Small Business Operations - Skipper Airlines - Case Study Example

nitоr and Smаll Businеss Ореrаtiоns (Student’s Name) (Institution) (Date) Моnitоr and Smаll Businеss Ореrаtiоns Business Profile The development of an action plan detailed in this paper documents how a business in question, Skipper Airlines, will be implemented. This action plan will capture all the data and information required to be known before the business is set forth. Skipper Airlines is a relatively small charter firm located in Florida, Miami, and flies passengers from Florida to Bahamas and other destinations. We would like to increase our customer base and have planned a variety of marketing outreach activities to accomplish this, including radio advertising, a redesigned web site, and the subject of this Request for Proposal (RFP), the design and printing of a new marketing brochure. Skipper Airlines offers a complete solution that seeks to span airline, crew, airport, and clientele operations. It seeks to improve the clientele efficiency, managing change and controlling costs. Through the delivery of integrated flight operations, maintenance planning, airport operations and crew, management, this airline will ensure a complete operational control. Irrespective of our customers’ business model, the airline company focuses on a single class long-haul and short-haul scheduled flights. This airline company capitalizes on the widening gap in the long haul travel between business and economy class. The jets flown by the airlines will majorly be Boeing 757-200 aircraft, configured with 75 seats and offers pleasant and spacious environment for the airline passengers. The aircraft will be equipped with the latest technology as a means of facilitating travelers to responsibly utilize their time effectively in their course of traveling (Singh, 2008). At the start, the Airline will begin by leasing two aircrafts and thereafter expand its fleet of aircrafts to six by the second year of operation. The company will establish itself as a “business to business” airline and will deal exclusively with premium/business market segment. The firm will offer its targeted and prospective clientele value proposition that encompasses a high level of comfort and service at 55% of the currently published executive and business fare. Skipper Airlines will be charging £ 850 for any round-trip ticket and not a £ 1650 (charged with airline companies with a high volume demand). Skipper Airlines management has sought to further discount down to £ 650 for bulk purchases. Apart from its attractive pricing, the company will be committed to offering its passengers with convenience, creative lifestyle appeal, and considerable time savings. The marketing proposal being created will enable Skipper Airlines to reach a break-even point with the 40-passnger for every flight (which will hit a 50% load factor). This is targeted towards significantly reducing various risks related with distinctive airlines that require a huge figure of passengers in order to break-even. In several ways, Skipper Airlines model will replicate the gains associated with efficacious regional aircraft model on a short-haul basis. The company’s management believes that by the close of year 4 of business operations, Skipper Airlines will have attained a sales of £80milion net incomes after taxes amounting to £ 20. Experience and references Skipper Airlines will revolutionize the short haul market and develop the choice of air transport to prospective customers at a relatively lower cost. The company will attain this by attempting to leverage the cost innovation and efficiency in order to remain in a leading position, even in the ever-changing discontenting market. With the changing of the industry dynamics, so the airline is forced to change its business strategies. As a way of competing for cost-conscious, and short –haul passengers, the company will further create a streamlined and restricted process stream which will be accompanied with a slashing of its costs and aggressively price many of its routes. Description of target audience In the presence of onboard and catering services, a key clientele influencer when selecting an airline, differentiation of services offered t customer becomes instrumental. In this twenty-first century, passengers are cognizant of trends, provenance and sustainability, thereby demanding an increasingly higher quality of produce and the capability to satisfy their inner requirements (Kinnison & Siddiqui, 2013). This airline will seek a greater choice and product innovation from its major suppliers in pursuit of its vision to deliver its best customer experience in the sky. One of the solutions that will be offered by the Skipper Airlines is developing a formalized delivery approach that would emphasize value, consistency and adoption that would further ensure that its clientele derive maximum business benefit from the airline solutions. The full breadth of the company portfolio can be leveraged and integrated with the airline existing applications. The airline will further target those customers who are need of being provided by a lower cost of ownership from the airline’s advanced software as a service business model. Within the company’s survey, it