Looking Beyond the Runway - 9781409400998

Since 9/11, few airlines have shown their ability to develop innovative strategies in order to cope with the changing marketplace. In Europe, Air France and KLM have set a new trend. For the very first time, an airline group has grown from two national airlines, both keeping their own brands and values. The merger has enabled the group to develop strong synergies and to build a global network around a giant hub at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam Schiphol. This initiative has since inspired others as a way to face efficiently the current chaos described in precise terms by Nawal Taneja. On the strength of the analyses he has carried out on other industries, Nawal Taneja predicts some dramatic changes and a radical division of airlines into two groups. One that manages to survive, but only just. The other that exploits this chaos with a fast-changing successful strategy based on new avenues of thought and action. Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, Chief Executive Officer, Air France Klm

Advances in the quality and delivery of information, in conjunction with improved technological capability, will drive innovation and effective strategy for travel companies in the years ahead. The same transparency, immediacy, personalization, and accessibility of information that benefit the traveler also empower travel suppliers with data about consumer demand, current trends, and efficacy of advertising efforts. Nawal Taneja's sixth book, Looking Beyond the Runway, examines comprehensively how airlines can succeed in an uncertain market by learning from cross-industry examples, listening to the changing needs of the travel consumer, and utilizing information as the key lever for growth and profitability in the new decade. Rob Torres, Managing Director, Travel, Google

This latest work by Nawal Taneja has provided plenty of food for thought to airline management in appreciation of the realities of the challenging aviation landscape today and in the years ahead, and in seizing the opportunities that must come with change. He has again argued for the fundamentals: understanding the customers, innovating around realities and staying focused for the long haul. The underlying message driven home by him can be found in the Chinese phrase for Crisis: It is made up of two words - Danger and Opportunity. Wong Woon Liong, CEO, Changi Airports International, Singapore (Former Director General, The Civil Aviation Authority, Singapore)

The global airline industry, facing significant changes and discontinuity is prompted and forced to deal with a "new normal."

To deal with this upcoming "new normal", airlines have to go beyond their short-term circumstantial strategies---they need strategic renewal of their ageing business model. In this candidly-written book, Nawal Taneja explains what will separate the winners from the losers.

He maintains the leaders will be the airlines that: (1) exploit this crisisdriven change to their best advantage, (2) learn to work around the airline-inherent constraints that prevent them from running their businesses just like other businesses, (3) learn from successes and failures of other global enterprises, (4) sharpen their business intelligence, analytics, and strategic agility, and (5) proactively explore the "pockets of growth" in this emerging-markets century.

To help airline executives become informed of new competitive games, the author analyzes numerous business sectors such as auto, hospitality, retail, technology, and entertainment. For example, relevant lessons can be learned from the strategic mistakes made by the US automakers. Likewise, emergent and compelling insights can be gained in superior customer experience from Ritz-Carlton and Zappos, and in value-creating innovation from Cirque du Soleil and Zipcar. The book also features a multitude of forewords from airlines and related businesses to provide readers with multiple perspectives on the changing landscape in the global airline industry.