Case 27 Delta Air Lines (2012): Navigating an Uncertain Environment FOF #1: Differentiation In order to compete in a pricesensitive industry, Delta Air Lines needs to focus on differentiating itself from competitors. By doing this, Delta is creating sustainability through customer retention and loyalty. To set itself apart from competitors like United Airlines and American Airlines, Delta needs to implement a program to improve customer service. Because of Delta’s poor service reputation, I believe that the company needs to primarily concentrate on offering superior customer service as a way to gain a competitive advantage. After Delta’s merger with Northwest, customer complaints increased significantly. In 2009 …show more content…
The budget will also be used to provide extensive customer service training programs for all airline employees, not limited to flight attendants. To evaluate and measure results, management would use customer satisfaction surveys and blogs. 2. Improve punctuality Nothing generates customer loyalty like punctuality and reliability. Excellent ontimearrival performance is a major competitive differentiator. To begin improving Delta’s punctuality, potential delay causes need to be identified. Next, efforts should be made to decrease and eliminate, when possible, any of these issues. Simple solutions might be to increase the amount of time allotted for passengers to exit the plane and the time between connecting flights. Lastly, ontime performance goals need to be established and measured quarterly. 3. Decreasing/eliminating baggage fees While baggage fees help to offset operating costs, consumers tend to be disgruntled and unhappy with the excessive fees. It may be unrealistic to eliminate them completely, but even if the fees were decreased I believe that consumer preference among competitors can be established. If Delta offered a valueadded baggage service, rather than the industry standard, the fees might not be so unfavorable for customers. In an industry in which customers are likely to choose a product based solely on price, Delta needs to increase competitive
The Delta airlines serve more than 170 million customers each year.the survey conducted by Business travel news annually the delta airlines came No.1 for four continues years.
Delta has been focusing on technological innovations but they need to keep on doing that to be profitable.
On the other hand, certain large businesses who previously negotiated volume-discount contracts with airline companies could be negatively impacted by the new fare structure. The new coach fares and first-class fares may be higher than the discounted fares they previously negotiated. President of American Airline said it was typical for a representative of a large company to show him a letter from another carrier offering 40% discount and then ask him to offer more (versus the average 38% reduction in coach fare under the new fare system). Also, travel agents were negatively affected by the new fare structure as commissions decreased with the reduced fares. However, some travel agents were happy with the change
Market structure can be defined as patterns of behaviour by enterprises in an effort to adjust to the markets in which they operate (buy or sell). Pricing strategies and collusive behaviour mergers are a few dimensions of market conduct. It is the industry norm for a legacy carrier to offer service to most popular destinations; Delta reducing routes to a similar schedule as the low-cost airlines is not an option in the multi-billion dollar industry. In order to gain market share from low-cost airlines, Delta must create a value proposition that differentiates itself from its competitors. Many customers will pay a premium if the level of service provided is higher than the low-cost, no-frills
Delta “focuses on shifting their cost structure from fixed to variable costs as much as possible.” (https://rctom.hbs.org/submission/delta-airlines-flying-high-in-a-competitive-industry/) Delta also understands the importance the importance of delivering top notch customer service to appeal to their principal demographic, business travelers. They have incorporated a training work-shop so employees have a better understanding of how to solve travel disruptions that customers deal with. Employees also learn how to help insure that baggage performance is up to par with a low amount of mishandled bags reports from customers. Delta has done this by incorporating a way for customers to track their bags using a mobile app. In the Business Travel News Delta has been ranked #1 by corporate flyers for four years in a row. I believe the business level strategies that Delta has incorporated have been a good choice for their business. Their strategies have helped them to gain a competitive advantage from customer service and great operating cost flexibility.
Travel agents therefore are both positively and negatively impacted. Small business customers are positively impacted by the fare changes. Previously, the higher full fare prices discouraged small business travel; small businesses would either decide against travel or incur the cost of a Saturday night stay and purchase a reduced fare ticket. By reducing the full coach fares, small businesses will be able to purchase more convenient flights at more economical prices. Large businesses, on the other hand, may be negatively impacted. Since many large businesses had negotiated discount rate contracts with airlines, the new full coach fare may be higher than these negotiated fares. For large businesses that did not have negotiated contracts, the fares will be lower than the previous full fare rate.
fares to establish profitability and loyalty. However, they are not always the cheapest, so their
From the humble financial portfolio as a crop dusting outfit in the mid twentieth century, to the multi-billion dollar portfolio of a major airline in the twenty first century, Delta Air Lines has risen as a successful business. The airline industry is directly affected by outside economic conditions and is also cyclical in nature. These factors make it very difficult for airlines to make predictions to stay financially afloat. Delta has ridden the bumpy path of the last twenty years and managed to survive. In the past twenty years there has been many events that
The results of airline deregulation speak for themselves. Since the government got out of the airline business, not only has there been a drop in prices and an increase in routes, there has also been a remarkable increase in airline service and safety. Airline deregulation should be seen as the crowning jewel of a federal de-regulatory emphasis. Prices are down: Airline
The airline industry has always been a fiercely competitive sector. Since the invention of low-cost carriers, also known as no-frills or
Problems: Nearly all major airlines had done this unsuccessfully, proved unsustainable over time, never had a high-cost carrier transformed into a low-cost carrier.
This proposal addresses the needed steps to be taken in order for Southwest Airlines to see continued growth in the airline industry. Southwest Airlines has been able to remain one of the most profitable airlines in the industry for an extended period of time. Even with the hindrance of the 2001 terrorist attacks involving airplanes and the U.S recession of 2008, Southwest has continued to see strong revenue growth. Meanwhile, other companies were experiencing major losses and in some cases folding. Southwest Airlines has capitalized on the company’s strength of being the top low cost
The Airline Industry is in an interesting situation. Simply adding a low cost alternative is not enough in the industry. The Internet has made the power of buyers grow with the transparency of ticket prices. This is not something that will change any time soon. Because of this profitability is predominately reserved for low-cost yet distinctive carriers. No consumer wants to ride what they consider a “lesser” airline. Airlines need a way to distinguish themselves from one another while also acknowledging the increased power of buyers.
Quite often, consumers purchase goods and services based on their perceived need. Upon making the decision that a need is present and a solution is available consumers are more equipped to react to that need. Although previously perceived that consumers will normally accept prices as presented by suppliers that remains to not be the case. Consumers assess and process prices based on past purchases and other psychological process they went through previously such as persuasive marketing strategies, accessibility of the goods or services and possibly information gathered from prior purchasers of a product. There are countless options that are available to consumers. Consumers are then faced with the choice of choosing the product that best fulfills their need at that given point. Consumers who are knowledgeable regarding prices will be aware of the approximated price for products (Zhao, Zhao & Deng, 2015).
Elimination of several services including in-flight meals, assigned seating and baggage transfer to connecting airlines results in costs savings; and