JetBlue Airways Success Story - Case Study Example

Blue jet Affiliation: Strengths JetBlue has and continues to have an innovative approach to business which means it is open minded to new ideas that will continue its unnamed motto of lower costs and good service. Cut down on unnecessary expenses which do not add any value to customers but end up increasing the budget such as serving food as opposed to providing only snacks which are cheaper in the long run and keep customers happy and full. More amenities have been offered increasing the services and outdoing even the premium airlines at less cost. Such amenities which have attracted more customers include personalized television with over 20 channels as well as leather seats which are wide and have more leg allowance. Reduced turnaround time which reduces delay as well as serve to increase the number of flights the airline can slot in a day without time wastage. The employees are motivated and open minded and do not classify themselves but work in unity with examples being set to them from the top. Solvency for the airline has come around due to its low costs and increasingly successful marketing and operation strategies. Weaknesses Lack of division of passengers into different compartments such as first class and economy may seem like a good idea in saving costs but majority of the people do not appreciate the standard treatment hence preferring other airlines for that matter. Fatigue and burnout for the few employees is likely to occur what with the employees working being few and the turnaround time being shorter and having increased flight slots hence reducing resting time for the flight crew. Flying from one airport that is JKF which it continues to do is lack of visualization of the potential loss in terms of customers. JetBlue in a bid to cut costs has made their planes be less comfortable. This is because of more seats than gallery space hence leaving less room for stretching and movement. This may discourage long distance passengers despite the reduced airline costs. Opportunities The harnessed of technology approach taken by the airline is the greatest of its opportunities as it has not only ensured reduced costs through developments such as electronic ticketing, VoIP, paperless cockpits among others but has continued to reduce time and save on other unnecessary costs hence ensuring more profits. The airline has started using secondary airports. While this may not be the same as using the other airports, it ensures that it has more flight slots as the traffic in these secondary airports is kept to minimal hence no congestion or competition. The decision to use of single fleet operation may seem as a weakness but the culminate advantages it has outdo the weakness aspect. The purchasing costs of the airplanes is lower, they require less maintenance and have a warranty of five years which is fairly good. This has ensured saving on other costs and the excess used to purchase more airplanes. Customer focus is another of the great opportunities JetBlue has. It has created a niche in customer focus with its services and low fare costs as well as reducing delay and baggage complains which has not only served to maintain its customers but increase new customers as well. Point to point flights has acted to increase the reviews and ultimately the number of customers choosing this airline. This system reduces fatigue as well as the time of flying for the customers and especially the business customers’ majority of who have strict time schedules to adhere to and hence do not appreciate stop overs. Creative advertisement has continued to increase the opportunities of the airline being voted and winning many awards as well as increase their customer base. These advertisements are captivating and enticing at the same time and act to attract people to try to prove the trueness of what is being advertised. Threats Competition is recently proving to be a threat to the airline. Competition from other smaller airlines like Delta with innovations and amenities similar to JetBlue will act to divert its customer base hence threatening to reduce its increasing profits. Terrorism has been the threat of all airlines and JetBlue is no exception. With an increase in domestic as opposed to international terrorism, even the local airline such as JetBlue consider it a threat and is trying to take measures to avert it. Long term sustainability of low cost and high standards is proving to be threat as even the CEO explains what with the threat of competition, increase in the cost of life and people expecting more from the airline based on its past innovations. Strategy JetBlue should continue to keep its record in as far as harnessing technology is concerned because technology has proved to the greatest strategy the airline has proved so far and also the greatest opportunity as mentioned above. This is possible with the fact that it has in house technocrats and developers and hence no further unnecessary costs will be incurred in outsourcing the developments and innovations which is also risky as the same idea can be sold to other competitor airlines providing the pressure of immediate innovation. What is needed when it comes to technological implementation is to first carry out intense and cumulative research and weigh the pros and cons. This is not a hurried process and this is what JetBlue should stick to. Employee motivation is the best way of preventing employee turnover. Keeping the employees within the airline is in the best interest of the airline as it has spent a lot of time and other financial resources on these employees in training and benefits and they also hold a lot of JetBlue’s creation and working secrets which may assist the competitors in outdoing them and removing them from the competitive advantage throne it currently holds. The best way to prevent this is to continually keep them happy as well as interested in the company. This will call for other strategies such as giving them shares, signing non-disclosure and confidentiality documents as well as giving them open communication channels and decision making power. References Dutta, S. and Regani, S. (2003). JetBlue Airways’ Success Story. Hyderabad: ICFAI Center for Management Research. Read More