1st Edition

Airimagination Extending the Airline Business Boundaries

By Nawal K. Taneja Copyright 2023
236 Pages 33 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

236 Pages 33 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

Unprecedented social changes, accelerated by facilitating technologies and the COVID-19 pandemic, are calling for airlines to think deeply and non-conventionally on what will be important to existing and new travelers, as they change their lifestyles. New thinking requires airlines to extend the boundaries of their businesses to go beyond their traditional domains. This need goes beyond the... Read more

Contents

Foreword

Doreen Burse

Senior Vice President Worldwide Sales, United Airlines

Foreword

Stephen Fitzpatrick

CEO, Vertical Aerospace

Foreword

Christoph Klingenberg

Head of Operational Excellence at Deutsche Bahn

Foreword

Boet E.J. Kreiken

Executive Vice President, KLM Customer Experience, and former CEO, KLM Cityhopper

Foreword

Le Hong Ha

President and CEO, Vietnam Airlines

Foreword

Chang-Hyeon Song

President, Hyundai Motor Group, and

Founder and CEO, 42dot

Foreword

Decius Valmorbida

President of Travel Unit, Amadeus IT Group

Foreword

Dee K. Waddell

Managing Partner, Global Industry Leader, Travel & Transportation Industries, IBM Corporation

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1 What if airlines adapted to consumer lifestyle changes?

Implications for Airlines

Outline of Chapters

Notes

Chapter 2 What if airline products were reengineered?

Short-Term Improvements in the Core Product

Clean-sheet scheduling

Scheduling for profitability AND reliability

Producing operations-friendly schedules

Improving forecast accuracy

Dynamic scheduling

Medium-Term Improvements in the Core Product

Door-to-Door travel

Small electric aircraft

Air taxis

Long-Term Improvements in the Core Product

Supersonic aircraft

Hyperloop vehicles

Hydrogen-Powered aircraft

Highlights

Notes

Chapter 3 What if airlines rethought their revenue approach?

Traditional Revenue Approach

Offer Management

New Pricing/Revenue Management Techniques

Seat buy-back

Ancillary pricing optimization/Revenue management

Customer Choice Model

Dynamic pricing

Offer revenue management

Network Planning/Revenue Management Integration

Real-time revenue management

Artificial Intelligence (Algorithms)

Strategic pricing

Next generation revenue management

Selling differently

Selling more products on airline.com as a natural retail channel

New pricing schemes

Better shopping displays

In-flight shopping

NDC and distribution

Highlights

Notes

Chapter 4 What if airlines reimagined and redefined customer experience?

Customer service vs. customer experience

Two Insightful Examples

Amazon

DBS Bank

Personalization

Challenges

Opportunities

Digital Experience

AI and Machine Learning

Highlights

Notes

Chapter 5 What if the aviation industry contributed no carbon emissions?

Developments relating to climate change

Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs)

The Net-Zero by 2050 scenario

Implications on airlines

Making sustainability the core of an airline’s business strategy

Highlights

Notes

Chapter 6 What if airlines could do more with less?

Collaborating by design

Building digital resiliency capabilities

Strategizing for positional superiority

Highlights

Notes

 

Chapter 7 What if airlines could truly differentiate themselves?

Applying the principles in practice

JetBlue Airways

Alaska Airlines

Characteristics of Agility Airlines

Reliability of Network and Schedule Planning

Revenue and Offer Management

Designing Customer Experience through a Holistic Approach

Sustainability Competitive Advantage

Doing More with Less

Notes

Chapter 8 Thought Leadership Pieces

The Unifying Nature of Customer Choice

Jim Barlow, Senior Vice President, Network Planning Solutions, Amadeus IT Group

Turning Air into Magic

Evert de Boer, Managing Partner, On Point Loyalty

The Operation’s Support for A New Airline Customer Proposition

Christopher Gibbs, Senior Advisor, Navier Consulting, Former Engineering Director at Cathay Pacific Airways, and Group Director at HAECO

Everything will remain different– a different view on change

Peter Glade, Chief Commercial Officer, SunExpress Airlines

Stop Playing Copycat

Glenn Hollister, Vice President Sales Strategy & Effectiveness, United Airlines

Enhancing Revenue Management Analyst Effectiveness with Human-Machine Symbiosis: Learning to Work with Machines

Jason Kelly, CEO, Kambr, An Amadeus Company

Whatever you do, start with the customer

Jordie Knoppers, Customer Journey Manager Seamless Travel & Biometrics, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

Creating unexpected compelling experiences to increase bookings and ancillary revenues

Kerstin Lomb, Partner/Leader Customer Transformation Marketing EMEA, IBM Corporation

What if airports changed into mobility hubs?

Michaela Schultheiß-Münch, Vice President Market Research and Business Analytics, and Dr. Jennifer Berz, Senior Project Manager Corporate Strategy & Digitalization, Fraport AG, Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide

A New Dynamic Approach to Network Planning

Philippe Puech, Director, Domestic Network Planning, American Airlines

Making Clean-Sheet Scheduling Real

Renzo Vaccari, Senior Vice President, Sky Suite, Amadeus IT Group

About the author

Index

Biography

Nawal K. Taneja, whose experience in the aviation industry spans five decades (starting with TWA at its headquarters in New York City), has worked for and advised major airlines and related aviation businesses worldwide. Currently, he is an executive-in-residence at the Fisher College of Business at the Ohio State University.

"Nawal Taneja’s latest book invites readers to reimagine the airline industry as it faces a pivotal moment in its history.

At the heart of the book is six separate and interconnected chapters on challenges facing the airline industry, together with opportunities offered by new technologies and business approaches.

If you would like to take a step back from the day-to-day running of the industry and cast an eye over the 21st Century challenges it faces, this book is a worthwhile magnifying glass."

Professor Keith Mason, FRAeS, Royal Aeronautical Society magazine: AEROSPACE February 2024, UK