Alaskan Airlines's Competitive Advantage

649 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Airline industry trends and challenges

Alaskan Airlines is the epitome of competitive advantage. This airline has been profitable for 84.6 percent of their duration and is still an independent airline. Alaskan Airlines has shown impressive statistics, such as their significant increase in profit from 2011 to 2012. They reported a 29 percent profit in 2012 with a record of 316 million net income (business insider). This airline has shown greater than a 300 percent rise in stock since 2008. Throughout the years Alaskan Airlines had endured many large adversities. A couple of these harsh conditions were record storms, the financial meltdown, inflated fuel prices and the aftermath of the 911 tragedy (business insider). So how did this airline remain so successful? Well you are about to find out in the following paragraphs. The first reason Alaskan Airlines is so successful is their warmth and generosity. They have an exceptional reputation for being hospitable. In (Ira Kalb’s) article he shares a story of being stranded in Portland, Oregon. His flight to Las Angeles was cancelled and his airline at the time, which was United, said he would have to wait till the next day. He started to walk away and Alaskan Airline attendant asked if they could help him. Even though he was not flying …show more content…

Alaskan Airline pilots get some of the best training to fly through some of the roughest and most sever weather. There is no other major airline in the state of Alaska to put up any local opposition. The price, terrain, and distances are just too much for any other airline. While there is no regional competition, Alaskan Airlines has routes to the West Coast, Mexico, Hawaii and Salt Lake City (Business Insider). Alaskan Airlines actually has routes with 62 destinations and utilizes over 100 aircraft. A great bragging right is the ability to have the number one spot for on time performance, and Alaskan Airlines has claimed that spot

Show More
Related

  • A Comparison Of American Airlines And Spirit Airlines

    1288 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Air Canada Mission Statement

    1707 Words  | 4 Pages

    Air Canada is Canada's biggest aircraft and the biggest supplier of booked traveler benefits in the Canadian market, the Canada-U.S. Trans outskirt showcase and in the worldwide market to and from Canada. In 2015, Air Canada together with its Air Canada Express provincial accomplices conveyed more than 41 million travelers, offering direct traveler administration to more than 200 goals on six landmasses. Air Canada is an establishing individual from Star

    Read More

  • Frontier Airlines Marketing

    652 Words  | 2 Pages

    Growing up in Denver, I remember feeling that Frontier was Colorado's airline. This was very much to do with the companies marketing strategy. The branding of the airline is "A whole different animal" and the company began painting pictures of wildlife on the vertical stabilizers of thier aircraft, each one unique. In some cases, they would promote new routes. For example, when the airline began flights to florida and the carribean, they painted a dolphin onto the tail. These commercials consisted mainly of dry, witty banter between the different animals as the aircraft sat at the terminal onloading passengers. It was certainly a break from the legacy airline pitches, which showed planes flying at sunset and were still glamorizing the luxury and comfort of travel. Frontier knew that its target market were people who lived in and around Denver who needed to get to surrounding, middle america, locations. Locations which were being more and more underserviced as time went on (the irony being that frontier has dropped the majority of its or...

    Read More

  • Frontier Airlines Rebranding Campaign

    1268 Words  | 3 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • A Case Study: Building Business Agility At Southwest Airlines

    739 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Our people are our single greatest strength and most enduring long-term competitive advantage,” reports CEO Gary Kelly on the Southwest Airline website (https://www.southwest.com/html/about-southwest). The company works hard to hire great individuals and then rewards and supports them to make satisfied, productive employees (Ross & Beath, 2007). In fact, Southwest Airlines has received repeated recognition as a great place to work (“Southwest Corporate Fact Sheet,” n.d.). As a result, Southwest Airlines is able to provide a low-cost, fun-cultured experience with excellent customer service (Ross & Beath, 2007). This has allowed the company to build its final strength in this evaluation: a strong brand

    Read More

  • Southwest Airlines

    930 Words  | 2 Pages

    Southwest Airlines strategy of focusing on short haul passenger and providing rates as low as one third of their competitors, they have seen tremendous growth in the last decade. Market share for top city pairs on Southwest's schedule has reached 80% to 85%. Maintaining the largest fleet of 737's in the world and utilizing point-to-point versus the hub-and-spoke method of connection philosophy allowed Southwest to provide their service to more people at a lower cost. By putting the employee first, Southwest has found the key to success in the airline business. A happy worker is a more productive one as well as a better service provider. Southwest will continue to reserve their growth in the future by entering select markets only after careful market research.

