Introduction
In the present scenario, when people are not having much time to travel by train and bus, they prefer to travel by flight. Thus, it is necessary that airline companies understand airline management, which is a branch of study that tells about the systematic management of airports and airlines. Through this, a broad overview of the airline industry will be gained that will increase awareness of operational, marketing, financial, and other factors that highly impact the airline management of firms. In the present report, there will be a business model of a brand new airline along with the main base of airline. Also, the route network and destinations, as well as the airline's feet and use of ancillary revenues, will be highlighted. Apart from that, a realistic schedule for the fleet will be included in the report.
Business Model
Flamingo as the new domestic flight has been introduced in London. The business model that has been adopted by this flight is the low-cost model. The fairness of the airline is less, and the comfort that it is providing to its customers is also less.The main aim of this airline is to earn profit, but in a slower time, as the major strategy of the Flamingo airline is to increase its air traffic and establish its name in the competitive market. There are no differentiated seats provided to the passengers. In this type of airline, only the normal seats are provided. To increase the air traffic, the Flamingo airline has been focusing on increasing the destinations. It is the low-cost airline; it flies to many destinations and it has more than one base. According to the business model, which is a low-cost model, it does not provide many types of facilities to its customers. The flamingo flight is the direct flight, as it does not hope from one destination to another. No two-way ticket is provided to the passengers, and even the tickets are not booked before 3 months. If one passenger has the connecting flight, it even does not transfer its luggage to other flights. So in most of the cases, the direct flight is used by the passengers. Besides this, to earn profit, Flamingo is also adopting different practices, like developing the cost terminals, which will provide convenience to the airlines, which are low-cost and do not have finance to pay to the airport. Further, the overhead cost that is incurred is passed on to the customer, and it is added to the ticket; this becomes suitable for the flamingo. Further, in the business model plan, the expected human resource to be recruited is less, as they are not providing any facilities, so there is no need for additional workforce. If any of the passengers needs additional services like food or other services, it will be chargeable.
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The operations that are carried out by this flight are one-to-one, as they only provide the benefit of travelling by air, but regarding the airline, no other facility is given. Further, this model majorly focuses on the price of the competitors. The flamingo airline can change its price according to the change in competitor's price. The main focus is on the customer traffic so it will not allow their passengers to switch to other flights. Besides this, the low-cost airline will prefer to use those airports that have become abandoned, and they do not charge a high price for the landing. Further, the pricing policy of the flamingo is also different, as it is the lion cost flight; it mainly emphasizes the promotion and schemes. It will provide different schemes at times of festival or when there is low season, as it will attract the passengers. At that time also, it will gain benefit from the passengers.This model is appropriate because, in recent times, all the flights have become expensive, and they are more focused on the extra services that are provided to them. So the new plane flamingo will only focus on those individuals who frequently travel and do not need any type of extra service.
Airlines Main Base
The flamingo is the domestic flight so their bases are many. In the initial stage, the base of this airline is Heathrow but it is planning to change its base. There are many airlines which are flying from this destination so it takes time for the flamingo to make place for this flight. Now it is planning to take another base, which is Manchester, as it is considered the main junction and it is convenient for the flamingo to fly from this base. This base has been chosen because it provides appropriate parking facility as well as gate facility. This is helpful as it assist in reducing the time because, because of this, flights are reaching the destinations at appropriate time. Flaming is a kind of airplane which takes the passengers and drops them off at different destination. It flies regularly in London. Further, to visit the farthest destination, it takes maximum 2 hours. So this is the non-stop flight, which is very helpful for the passengers. Even the crew members who are working in the airlines are also less so they require other human resource to help them provide basic facility to their passengers.According to this scenario, Heathrow is selected as there are many flights which land so they can take help from the other flights crew members. The flamingo flight is getting support from the airport authority on the operations they are doing. This is supporting the airlines as well as the passengers. Even the weather conditions is also the main reason for keeping the base as Heathrow because the flights are generally cancelled because of the weather, as it is even considered that in London there is cloudy weather. This area is safe and the weather effect is also less. Even though this flamingo airline has also other different airlines which are used for carrying cargo, this airport is also the best. Further, all the taxation and different regulations have supported the operations of flamingo airline. Even the interline transshipment can also be done easily so for the new airlines, these all facilities are very useful and help in smooth functioning. As it is a low-cost airline, it is essential to have link with passenger travel and cargo, as it will help in saving money. Besides this, flamingo is planning to change its base destination. For all the flights they are planning to have different destinations. This will help in reducing the problem of delay of the flight. If it changes the destinations, then flamingo can easily manage their schedules, which will bring convenience to the customers.
