2002 was a very hard year for airlines, and this trend will continue for a long time. It is true that since September 2002, we have seen double digit passenger growth rates again, but these figures are deceiving as they only compare current rates with figures taken after September 11th. Neither do we expect a substantial growth in the market in 2003. Attacks in Iraq add to the skepticism. This also entails the food industry for airline industry, which is also known as the airline catering. Sky Chefs was initially firmly incorporated in 1942 as a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines. The Company’s principal functions were, and carry through to be, the provision of in-flight food and beverage catering services to the airlines. In 1986, the Parent Corporation of American Airlines AMR Corporation sold Sky Chefs to Onex Capitol Corporation (Onex). In 1993, LSG, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa German Airlines, acquired twenty-three percent of Sky Chefs, and brought into a worldwide marketing alliance pinning down Sky Chefs as “LSG Sky Chefs.” In 1999, LSG extended its ownership to more or less forty-eight percent with the option to purchase the leftover shares by the end of 2003. Sky Chefs a short while ago employs almost 14,000 employees in the United States, and services more or less 109 airline customers at very nearly eighty stations. These airline-catering accounts are ninety-eight percent of Sky Chefs domestic business, and the hourly employees carrying out this work consist of around 90% of its U.S. workforce. Roughly ninety-eight percent of Sky Chefs domestic business is airline-catering accounts. Similarly, around ninety-eight percent of its U.S.-based hourly employees work for the airline contracts. Wherever...
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...specially in the area of cost savings and giving importance to fact the “Customer is the King” they have been able to increase in passenger satisfaction as a result of forecasting and tracking orders, which reduces the chance of supplying the incorrect meal or not having enough meals for a particular flight. References LSG Sky Chefs Signs Exclusive Agreement With Chef Wolfgang Puck for 'In-flight Cafe(SM)' Program, Thursday April 10, 7:01 am ET, http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030410/dath020_1.html Student Fact Sheet, In-flight Catering - Student Fact Sheet, Dated: 28-Nov-2001, http://www.ifcanet.com/teams/education/student.asp eLSG.SkyChefs Signs Agreement With American Airlines to Provide eACE Web-Based, Technology to Improve Inflight Operations, Tuesday September 03, 2002, http://www.foodservice.com/news/company_news_detail.cfm?id=4335&company_name=Sky%20Chefs
The objective of this research report is to provide a thorough analysis of Alaska Airlines. In order to do this we chose to compare a similar company against them. The company in comparison is Spirit Airlines. Both companies compete in the same type of business through airline transportation. Many of their services include; security, safety, transportation of passengers as well as luggage, ensuring vehicle safety while in transit, concierge services, providing entertainment aboard plane, checking weather conditions prior to flight, and much more. All of the data gathered for this report was obtained from the company’s 10-k filings with the SEC.
The Airline Industry is a fascinating market. It has been one of the few industries to reach astounding milestones. For example, over 200 airlines have gone out of business since deregulation occurred in 1978. Currently, more than 50% of the airlines in the industry are operating under Chapter 11 regulations. Since 9/11, four of the six large carriers have filed for and are currently under bankruptcy court protection. Since 9/11 the industry has lost over $30 billion dollars, and this loss continues to increase. Despite the fact that the airline industry is in a state of despair, JetBlue has become the golden example, a glimpse of what the industry could be.
As Frontier approached its 10th year of operation, Frontier officials realized an image shift was in order. The airline had established a reputation for friendly and reliable service, and reasonable airfares, mainly appealing to leisure travelers. But they reali...
Northwest Airlines is one of the pioneers in the airline transportation industry and is ranked at the fourth largest air carrier in the United States today. The success of the carrier depends on the quality and reliability of the service at a reasonable price. Close competitors force Northwest to innovate their services by increasing efficiency. This essay will try to examine different perspectives in the services needed to successfully complete the company’s objectives. The analysis will explain historical and financial perspectives that may give a better understanding of the current market trend of the organization.
Panera seems poised to continue to dominate the bakery-café market and continued sustainable growth is very likely. Works Cited The “Annual Report” (2010). Retrieved from http://www.panerabread.com/pdf/10k-2010.pdf “Company Overview.” (2011). Retrieved from http://www.panerabread.com/about/company/ “News Release.”
