Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

In an Indy Star report that ran related to Florida expansion here were some interesting comments made by AirTran.

"We've done very well in Indianapolis, particularly to Florida,'' said Kevin Healy, AirTran vice president of planning. "Indianapolis is a city we've really invested in.''

and....

"We do more than average marketing in Indianapolis and certainly view it as a market we can be profitable in and continue to grow in,'' Healy said.

Source: http://www.indystar.com/apps/p...D=/20061011/BUSINESS/610110395

It looks to me like they are very committed to here. I just wish they could do something to improve their on time record.

Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

They've paid to be the official airline of the Colts. That can't be cheap, and it's not something a company does for the short term.

Site Admin

Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 2316
Location: Indianapolis, IN

Their moves puzzle me. You'd think they would want to build a hub in the area because of a lack of jets for major point to point flying. But they look to be trying a SW move with all the minor focus operations. But then they turn around and pass on an option for a bunch of 737's.

Site Admin

Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 949
Location: Carmel, IN

I'm guessing that, like in many big companies, the marketing department operates quite independently of operations, planning/strategy, finance, and other departments. So the Airtran marketing people were probably given a goal like, "We want to increase market share by 1 percentage point this year," or "we want to serve 100,000 unique passengers by 2007," etc. So off they go, deciding how best to accomplish this goal. Maybe it's by sponsoring the Colts, running some radio and billboard ads, and by offering some sale fares.

Then, you've got the operations department. They are given goals like, "make sure our on-time performance is the best of any airline serving IND," or "reduce our cost per available seat mile (CASM) by 10% this year." So off they go, deciding how best to accomplish this. Maybe it's by squeezing their turnaround time to 30 minutes at-gate between flights, proactively rerouting flights to avoid circling around storms, and optimizing the staffing among the ground crew.

Then you've got the finance department. They are given goals like, "our return on capital employed (ROCE) must be XX% this year," or "effectively hedge our fuel purchases to meet our annual budget number for avgas." So off they go, deciding how best to accomplish this. Maybe it's by buying some call options when oil prices appear set to increase, extending their payables to improve cash flow, and by delaying the purchase of new capital equipment, like airplanes.

Now the marketing, ops, and finance groups may talk to each other in staff meetings or something, but the marketing people will keep on marketing whether the finance people buy the planes or not. The ops guys will work with what they have whether they have new planes or not. Etc...