Route Network and Destination
As the flamingo is the domestic flight, the route network of the flight is expanding in whole UK. There are many destinations which are covered by Flamingo, but there are mostly 4 airports in London. The route network is decided according the distance, as the airport are in the middle of the city. Further, it is very helpful for the cargo, as because of 4 airports, it is helpful for the passengers. With the help of Flamingo, the passengers will feel comfortable as they will get cheap airline to fly within the city. Further, Flamingo also has charter planes, so they serve different destinations outside UK. But it is special plane so the ticket of this plane is expensive and it caters the passengers who have special purpose to visit the destination. There are several destinations which are covered by flamingo airlines. As the major destinations are located in the middle of the London.So the main destinations which are scheduled are the popular cities of England. As there are many aircrafts, the destinations in which the airline travels are different. The main cities which are included are Peterbourgh, Southend, Marham, Honigton, etc. The route which has been planned for this charter is only the short route, as they visits only those cities which are nearby to UK or that country in which the flight can reach in maximum 3 hours. Other than this, after some years, Flamingo Airlines has planned to introduce its services outside the UK, in which they will majorly focus on Europe. The flamingo airline can get maximum passengers from there. The routes which are planned by flamingo are appropriate and it are serving many of the passengers as well as visiting cities. It has been estimated that it will earn huge profit if it fly regularly 24 hours in the UK city.
The Airline's Fleet
There is the primary issue regarding sourcing, that is the type and source of aircraft which are to be employed in the new airline's fleet. The total number of selected airline's fleet is 50. There are many types of aircraft present that airlines are using; however, Flamingo Airlines is using four kinds of aircraft, which are:
- Airbus
- Boeing
- Charter
- Premium
This airline has a number of key factors that have mitigated it towards the rising top list of airlines. This airline will become the first choices for customers as it has a number of reasons, like having a relatively low per-seat acquisition cost as well as low per-passenger mile cost. It has also given their added capacity over smaller regional jets. Along with that, airline will have high reliability factors in its newer versions. Flamingo Airline will have complete pilot and maintenance intercompatibility along with providing flexibility in flight. Apart from that, airline have the advantage of reduced training and simulator costs. Also, this airline has four engine configurations, which offer it added safety factors that prove to be highly beneficial for the Flamingo Airline to become the most preferred airline of the nation.
The aircrafts of this airline are made available through both the sources that are from lease as well as on purchase basis. Some of the aircraft have been purchased from EasyJet, and the rest are taken on lease for a specific duration. These aircrafts are providing spacious and comfortable cabin interiors that offer the only seat, aisle and overhead bin. The reason behind choosing these four types of aircraft is that Flamingo Airline has chosen Airbus and Boeing because it is a domestic airline and provides maximum services to the middle-class people of the nation. These are the economical flights that offer their services at reasonable rates and earn maximum profits and revenues through this class. These aircraft carry a large number of passengers and do not offer any complementary service.
Apart from that, Charter aircraft is just for some special customers, which is for a single person only and comes under the luxury class that is highly expensive. Along with that, lots of luxury services are provided in this aircraft. In addition to this, in the premium aircraft of Flamingo Airline, only a few numbers of people can travel, and it provides extra services like food and beverages as well, along with entertainment services, but at a high cost.
Use of Ancillary Revenues
As Flamingo Airline is a low-cost carrier that is operating in Europe, it is gaining revenue from non-ticket sources. A very high amount is earned by the firm through baggage fees and from on-board food and services. However, airline have to bear high cost as well because providing these facilities demands investment. company earns this revenue from the sale of tickets as well, that is generated by the direct sale to passengers and sometimes from indirect part of the travel experience. This revenue proves to be very helpful in making the airline a profitable one, as this is necessary to run its operations in an effective way. Apart from that, other locally established retail travel agencies also serve as a base for Flamingo Airline and offer it the growth potential. Apart from that, the major profit of the airline is gained through the services which are provided by to the customers. As almost all the important cities are covered in the schedule. Besides this, the services is rendered to so many cities so the ancillary cost is also high, as there are many indirect ways through which Flamingo can get the income.