    Read More

  • Southwest Airlines: A Case Analysis

    1537 Words  | 4 Pages

    Also, Southwest is renowned in the airline industry for its short turnaround time on arrivals and departures. And since people's biggest concern nowadays is money and time, having low price airline tickets to cater their traveling needs in a shorter period of time will surely satisfy them. Moreover, aside from the low prices offered, what attracts customers is Southwest’s way of dealing with them. The employees of the airline treat their customers well and really listen to their needs. Southwest Airlines is also well-known for having a very productive and loyal workforce.

    Read More

  • Southwest Airlines Case Analysis

    1690 Words  | 4 Pages

    More than 37 years ago, Rollin King and Herb Kelleher got together and decided to start a different kind of airline. They began with one simple notion: If you get your passengers to their destinations when they want to get there, on time, at the lowest possible fares, and make darn sure they have a good time doing it, people will fly your airline. And you know what? They were right. What began as a small Texas airline has grown to become one of the largest airlines in America. Today, Southwest Airlines flies over 104 million passengers a year to 64 great cities all across the country, and we do it more than 3,400 times a day.

    Read More

  • Southwest Airlines

    1119 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the airline industry, Southwest Airlines is considered a true innovator. By shaking up the rules of flying and improving upon inefficient industry norms, Southwest has quickly grown by leaps and bounds. From the very start, Southwest Airlines' goals were to make a profit, achieve job security for every employee, and make flying affordable for more people (Southwest,2007). Southwest has not strayed from these goals. It does not buy huge aircrafts, fly international routes or try to go head to head with the major carriers; and thanks to a great planning, Southwest airlines has become the most successful airline company in the U.S., if not the world.

    Read More

  • Company Analysis: Northwest Airlines

    831 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Case Analysis On Southwest Airlines

    859 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are few things that are impressive about Southwest Airlines first one is how they treat the employees. For Southwest Airlines employees are first and customers are second. If the employees are treated well that will bring in happy customers. Next is that Southwest is not only with their low prices but is able to create a competitive advantage by offering a fun and humorous experience when flying. Finally another impressive fact is when Herb Kelleher’s retire from CEO position yet remained a Southwest employee till July 2014. Even after the retirement he was still active with the Southwest Airlines that reflected his enthusiasm and dedication for the

    Read More

  • IT Governance in Airline Industry Case Study

    1556 Words  | 4 Pages

    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).

    Read More

  • Southwest Airlines: Business Creativity and Innovation

    2000 Words  | 4 Pages

    The mission of Southwest Airlines is a dedication to the highest quality of service delivered with warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit (Mission…, 2007). The company also provides opportunities for learning and personal growth to each employee. Creativity and innovation is very important and highly encouraged, for the purposes of improving effectiveness. Employees are to be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that the employees are expected to share with the customer. Southwest Airlines was initially created to be a low-cost alternative to high price of intra-Texas air carriers (Freiberg, 1996). Southwest’s fares were originally supposed to compete with car and bus transportation. It was a little airline, and it would withstand the test of time. As a discount, no-frills airline, it would provide stiff competition for larger airlines. Their strategy was to operate at low cost, offering no food, no movies, no first class, and no reserved seats. They created their own market and provided increased turnaround times at the gate, by avoiding hub-and-spoke airports and opting for short-haul, direct flights. Through this market approach, Southwest has a majority of market share in the markets they serve.

    Read More

  • Airline Sustainable Competitive Advantage

    1432 Words  | 3 Pages

    Porter stated; “for an airline to succeed in the marketplace, it must have a sustainable competitive advantage” (Porter M. E., 2008). The airline industry is the highest competitive industry, and I believe a sustainable completive advantage is essential to succeed in the future of the aviation industry. The competitive advantages that an airline embrace, needs to be based on the airlines strategy and differentiation to competitors. Emirates displays how it has a strategy and how the airline gets ahead of its competitors through how unique it is.

    Read More

  • United Airlines

    1408 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ry long and successful history in the airlines industry, which makes it one of the leading airlines in the world. Also, it provides the most comfortable flights and services to its costumers and employees, which makes it unique.

    Read More

More about Alaskan Airlines's Competitive Advantage

Open Document