Principles of Management in Aviation
Principles of Management in Aviation
Essay Assignment
The Macquarie dictionary defines ‘advantage’ as: “any state, circumstance, opportunity, or means specially favorable to success, interest, or any desired end”, and also defines ‘competition’: “the rivalry between two or more business enterprises to secure the patronage of prospective buyers.” (Macquarie, 2011) From these definitions, one can infer that a company’s competitive advantages are means of setting itself apart from its competitors to gain acceptance and satisfaction from its customers. In other words, how are a company’s services and products superior to what the competition has to offer that will attract customers? Leisure travellers, who constitute two thirds of most airline markets chose flights based on price, therefore are very fickle (Lawton 2002, p.36-37). This shows the importance for airlines to keep costs down and to innovate to set themselves apart. Domestic air travel in Australia has proven to be an indispensible tool for businessmen and holidaymakers across the country. Until the entrance of Virgin Blue in the Australian airline market, the duopoly between Ansett and Qantas kept airfare prices high. This essay will discuss Virgin Blue’s many positive attributes that provide a competitive advantage over its main competitors, Qantas, Jetstar and Tiger Airways: Affordable travel, maintaining a high level of customer service satisfaction through its front-line employees, its reputation and the peculiar company culture often associated with Virgin brands.
The Low Cost Carrier (LCC) business model has been tried and tested by numerous airlines around the world (Lawton 2002, p.5). Airlines such as Ryanair, Southwest, Easyjet, and Virgin Blue, all implement the common cost-cutting strategies in their business models. Virgin Blue was the first truly low cost airline to be established in Australia, offering seats at a much cheaper price than Qantas and Ansett, who at the time
Essay Assignment
The Macquarie dictionary defines ‘advantage’ as: “any state, circumstance, opportunity, or means specially favorable to success, interest, or any desired end”, and also defines ‘competition’: “the rivalry between two or more business enterprises to secure the patronage of prospective buyers.” (Macquarie, 2011) From these definitions, one can infer that a company’s competitive advantages are means of setting itself apart from its competitors to gain acceptance and satisfaction from its customers. In other words, how are a company’s services and products superior to what the competition has to offer that will attract customers? Leisure travellers, who constitute two thirds of most airline markets chose flights based on price, therefore are very fickle (Lawton 2002, p.36-37). This shows the importance for airlines to keep costs down and to innovate to set themselves apart. Domestic air travel in Australia has proven to be an indispensible tool for businessmen and holidaymakers across the country. Until the entrance of Virgin Blue in the Australian airline market, the duopoly between Ansett and Qantas kept airfare prices high. This essay will discuss Virgin Blue’s many positive attributes that provide a competitive advantage over its main competitors, Qantas, Jetstar and Tiger Airways: Affordable travel, maintaining a high level of customer service satisfaction through its front-line employees, its reputation and the peculiar company culture often associated with Virgin brands.
The Low Cost Carrier (LCC) business model has been tried and tested by numerous airlines around the world (Lawton 2002, p.5). Airlines such as Ryanair, Southwest, Easyjet, and Virgin Blue, all implement the common cost-cutting strategies in their business models. Virgin Blue was the first truly low cost airline to be established in Australia, offering seats at a much cheaper price than Qantas and Ansett, who at the time