The Official Consultants to Routes
Have you ever heard the saying 'Consultants are people who borrow your watch and tell you what time it is, and then walk off with the watch' (Robert Townsend) . Having been in the aviation and tourism industry for more than a few years now, the only thing that remained constant in this ever changing world of ours was the mystery surrounding 'consultants' and what they really did.
For many of us, the hiring of a consultant used to mean one of several things; either you had a very large budget, your boss knew somebody that needed work or your job was in jeopardy. Fortunately, that has changed and as we all try to keep up with a very competitive and price conscious industry, it often makes commercial sense to outsource some or all of the work involved in creating professional route development strategies.
In order to make relevant and educational presentations to the airlines there is a multitude of tasks to perform. Power Point presentations with pictures of your destination and stats on the route no longer influence the carrier, they want more detailed information than many airports have access to. The amount of research and preparation is critical and this takes up valuable resources and time to assemble. While you are the expert on your product (that's why we borrow your watch) a consultant can supply the supporting information you may not have access to.
We all know the basics of preparing for a Routes event; do your research, tailor your presentation, back up your argument and so on, but as the industry becomes more complicated, so does the knowledge we need to have on hand.
Some things for you to consider for your next presentation:
- Know your airline segmentation. Not long ago there were passenger and cargo airlines. Now we have LCC's, hybrids, charters, feeders, regional's, hubs, crossovers, integrators and more.
- The fleet of an aircraft is very important to the route, understand the importance of the yield mix - can your market fill the front of the aircraft or is it primarily economy?
- Knowing what the particular carrier will want from your airport is critical, if it's low cost carrier, it will require quick turnarounds, if it's a legacy carrier it will require lounge space.
- If possible, ask the airline ahead of time what their perception of your airport is versus your competition.
- Know the stakeholders that will support the route. Will the tourism industry, government bodies and the community offer resources?
- Contact the destination airport - see if there is an opportunity to work together.
- MIDT, BSP, QSI data - have it all on hand.
- While market share and load factors are very important, the airline's main priority is network profitability so even if the route is profitable, do some research on how it will benefit the network.
- Listen to the airline, ask them the questions. This might be your one opportunity to find out about them. What is their business strategy? Which markets do they want to enter? Are they planning to grow? This information could be vital for helping you plan your next meeting.
Once a relationship has been established with a carrier it is easier to anticipate their needs however, if it is your first meeting - it is better to be over prepared than under prepared.
And by the way.....we give you your watch back.
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