Growing SkyWest Airline's Perspectives - Essay Example

Growing SkyWest Air Airlines Growing SkyWest Airline Introduction The North America region regards SkyWest Airlines as the leading in the region. The airline company serves the following countries Mexico, United States, and Canada. The company is boosting its innovative mechanisms that have made it vibrant in the airline industry. In the recent past, for instance, the company introduced the chartering services coupled with the introduction of the commercial jets with smaller load or passenger capacity. The company survival depends on a number of factors including company decisions, target regions, among other factors. In an attempt to review the company performance, the conducted SWOT analysis explores all the areas that contribute to the company performance. SkyWest Airline Opportunities SkyWest Airline has a number of opportunities that it can leverage. These opportunities includes planes that can carry double or triple the capacity of the smaller planes , seasonal increase in number of travels, the company has its own fueling terminals which makes it enjoy low fuel prices, and the ever increasing cost in other means of traveling including car and train (Thomas, 2011). The company can utilize this opportunities to improve its market share as well as the profit margin. The following explanations illustrate a number of inroads that the company can use towards improving its profit. Using the 4 P’s to Steer Growth The load capacity of the larger planes predisposes the company to expand its market. The company can make inroads into the new market by promoting the services offered by these large planes. Presently, the company is leading in providing airline transport services to its consumers. Arguably, promotion would increase the consumer awareness about the existence of the planes. Further, the company can utilize the promotional opportunity to open its market. Marketing critics believe that promotion helps in improving the market brands (Palepu, et.al. 2007). Similarly, the company can tap this opportunity to not only market its services in the greater North America, but also improve the general market share. The large capacity planes can enable the company to enjoy the economies of scale. This means that when these planes ply in the same routes as the previous planes, the company would be incurring less production or maintenance cost as opposed to the use of many small capacity planes. SkyWest Airlines can use the pricing strategy as a marketing tool to enjoy a larger market share. As stated above the large planes have large load capacity, which makes the company to enjoy a big profit margin. Therefore, a move to reduce or use pricing strategy to lure the customers would make the company to enjoy a large growth. The move would lead to reduction in cost of production because a few planes would be plying the same rout, but carrying large capacity, reduction in cost for running the large fleet as well as reduction in number of employees (Thomas, 2011). Subsequently, the salaries of these employees would form part of profit that the company would make. The industry experiences seasonal increase in number of travels is an opportunity that the company can utilize to grow. The company can decide to introduce flights in untapped regions. Place as a marketing factor is instrumental in defining the profit that the company would make. The seasonal influx in number of travels expands the demand for the air travels in the region. The company can earnest this opportunity by identifying places where it can do its business especially during the high seasonal travels. Place as a factor of marketing defines the number of clients that the company would be serving on daily or seasonal basis (Palepu, et.al. 2007). The Mexico City for instance, has specific number of customers that enjoy the services of the SkyWest Airline. This means that identification of right destinations and the increasing number of travels would promote the growth of the company. Introduction of new airline products in areas previous known to be using cars or trains is a move that would lead to growth. Marketing critics argue that a wide range of products provide a large bargain for the marketing share. In the case of the SkyWest Airlines, introducing new products to its consumers would lead to the growth of the company. The wide range of products would enable the consumer to choose from the variety presented. Consumers often like associating with firms that provide a wide range of products (National Research Council, 2011). The company can utilize this aspect to institute growth. In addition, branding of the existing airline products would help in luring the consumers. SkyWest Airline SWOT Analysis Strengths SkyWest Airlines has been displaying exemplary performance because it has the following strengths. The company enjoys long -term fuel contracts-this contract has enabled the company to enjoy stable fuel prices. The company makes high on time arrivals-this has been instrumental in defining the clients that the company serves. Many airline clients prefer time saving flights, an attribute that the company has been able to display (Thomas, 2011). The company has decreased its baggage and booking fees-this attribute enables the firm to lure more clients. Lastly, the company has multiple locations where it enjoys large clientele. Weaknesses The SkyWest Airline has a number of challenges that it should adjust. These weaknesses include multiple stop destinations-the multiple stops might make influence the customer’s taste for the company’s products. The company has employed minimum flight attendants. This attribute affects the aircrew services to the customers. SkyWest Airlines have increased plane turnaround times and the unions have short-term contracts. Threats The threats facing the airline company emanate from both internal and external environment. The external environmental threats include strict border security regulation, poor weather especially the hurricane, decline in number of travelers, and competition from rival companies. The internal threats include hiring of limited number of staffs. In conclusion, SkyWest Airlines is one of the leading air travel providers in North America. The company has a large fleet of planes that make stopovers to destinations in Mexico, Canada, and USA. The company has a number of opportunities that it can utilize to register a formidable growth. Some of the opportunities include large planes, stable fuel prices among others. On the other hand, the company should develop strategies of handling its weaknesses as well as building on its strengths. In addition, focusing on the company weakness would help in developing structures that would steer the company’s growth. References National Research Council (US). (2011). Resource Manual for Airport In-Terminal Concessions. New York: Transport Research Board. Palepu, G. K. et.al. (2007). Business Analysis and Valuation: Text and Cases. New York: Cengege Learning. Thomas, R. A. (2011). Soft Landing: Airline Industry Strategy, Service, and Safety. New York: Apress Publishers. Read More