stumbled upon the bare truth that most customer were being inconvenienced to travel because of being forced to pay high fares if they use these normal airlines. Skipper Airlines targets to accommodate low-income earners to average/middle income earners to high class earners. No single customer will be excluded because of the limitation of their pockets. Suggested project approach Skipper Airlines has planned to set up its business operations by being a niche player in the business travel segment, and especially by capitalizing on what other businesses could have ignored. By consistently aligning its business goals to the key individual needs of the premium-class business travel, the firm will be offering the optimized value proposition in all the markets it serves. It will provide clients a captivating value proposition entailing a high level mix of comfort and service at 55% of the present published executive and business class fare. Personnel and Roles involved in the Project Skipper Airlines has teams that are dedicated to business transformation that makes use of the most comprehensive change management processes and tools available. Success can only be attained with shared goals and vision. With the availability of effective leadership, employment engagement and clientele focus, the company will create a drive for successful operational transformation to happen. The company has employed highly qualified air hostess who have been trained to handle all manner of customer in a friendly and professional way, and their profile speaks well of them from where they served before. The crew on the board, technicians, mechanical engineers and pilots and co-pilots are all experienced to take the company to another level of service delivery. Operations and Quality Control processes Skipper Airlines has invested in hiring experienced airline professionals who ensure that the company operations are will managed always. The capability to blend experienced airline professionals with a team of young and committed management team is propel the company to have a successful combination that will enhance innovation while maintaining the highest possible level of professionalism. Acquiring the right mixture will be instrumental in assisting the company to execute its venture in a smooth way. The airline will further focus on creating a robust corporate culture that will assist in differentiating itself from the competition and thus withstand a high level of motivation whilst ensuring cost control. In order to reinforce its operations, Skipper Airlines will differentiate itself from the traditional airlines by integrating the best hospital industry. Passengers flying in this airline industry will identify to a lifestyle. By hiring Ric Sloan to work on the interior of Skipper Airlines’ aircrafts, the company will ensure that all its aircrafts are well maintained and most fashionable. Employment Practices Skipper Airlines will co-ordinate its employee practices in a manner that would create easier running and operations management. The company has already set up a human resource (HR) department being managed by team of 5 HR specialists who will be mandated with the task of recruiting, interviewing, promoting employees and dealing with salary and pension matters. Through this, the management will inaugurate this HR team with a full-fledge role to ensure that they work jointly with all employees and monitor employees’ performance always. Project Management Practices Skipper Airlines recognizes the delivery of consistent quality operations around the company network, for end or route and base operations is paramount. Understanding and knowledge of the local market conditions, the capability to source product s and find competent suppliers to fulfill the airlines requirements are amongst the topmost considerations to the product offering (Bazargan, 2013). Maintaining the success of the project Skipper Airlines’ open book management model includes full transparency of the financial information regarding the company’s operation. In the presence of this, the company is able to work towards aligned goals, ensue that it eliminates conflicts of interests, and offer flexibility over the term of the contract in order to support the changes in the company’s strategic direction. By being armed to share risks and rewards, the company will be in a better position to have incentives needed in forming long term strategies. The company will always enumerate workable ways of mitigating increasing cost pressure, thus delivery through streamlined processes; attain greater innovation and efficiency. Through a firm leadership of best players in the airline industry, Skipper Airlines will ultimately adopt best practices from the global business in a wide range of industries. These mentioned avenues will allow the company to realize enhanced customer proposition and cost savings. References Singh, L. K. (2008). Marketing in service industry: Airline, travel, tours and hotel. Delhi: Isha Books. Kinnison, H. A., & Siddiqui, T. (2013). Aviation maintenance management, second edition. New York: McGraw-Hill. Bazargan, M. (2010). Airline operations and scheduling. (Airline operations and scheduling.) Burlington, VT: Ashgate. Read More