CHALLENGES FACING PASSENGER AIRLINES

Passenger airliners

Introduction

Passenger airliners have been in use in many states in the United States. There are many airliners operating in different states and having different routes (Çetiner, 2013). The airlines usually operate as cargo or passenger airliners. The airliners help to bridge the long distances between the states and cities by ensuring that the passengers reach safely and on time. This is because the distances are usually long and for fast and efficient transport one may consider using an airline.

External Factors Affecting Passenger Airliners

There are many factors affecting the airline industry. Some of these factors are political stability, economic conditions, terrorism among others. Terrorism has been a great threat to the aviation industry. An example is what happened on September 9, 2011 where two planes were directed into the twin towers. This created a catastrophe that had not been foreseen. Terrorism is usually subtle and hence can go unnoticed (Pride, 2008). It has affected air travel to places that are prone to terrorism thus reducing the revenues of air travel in those countries. This in turn affects the tourism sector of the country and deals a negatively blow to foreign exchange earnings.

Political instability presents an obstacle to flights entering and leaving a given country (Çetiner, 2013). Many people are warned by their embassy whenever political instability occurs, which endangers the lives of people in that country and thus air traffic to that country reduces.

Customers are also external factors. They determine the revenues of an airline. The booking is usually done by the airline hopping to get the airliners filled before departure time. The customer uncertainty usually affects the airliner’s revenues (Pride, 2008). The airline operates on the assumption that it will get passengers who will through a certain route at a certain time. The uncertainty thus lies with the customers because not all of them have planned to fly to a certain destination. Competition is rife in the aviation industry. Undue competition can occur especially with regard to new airliners who are still gaining the market share (Shaw, 2011). The already established airlines usually have passengers all year round and have established methods of keeping their customers.

Segmentation

Segmentation is how a firm portrays the image of its products to meet some certain requirements of the customers without using much cost. It makes its products to target a larger share of the market. Airlines use market segmentation based on the journey, a nation’s culture and the distance of country of their destination (Shaw, 2011)

Targeting

Targeting involves the focusing on a certain group of people. It may focus on the middle class and low-income earners. For examples united airlines has its focus on the learned. These people are educated and hold college degrees, have jobs and earn a lot of money (Shaw, 2011).

Positioning

Positioning refers to how a company decides to effectively position the product in the customers mind (Shaw, 2011). Airlines can decide to position themselves as punctual airlines, friendly and inexpensive airline among many others. Therefore, positioning largely affects the customer turnout. A firm aims at create distinct lines in order to gain a competitive advantage over the rivals (Çetiner, 2013).

Airline Market Segments

The market is segmented into various portions. There is the segment that focuses on middle class, high class and low class. The airlines market and position themselves to obtain a maximum portion of the market (Kernchen, 2007). Other segments depend on purpose, distance to be covered and destination of the passengers. The targets are also segments. For example, those who travel for business and leisure are two segments respectively. Therefore, the division of airline passengers was divided into economic, business and first class to suit each person (Cetiner, 2009).

Southwest and JetBlue Airlines

These two airlines have been ranked to be the best on average in providing airline services. Southwest airlines operate in the United States and have the cheapest air fares. They have maintained this trend and have topped in carrying the highest number of passengers (Pride, 2008). It operations are in 32 states mainly in 72 cities. Southwest has faced various lawsuits and many complaints from customers. Some of the customers are not comfortable with the line queuing. This gives an advantage to JetBlue where almost 75 % of tickets are sold online and few at the counter (Kernchen, 2007). This is in contrast to Southwest where people queue for the tickets at the airport. The negativity on Southwest airlines is rife. People are of the opinion that its treatment to customers is bad though the fare is less.

Southwest has an edge over other competitors due to its exceptionally low pricing and its diverse travelling locations (Pride, 2008). This airline appeals to the middle and low class who would strain financially when using the other airlines. JetBlue has a smaller percentage of the market and charges higher than Southwest. It justifies the high fare by providing efficient customer services like booking of seats online (Pride, 2008). It is still not competitive in terms of pricing. It is not appealing to the business class who would comfort as a priority.

The economic conditions favor usually change and this affects the traffic on an airline. In low economic conditions, people look to cheaper transport. In this case Southwest can havea larger percentage due to its low prices (Shaw, 2011). However, JetBlue still appeals to some of the customers since its price are a bit lower but not like those of Southwest airlines. JetBlue has an edge due to its efficient customer services thus attracting different types of customers as compared to Southwest airlines (Pride, 2008).

In terms of fuel consumption, JetBlue has an edge since most of its aircraft are new and thus efficiently use oil. This lessens the cost of oil and thus the operation costs. The company also fits in more legroom and leathers seats increasing which is rather an expensive undertaking, but increases the customer’s comfort. On pricing, South west has lower pricing which makes it cheaper to board but lags behind on customer service (lee, 2007). JetBlue airline appeals to all customers in the low, middle, and business classes. The company runs an excellent customer service, as opposed to Southwest airlines.

In conclusion, airlines face many challenges while in operations. However, these problems do hinder them from achieving their goals. The airlines in the United States like JetBlue and Southwest operate in many cities with Southwest leading in destinations and the lowest airfares. Fare is a great determinant in attracting customers and so is customer satisfaction. Many airlines strive against all odds such as economic conditions, competition, and political instability to achieve their goals of making a profit. Therefore, operating airlines is not an easy task, since all these factors have to be considered.

References

Çetiner, D. (2013). Fair Revenue Sharing Mechanisms for Strategic Passenger Airline Alliances. Berlin: Springer.

Kernchen, N. (2007). Marketing Differences between Traditional Airlines and Low-Cost Airlines in Europe. München: GRIN Verlag GmbH.

Lee, D. (2007). The Economics of Airline Institutions, Operations and Marketing. Amsterdam: Elsevier.

Pride, W. M., & Ferrell, O. C. (2008).Foundations of marketing. Boston, Mass: Houghton Mifflin.

Shaw, S. (2011). Airline Marketing and Management (7th ed.). Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate.