International Operations Management
Operations Management at Easyjet Airlines
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| Operations Management at Easyjet Airlines Easyjet is a British low-cost airline based in the southeast of England. Easy- jet was created in the mid by Stelios Hadji-Ioannou, a young Greek entrepreneur who until then had nothing to do with the airline industry. Stelios took his idea from Southwest Airlines—an American low-cost airline flying more than 70 million passengers a year to 60 cities in the United States. He thought that creating an airline that could offer low fares to customers would become a successful venture in Europe. Obviously, to keep fares down, he had to keep costs down. One way to achieve this was by bringing new ideas into how the company would perform its international operations. Easyjet’s first routes were between London and Scotland (Edinburgh and Glasgow). The company is based at Luton airport, a much smaller and cheaper alternative than Heathrow airport. To keep costs down, the company does not use travel agents but offers its services directly to customers. Customers can obtain information and book their tickets by calling the company s phone center using a national number. Their call is then transferred at the company’s expense to its phone center in England. Depending on where the call is coming from, it is answered by a specific bilingual reservation agent who greets the customer and carries out all the conversation in the language of the country that the call has come from (unless, of course, the ............................................................................. ............................................................................. Elsevier US Job code KIB Chapter: Ch11-H7983 6-12-2006 9:22 p.m. Page:369 Trimsize:7.25 in in Fonts used Sabon & Frutiger Margins:Top:36 pt Gutter:66 pt Font Size pt Text Width PC Depth:43 Lines International Operations Management 369 customer initiates the conversation in English. The agent then explains the company’s policies and clarifies that all tickets are for instant purchase only and cannot be reserved. The customer then pays for the ticket using his or her credit card. Once the ticket is issued, changing the date of travel incurs a penalty fee as well as paying the difference in case the new ticket is more expensive than the old one. Easyjet has put a lot of effort in producing a website that would represent the company’s philosophy—that is, be easy to use. Selling tickets on the Internet has now become Easyjet’s much preferred option, as the company aims to gradually decrease its reservation agents involvement in selling tickets on the phone and increase their customer service duties—that is, dealing with customer complaints or any other issues of concern to customers. To encourage customers to buy their tickets on the Internet, the company offers a discount on all seats that are purchased electronically. The way that Easyjet performs its operations has helped the company keep its costs down and offer huge savings to customers. Although the company faced strong competition from British Airways, as well as from other low-cost airlines that have followed Easyjet’s model, it is today one of the most successful low-cost airlines in Europe offering 222 routes across 67 key European airports. The way in which this company is performing its international operations has helped it survive in a very competitive environment and at difficult times for the airline industry. Download 340.14 Kb. Share with your friends:
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