1st Edition
Airimagination Extending the Airline Business Boundaries
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 renovation and iteration of conventional products to the transformation of products requiring new ideas and ways to scale them. Examples include the development of cost-effective urban air mobility, intermodal passenger transportation, door-to-door travel that is sustainable, and personalized offers.
Airimagination: Extending the Airline Business Boundaries raises some thought-provoking questions and provides a direction for practical solutions. For example, what if airlines developed products and services that finally meet end-to-end needs of customers seamlessly by collaborating in the value-adding open ecosystems, using platforms that facilitate effective engagement with both "digital and nondigital" customers and employees in real time and at each touch point? Ironically, the current time is an advantage for some airlines as they already have had to deal with a deep and wide disruption caused by the pandemic, leading operations to start from ground zero.
This book, the latest in a long and well-regarded series by Nawal K. Taneja, explores innovative best practices within the airline business world, complemented by numerous insightful perspectives contained in multiple forewords and thought leadership pieces. This book is aimed primarily at high-level practitioners within the airline industry and related businesses.
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
