Flying Ahead of the Airplane

298 Pages·2008·1.21 MB·English

by  Nawal K. Taneja

FLYING AHEAD OF THE AIRPLANE
Dedicated
in loving memory of my mother, Shanti Devi
and
in honor of my loving granddaughter, Sophia Shanti
Flying Ahead of the Airplane
NAWAL K. TANEJA
© Nawal K. Taneja 2008
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system or transmi(cid:1)ed in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission
of the publisher.
Nawal K. Taneja has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
Published by
Ashgate Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing Company
Gower House Suite 420
Cro(cid:2) Road 101 Cherry Street
Aldershot Burlington, VT 05401-4405
Hampshire GU11 3HR USA
England
www.ashgate.com
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Taneja, Nawal K.
Flying ahead of the airplane
1. Airlines - Management 2. Strategic planning
I. Title
387.7’068

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Taneja, Nawal K.
Flying ahead of the airplane / by Nawal K. Taneja.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-7546-7579-2 (hardcover) 1. Airlines--Management. 2. Aeronautics,
Commercial--Management. I. Title.
HE9780.T363 2008
387.7068--dc22
2008029386

ISBN: 978 0 7546 7579 2
Contents
List of Figures ix
List of Abbreviations xi
Preface xiii
Foreword by Professor Israel (Izzy) Borovich, Chairman of the
board, EL AL Israel Airlines xv
Foreword by Russell Chew, President and Chief Operating
Officer, JetBlue Airways xviii
Foreword by Tim Clark, President, Emirates Airline xxi
Foreword by Dr. Andres Conesa, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer, AeroMexico xxii
Foreword by Geoff Dixon, Chief Executive Officer, Qantas
Airways xxv
Foreword by Mark Dunkerley, President and Chief Executive
Officer, Hawaiian Airlines xxvii
Foreword by Gary Kelly, Chairman, President, and Chief
Executive Officer, Southwest Airlines xxix
Foreword by Dr. Temel Kotil, Chief Executive Officer, Turkish
Airlines xxxi
Foreword by Pham Ngoc Minh, President and Chief Executive
Officer, Vietnam Airlines xxxiii
Foreword by Captain David Barioni Neto, Chief Executive
Officer, TAM Airlines xxxvi
Foreword by Fernando Pinto, Chief Executive Officer, TAP
Portugal xxxviii
Foreword by Steve Ridgway, Chief Executive, Virgin Atlantic
Airways xl
Foreword by Girma Wake, Chief Executive Officer, Ethiopian
Airlines xlii
vi Flying Ahead of the Airplane
Acknowledgements xlv
1 Introduction 1
2 Monitoring Über Trends 11
Accelerating Globalization 12
Changing Consumer Demographics, Lifestyles, and
Expectations 20
Increasing Levels and Types of Competition 27
Wipro 28
Li & Fung 29
Emerging Disruptive Technology 30
Takeaways 33
3 Game Changing: Potential Airline Scenarios 39
Scenario-related Assumptions 40
Blue Skies 41
Frequent Thunderstorms 45
Sun and Rain 47
Five Airline-related Scenarios 49
New Generation Airlines in Intercontinental Market 50
A Global Virtual Airline 55
Gulf Region of the Middle East Becomes an Aviation
Powerhouse 56
A Format Invader from Within the Industry 59
A Reduction in the Aviation Activity 62
Takeaways 63
4 Are Airline Managements Prepared? 67
Reviewing Past and Current Strategy Levers 69
Optimizing the Current Business Model 72
Align the Airline Organizational Structure 72
Optimize the Complexity-Simplicity Dimensions 76
Implement Analytically Driven Strategies 81
Contents vii
Conceiving, Evaluating, and Implementing New
Business Models 85
Takeaways 87
5 Social Networking Phenomena 89
Web Evolution 89
Web Phases 89
Personalization 92
Digital Concierges 94
Web Branding 98
Social Networks 101
Community Websites 101
Business Opportunities 104
Takeaways 110
6 Building Airline Brands and Developing Loyalty 115
Changing Role of Marketing 115
Brands and Branding Airlines 122
Brand Drivers 126
Distinctiveness 126
Relevance 128
Consistency 130
Authenticity 132
Transparency 134
Experience 136
Creativity and Innovation 138
Emotion 141
Leadership 143
Employee Branding 144
Personality 146
Managing Passenger Loyalty 148
Takeaways 159
7 Gaining Insights from Non-Airline Brands Around
the World 165
Amazon.com 165
viii Flying Ahead of the Airplane
Apple Inc. 167
Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts 169
BMW 170
Cemex 173
Enterprise Rent-A-Car 176
Federal Express 179
Google 183
IKEA 185
Nestlé 189
Nokia 193
The Park Hotels 196
Samsung 198
Shiseido 201
Starbucks 202
Tesco 208
United Parcel Service (UPS) 211
The Virgin Group 215
Whole Foods 218
Zara Stores 222
Takeaways 224
8 Preparing for Tomorrow 239
Index 243
About the Author 249
List of Figures
Figure 1.1 Step-phase changes 3
Figure 1.2 Misalignment within airline organizations 5
Figure 3.1 Frameworks for new airline business models 60