IndiGo has 23,531
employees as of march 2019.2

Three motivating factors – Achievement, Recognition and Promotion will be used to compare
and analyze employee motivation in both the airlines.

Achievement:

Achievement of employees indicate their career growth and hence plays a major role in
employee motivation. Table 1. (Air India) and Table 2. (IndiGo) shows satisfaction level of
employees with their achievement in the airline.

Table 13 Air India

Response No. Of Percentage

Respondent
s
Strongly 0 0
Agree
Agree 13 22

1
Welcome to Air India. (2021, March 27). Air India. http://www.airindia.in/

2
About Us. (2020, November 19). IndiGo. https://www.goindigo.in/

3
Shellar, M. (2018, June). Air India Limited: Project Report. International Journal of Engineering Research And
Management (IJERM). https://www.ijerm.com/download_data/IJERM0506003.pdf
 Neutral 8 13
Disagree 27 45
Highly 12 20
Disagree
Total 60 100

Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Higly Disagree

Figure 1 Air India

Table 24 IndiGo

Response No. Of Percentage

Respondents

4
Siddiqui, N. N., & Bisaria, G. (2019, July). Empirical Study on Innovative Techniques of Motivation for Employee
Retention: Comparative Study of Jet Airways and Indigo Airlines at Lucknow. JAC : A Journal Of Composition
Theory. http://jctjournal.com/gallery/17-july2019.pdf
 Strongly 79 87%
Agree

Agree 17 60.7%
Neutral 2 2.6%
Disagree 0 0.0%
Highly 2 2.0%
Disagree

Total 100 100%

strongly agree Agree Neutral Disgree Highly Disagree

Figure 2 IndiGo

Interpretation: Figure 1 indicates that majority of employees working in Air India are not satisfied with
their career growth in the organization on the other hand figure 2 indicates that majority of employees
in IndiGo are satisfied with their levels of achievement in the company.
Recognition:

Recognition of employees work and views by high level management plays an important role in
motivating the employee for further work because, it provides a sense of feeling that their work
is being valued within the organization. Table 3. (Air India) and Table 4. (IndiGo) indicates
levels of recognition of work by airline.

Table 35 Air India

Response No. Of Percentage

Respondents
Strongly 6 10
Agree
Agree 40 67
Neutral 6 10
Disagree 6 10
Highly 2 3
Disagree
Total 60 100

Strongly Agree Agee Neutral Disagree Highly Diagree

Figure 3 Air India

5
Shellar, M. (2018, June). Air India Limited: Project Report. International Journal of Engineering Research And
Management (IJERM). https://www.ijerm.com/download_data/IJERM0506003.pdf
Table 46 IndiGo

Response No. Of Percentage

Respondent
s

Always 71 71

Sometime 23 23
s
Neutral 3 3

Not at All 3 3

6
Siddiqui, N. N., & Bisaria, G. (2019, July). Empirical Study on Innovative Techniques of Motivation for Employee
Retention: Comparative Study of Jet Airways and Indigo Airlines at Lucknow. JAC : A Journal Of Composition
Theory. http://jctjournal.com/gallery/17-july2019.pdf
 Always Sometimes Neutral Not at all

Figure 4 IndiGo

Interpretation: Figure 2 clearly shows that workers in Air India are satisfied with the level of recognition
in the airline while, Figure 4 also indicates that employees in Indigo are highly satisfied with levels of
recognition of their work.

Promotion:

Promotion in salary and position is one of the most important factor contributing towards high
levels of motivation in employees. Table 5. (Air India) and Table 6. (IndiGo) shows how
satisfied employees are with promotion policy of the airline.
Table 57Air India

Response No. Of Percentage

Respondents

Strongly 10 17
Agree

Agree 40 67

Neutral 6 10

Disagree 2 3

Highly 2 3
Disagree

Total 60 100

Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disgree Highly Disagree

Figure 5 Air India

7
Shellar, M. (2018, June). Air India Limited: Project Report. International Journal of Engineering Research And
Management (IJERM). https://www.ijerm.com/download_data/IJERM0506003.pdf
Table 68 IndiGo

Response No. Of Percentage

Respondents

Agree 84 84

Disagree 16 16

Total 100 100

Agree Disagree

Figure 6 IndiGo

8
Siddiqui, N. N., & Bisaria, G. (2019, July). Empirical Study on Innovative Techniques of Motivation for Employee
Retention: Comparative Study of Jet Airways and Indigo Airlines at Lucknow. JAC : A Journal Of Composition
Theory. http://jctjournal.com/gallery/17-july2019.pdf
Interpretation: Figure 5 shows that employees are quite satisfied with promotion policy of Air India
while Figure 6 indicates that workers of IndiGo totally support and are happy with their promotion
policy.

Findings:

1. Motivation Factor – Achievement: IndiGo’s (Private airline) employees are more satisfied with
their “Achievement” at the workplace in comparison to Air India (Public airline).
2. Motivation Factor – Recognition: IndiGo’s (Private airline) employees are more satisfied with
their “Recognition of work” at the workplace in comparison to Air India (Public airline).
3. Motivation Factor – Promotion: IndiGo’s (Private airline) employees are more satisfied with
their “Promotion Policy” at the workplace in comparison to Air India (Public airline).