Air Canada Swot Analysis

Company Overview
Air Canada, founded in 1937, has been recognised as Canada’s flag airline.1 This airline provides services to its passengers within 192 countries around the world and ranks top twenty amongst the largest air transport provider worldwide.2 Air Canada has established a direct connection between its passengers and their company through brand loyalty. Two main aspects that are continuously being focused on is attitudinal aspects as well as behavioural aspects. It is undeniable that besides having the mindset to continue repurchasing from a certain brand, customers also have a certain level of commitment or emotional connection towards the brand. This report aims to examine the factors that influence passengers towards brand loyalty
In order to provide the customer with an enjoyable experience and give itself a competitive edge over other companies, it has to identify consumer preferences. There are many ways a brand can find out what it can change or what it is doing right in the eyes of the customers. An example of this is a brand sending messages and offers to its customers after making a sale to encourage them to purchase from the brand again. Brands can create emotional bonds with their customers when they listen to them. Customers are more likely to buy from that brand again when they feel they are being heard. They may also share their experiences with others and speak positively about the brand which is free marketing for the brand. A brand may set up a loyalty program to reward regular customers. These can be rewards programs, or trials and samples to attract new customers. Shoppers Drug Mart runs their Optimum Card; a membership based program rewarding it’s users. This card allows regular customers to earn redeemable points on their card that can be converted to in store credit. This system gives the customer a reason to shop there instead of shopping with a competing brand. Air Canada has a similar customer reward program called Altitude. It attempts to attract customers who frequently travel with the airline. Altitude members earn monetary value with the purchase of tickets and receive redeemable points with
The internet and social media plays a large factor in determining customers’ loyalty towards a brand. 90% of males and 76% of females are more loyal to brands that engage in social media.4 Consumers can now make more informed purchasing decisions due to the fact that they have easy access to information about other competitor’s products and prices. Companies now have to constantly adapt to customer’s changing preferences or risk losing business. Through social media, negative feedback to brands and the effects associated with it are amplified because it is out there for everyone to see. An effective way for companies to increase brand loyalty is encouraging consumers to positively promote the brand through word of mouth. Another strategy for North American companies to build brand loyalty is to increase focus on the triple bottom line of the company. For example, one way manufacturers are trying to create more brand loyalty is by lowering the carbon footprint of their products.5 There have been companies in the past that have lost their competitive edge for failing to keep up with customer trends. Eastman Kodak Co. (Kodak) and Sears Holding Corporation (Sears) are examples of North American businesses that were once leading brands but are no longer significant players in their respective fields in 2016.6 Kodak and Sears are both companies that have failed to adapt their business towards the