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AIRLINES IN TRANSITION Pushing the boundaries, facing the challenges
Good crisis management is essential in aviation – natural disasters, political conflict and economic crisis all throw up challenges that can be tricky to navigate. Air Malta and Aer Lingus joined airline consultant John Strickland to discuss their own success stories and share their strategies for survival when turbulence hits.
Saturation and overcapacity of the European market are two of the greatest challenges facing European airlines. Christoph Mueller, CEO Aer Lingus, explained that as a probable result of a weak European market, simulation is no longer working, creating a challenge for businesses. The panel identified that many European airlines are missing an opportunity to use the economic crisis as a chance to change. Both Mueller and Peter Davies, CEO of Air Malta, agreed that good change management from within organisations is crucial, with Davies noting: “It is about pulling people through, not pushing people.”
AIRLINES IN TRANSITION
So, are things set to improve in 2014? Mueller explained that having studied airport statistics he found Germany – which is the strongest performing GDP country in Europe – was not growing at all in terms of airport capacity. From a macro- economical perspective therefore care should be taken. London is somewhat of an anomaly in terms of European aviation, he continued, in that the industry has never seen a boom comparable to that experienced by the capital this year. The UK aside though, the rest of Europe is very sluggish and Mueller highlighted the continuing importance of managing capacity tightly and keeping costs under control.
Organised by JLS Consulting
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For the first time in five years we have competition in Europe. It was most probably stimulated by the weakness in the market and very surprisingly the outcome of that is that simulation is not working any longer – and that is a big surprise for everyone in the market. The entire model for simulation is broken. Christoph Mueller, CEO Aer Lingus
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In my experience, airlines don’t change unless they are forced to. There are a lot of airlines in Europe at the moment that are close to bankruptcy and are being forced to make changes. The question is: how do they make those changes? Peter Davies, CEO Air Malta
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