Airline and travel industry profitability has been strapped by a series of events starting with a recession in business travel after the dotcom bust, followed by 9/11, the SARS epidemic, the Iraq wars, rising aviation turbine fuel prices, and the challenge from low-cost carriers. (Narayan Pandit, 2005) The fallout from rising fuel prices has been so extreme that any efficiency gains that airlines attempted to make could not make up for structural problems where labor costs remained high and low cost competition had continued to drive down yields or average fares at leading hub airports. In the last decade, US airlines alone had a yearly average of net losses of $9.1 billion (Coombs, 2011).
Air travel began in the early 1900s and scheduled flights started in the 1920s (Harris). In the early years, the airline industry competition was nonexistent. The competitive environment changed dramatically over the course of the last century specifically when the industry underwent regulation and then deregulation. The future success of the airline industry depends on the ability to adapt with rapidly changing industry environmental factors.
Other airlines approached the economic crisis by limiting their service or letting go of employees, whereas Southwest tackled the problem by offering workers secured positions for lower wages. Though the circumstances were not ideal, overall employees responded positively to the option of keeping their jobs. They also promote internal marketing strategies within the workplace. Southwest has a clear vision which employees strive to be a part of. In fact, part of their vision is in the best interest of their employees, as a common mantra within the company is, “customers come second… and still get great service.” They offer a casual work environment. This approach not only benefits the employees comfort, but also coincides with the company’s easy-going brand image it wishes to portray. Employees are at ease in at their job and overall enjoy what they do. Southwest also makes a point to attract the desirable candidates for their positions. They emphasize teamwork. Employees are encouraged to help each other out to strive toward a common goal. Employees are often rewarded for their achievements as well. As seen in exhibit 1, these strategies to keep employee satisfaction high, are factors that keep loyal employees within the company.5 Southwest makes every attempt to keep employees content as they believe happy employees lead to happy customers. Southwest has
If the short haul passenger was the backbone of Southwest Airlines success, then their 737s were the lifelines that supported it. By choosing the 737 as the airplane for all of Southwest's flights, the company saved time and resources in training its employees. The crew could be easily substituted for one another due to the extensive training on the 737. Low costs and, therefore, low fares are an enormous competitive advantage, when combined with their high-quality and loyal workforce. A very unique culture was found at Southwest Airlines among all of its employees.
British Airways (BA) is the main and largest carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It’s headquarter is located in Waterside. The British Airways Group was established in 1972. It included British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and British European Airways (BEA). In 1974 British Airways was formed after the dissolution of BOAC and BEA (British Airways, 2015).
Thomas, B. (2010, May 12).Briefing Aviation: Rulers of the new silk road. Financial Times, p.16
Tom, Y. (2009). The perennial crisis of the airline industry: Deregulation and innovation. (Order No. 3351230, The Claremont Graduate University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 662-n/a. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/304861508?accountid=8364. (304861508).
Southwest Airlines has come from an underdog to being one of the best airlines in the industry. This reputation translates from its strategic management of resources. The Co-founder and former CEO, Herb Kelleher, established a unique corporate culture that leads to high customer satisfaction, employees’ morale, and one of the most profitable airlines in the industry (Jackson et al., 2012). The corporate culture concentrates on empowerment the workforce. It shows through Southwest Airlines core values that “happy employees lead to happy customers, which create happy shareholders” (Jackson et al., 2012). Since its first grand opening in 1971, Southwest Airlines has shown steady growth, and now carries more passengers than any other low-cost carrier in the world (Wharton, 2010). To expand the business operations, Southwest Airlines took over AirTran in 2010 as a strategy to gain more market share for the Southeast region and international flights. However, the acquisition of AirTran brought upcoming challenges both internally and externally for Southwest Airlines. In this case analysis, the objectives are focusing on the change process post the merger with AirTran, and evaluating alternatives to address the impacts of the merger.
Degree of vertical integration: mixed; some have low cost reservation systems, alliances with regional and international airlines as well as hotels. Hedged fuel costs. Sabre Holdings and Galileo International connect airlines with travel agents. No mention of airlines employing in-house catering.
When a business aims to be as successful as possible in selling its products and services, it must examine in detail whether or not the products will be attractive and necessary; if the price is optimal; if the product is being distributed in the best locations; and finally, how interest and awareness can be created for the products. In order for a business to target all of these elements to the right people at the right time, it must employ the right type of marketing mix: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. In a dysfunctional time for the airline industry, most airlines, especially major carriers, are adapting the concept of "doing less with more." One low-cost carrier, JetBlue, is changing the domestic aviation landscape in this regard and is defying the odds. Here is a company that has examined each marketing mix elements carefully, has adapted them to its customer’s needs, and is succeeding because of this approach.