Realistic schedule for the fleet with given considerations
Considerations |
Ascertained figures for Boeing |
Ascertained figures for Charter |
Ascertained figures for Airbus |
Ascertained figures for Premium |
|
The number of aircraft in the fleet |
12 |
20 |
8 |
10 |
|
Number of crew members to operate each aircraft |
Pilot: 3 Cabin crew: 20 |
Pilot: 3 Cabin crew: 18 |
Pilot: 3 Cabin crew: 9 |
Pilot: 4 Cabin crew: 30 |
|
Destinations of the planes |
It flies to Peterborough, Southend, Bromley, Liverpool, Denton, and Dunsfold |
It covers Bembridge, Crawley, Estone, Lacing, Woolsington, |
It files to more than 20 places like Luton, Marham, Honigton, Cambridge, etc. |
This plane covers only 3-4 places Brackley, Derby, Worksop. It covers the areas of east London. |
|
Schedules of the plane |
It flies from Peterbourgh to Bromley at 8.00 hrs. Liverpool to Bromley at 12.35 hours. Southend to Peterbourgh at 14.35 hrs. |
Bembridge to Crawley at 9.45 hrs. Crawley to Woolsington at 17.25. Lacing to Estone at 19.00 hrs. Estone to Woolsington at 22.05. hrs. |
It is flying continuously to more than 20 destinations. Luton to Cambridge at 7.00 hrs Marham to Luton at 18.30 hrs |
Brackley to Derby at 9.24 hours. Worksop to Brackley at 14.25 hrs Derby to Worksop at 10.22 hrs. |
|
Maintenance Schedules |
|||||
Internal and external cleaning: |
After every visit. |
After every visit. |
After every visit. |
After every visit. |
|
Oil changing: |
Every day. |
Every 5 days. |
Once in 2 days |
Every 10 days. |
|
Checking of fleet parts: |
After every 10 days. |
After every 5 days |
Once in fortnight |
After every 5 days |
|
Safety monitoring: |
Twice in one month |
Once in one month |
Twice in one month |
Once in one month |
|
Seasonal changes |
|||||
During Summer |
7 out of 12 will fly and will depend on number of passengers booking only. |
Only 10 out of 20 will fly because of its high fares, less possibility; especially business class passengers will be there. |
5 out of 8, which may modify to full on full as well depending upon the number of passengers again. |
5 out of 10 will fly only because of high-class passengers and fare rates applicable for this category. |
|
During Winters |
8 out of 12 due to number of passengers' bookings. As this is same as mentioned above for summer. |
This will increase to 15 out of 20 as compared to summer, as the possibility of more bookings has been determined. |
5 out of 8 but may vary according to the number of passengers. |
Same as above. |
|
During Heavy rains |
Due to unfavorable weather conditions, bookings may vary and hence tend to fly only 5 out of 12. |
Due to impact of rain, this may also need to fall to the number up to 8 out of 20. |
Heavy rain may affect the fleets and hence need to balance. Only 5 out 8 will be flown. |
This will be reduced to 3 out of 10 fleets by taking the risk factor into consideration. |
|
During holidays |
Due to heavy passengers and discounts on holiday package, 12 on 12 will fly. |
Due to heavy passengers and discounts on holiday package, 20 on 20 will fly. |
Due to heavy passengers and discounts on holiday package, 8 on 8 will fly. |
Due to heavy passengers and discounts on holiday package, 10 on 10 will fly. |
Conclusion
From this business plan, it can be concluded that Flamingo Airlines will be very helpful for the passengers, as it will primarily assist the passengers who are travelling regularly for the business meetings. Further, it has many plans to introduce new services and to cater destinations. Even it has adopted diverse practices which are fruitful in earning profit. This can also be inferred that many fleets have been purchased, as well as that there are many airplanes that have been leased by other airline companies. Lastly, it can also be concluded that in this competitive environment, it is the best decision to introduce low-cost airlines.
Few more samples on airline management:
- Issues of London Heathrow Airport & Airline Management System
- Sample Report On Airline, Travel Agency and Tour Operations
- Issues of London Heathrow Airport & Airline Management System
References
- Airline management. 2016. [Online]. Available through: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/aeronautics-and-astronautics/16-75j-airline-management-spring-2006. [Accessed on 14th April 2016].
- Ancillary revenue. 2016. [Online]. Available through: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/ancillary-revenue.html. [Accessed on 14th April 2016].