Question Time EASY DOES IT


In a new regular feature, an industry expert answers any business travel issues or concerns you may have. This time round, consultant Dennis Bailey answers a query from an anonymous buyer


Q.


Dennis Bailey DENOVO


MANAGEMENT LTD. Dennis Bailey is an independent business travel specialist with over 20 years of sourcing and operations experience working for some of the world’s largest companies in the manufacturing and consultancy sectors. Dennis established his own business, Denovo Management Ltd, offering consultancy and interim management services to corporate clients.


A.


HOW can travel buyers improve the use of low-cost airlines such


as easyjet both in terms of communicating to travellers that these carriers offer good value and service, and working as buyers directly with them to negotiate and partner more closely?


I WILL start by asking why you would specifically want to improve


the use of low-cost airlines? Shouldn’t the approach be to promote the lowest cost on the day taking account of schedule and departure and arrival points? That being the case, I will attempt to answer adopting the basic assumption that you want the best carrier for your travellers in terms of price, schedule and service. So let’s address the issue of price, and the savings which the low-cost carriers proudly boast. Well, the fact is that they use similar systems to their full- service competitors to manage yield, and they are not always the cheapest when all costs are factored in. In a study I conducted last year for a


" easyJet has broken loose from the pack by utilising the GDS and they have also recently appointed a corporate sales manager"


client the so-called low-cost airlines were the most competitive on two out of four business destinations tested (three in Europe and one domestic), and that was based purely on the best price offered by booking three days in advance of travel from London to the destination. All too often in my experience I feel we often overlook the actual origin of the traveller as opposed to the flight origin and if London in this instance means Luton, and your traveller lives in Hampshire, I would suggest that the routing is not appropriate.


So let’s move on to schedule. Again, in


the pricing exercise above, one of the destinations I looked at was Milan. BA offer a flight from LHR departing at 07.50,


but Ryanair offer a flight at a more competitive price leaving STN at 06.30. So, a much earlier start for the traveller,


but in addition, Ryanair fly to Bergamo which, by any stretch of the imagination is not Milan. Bergamo airport is 50km from the centre of Milan and that’s 45 minutes in a taxi at a cost of 60 euros or an hour on the bus at 20 euros. Lastly, let’s look at service, which is difficult because of the subjectivity involved. I do not particularly enjoy the experience of travelling with some of the no-frills airlines, but from a corporate travel management viewpoint I guess we should look at other factors such as punctuality, passenger support and service delivery. When looking at punctuality on the CAA website, it is clear that for the full year of 2009 both easyJet and Ryanair are worse than BA, for example, in every category, but that’s not a factor which could be easily incorporated into the booking process. As for passenger support, I would ask everyone to analyse their most recent experience during the ash cloud and make their own decisions. If I had been travelling at the time I would much rather


it had been with a full-service carrier, which in my experience also offer much better service when an aircraft goes technical for example. The second part of your question regarding the opportunity to negotiate and partner more closely with the low- cost carriers is far easier to answer. Due to their business model they have historically not been willing to negotiate on price, claiming as they do to always offer the most competitive fare. That said, easyJet have already broken loose from the pack by utilising the GDS and they have also recently appointed a corporate sales manager. So in summary, I’d say where spot- buying in Europe is now the norm unless there are significant volumes involved, let’s look at all carriers factoring in every aspect of the trip, including schedule, traveller origin, departure point, schedule, and total trip cost, and then judge each and every booking on its own merits.


IF YOU have a business travel issue you would like advice on from an expert, email us at: help@thebusinesstravelmag.com


16 I THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE


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