Airlines to quit pricing, mergers

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Ich habe dieses - entgegen meiner Gewohnheit - einmal aus einer Topic von a.net rauskopiert weil es hochinteressant ist:

 

Hal Rosenbluth, chairman and chief executive officer of Rosenbluth International, advocated that airlines should get out of the pricing business altogether, ceding it to brokers, distributors and other businesses that make money on the resale margin.

 

In a white paper on airline recovery, he also said several airlines should be allowed to merge in a “structured” consolidation.

Airlines, Rosenbluth wrote, have proven their inability to price responsibly, so they should “be content with selling at their cost plus a respectable margin.”

 

Rosenbluth theorized that several airline combinations would result in a healthier industry:

 

• If Delta acquired America West, it would fill the geographical gaps in its network and become a truly national carrier with 19% market share. America West is “too fragile” to survive on its own.

 

• After United Airlines files for bankruptcy protection, it should be allowed to acquire US Airways and attain 23% market share.

 

• Northwest should combine with Alaska and Continental, creating a more balanced entity with 21% market share.

 

Rosenbluth noted that American’s acquisition of TWA gave it 20% of the market.

 

In the meantime, he provided a list of other things the industry can do to help heal the airlines.

 

The “real cause of the slippage,” he wrote, is indiscriminate corporate discounts, which have caused airlines to raise walkup fares to offset them.

 

“The airlines have been raising published business fares in what had become the world’s longest running game of Cat and Mouse,” Rosenbluth wrote. “Just when a corporation thought that it had structured a deal to lower its travel expenses, the carriers would raise the base of those fares, effectively eliminating the discount.”

 

That pushed base fares so high that smaller corporate customers that don’t get big discounts have slashed their travel expenditures. Compounding the problem, airlines have looked the other way when corporations don’t meet market share or volume targets.

 

Meanwhile, Rosenbluth wrote, the elimination of base commissions for travel agencies has created a new situation that the airlines have yet to address: Direct sales are now their most expensive distribution channel.

 

Rosenbluth’s plan urged airlines to cut walkup fares from which all corporate discount programs are benchmarked by 30% to bring back small-business travelers that are price sensitive and can’t get corporate discounts.

 

To offset the reduction in walkup fares, airlines should reduce all corporate discount programs by 30%.

 

Carriers should evaluate every corporate incentive program and cancel those that cannot be justified in reasonable ROI terms. They should reward performing corporations with deeper discounts.

 

Airlines should be forthcoming about upcoming schedule changes that will make it impossible for corporations to perform on negotiated performance hurdles.

 

Airlines should take a hard look at Web fares and ask themselves: “Are business travelers able to buy air fares for less than they would via the company-preferred program?”

 

If the answer is yes, carriers should get rid of those fares. “Either by design or default, this only deleverages corporations’ ability to perform on the discount programs that have been negotiated,” Rosenbluth said.

 

Gruß

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[ Diese Nachricht wurde geändert von: 728JET am 2002-10-09 14:48 ]

[AvroRJX]

@728Jet

 

Wirklich ein sehr interessanter Artikel! Allerdings wirft er 2 kontroverse Themen zusammen, so daß die geäußerten Thesen wohl nie auf offene Ohren stoßen werden.

 

Was Mergers betrifft halte ich die vorgeschlagenen Kombinationen für interessant, zumal sie zu meiner Freude der 3 Carrier Theorie widersprechen. Was auf dem Papier Sinn macht (Bsp.: AmWest + TWA + USAirways) muß sich aber nicht unbedingt durchstzen(lassen). Kritisch sind die inkompatiblen Flotten der Partner NW/CO und AWA/DL; aber als Anwalt wird dieser Punkt weniger sein Denken beeinflussen.

 

Die Idee das Pricing and Pricing-Agenturen abzugeben ist interessant und neu für mich. Nach kurzem Nachdenken lehne ich aber diese Zwischenstufe ab, da m.E. jede neue Zwischenstufe zwischen Airline und Endkunde Kosten mit sich bringt die gedeckt werden wollen, selbst wenn dies eine Internetplattform ist. Eine Variante wäre die CRS, welche im Internetzeitalter durchaus an Bedeutung verlieren könnten zu solchen "Brokern" auszubauen. Gleichzeitig würden mit diesem Schritt die Airlines aber wichtige Teile Ihrer Kundenbindung aus Ihren Händen geben, was nicht in die heutige Zeit paßt.

 

Unter diesem Aspekt muten mir die Vorschläge im o.g. White-Paper recht altbacken an, was die dahinterliegenden Vorstellungen und Grundansichten betrifft.

 

Wäre prima wenn auch andere im Forum ihre Meinung zu o.g. White-Paper äußern würden.