Ex QF
11th May 2006, 22:12
Article from the Australian today (Fri 12 May).
A question to the Air NZ staff out there, did the Ralph Norris philosophy "I look after the staff, they look after the customers and the customers will look after the shareholders" happen or was it just the CEO talking the talk?
A question to QF staff out there, can you imagine Dixon coming out with that one? Could you ever imagine it happening or the directive coming from any of his senior management team?
Ex.
Article:
May 12, 2006
THE message from Air New Zealand's new chief executive, Rob Fyfe, is simple: learn the operations manual thoroughly and then throw it away. "I don't want a whole lot of clones on our flights. I want individuality and warmth," he says.
Fyfe's predecessor Ralph Norris - now Commonwealth Bank chief - had hurled out the Harvard textbook on shareholder value with his philosophy: "I look after the staff, they look after the customers and the customers will look after the shareholders".
Now, Fyfe is throwing out the stereotyped service manual. His vision is to re-establish the airline as a genuine growth airline with huge potential and marry that with a personality that is in touch with the airline's passengers.
"We want our staff to show their skills and knowledge and engage our passengers, discussing everything from the best surfing beaches and wines to the best places to see the Maori heritage," he says.
The turnaround at Air NZ is truly remarkable. In the past year the airline introduced the Boeing 777-200ER, completed a total long-haul fleet cabin makeover, and redesigned menus and uniforms.
Fyfe explains that "the last two years has been about getting the infrastructure back in place, getting the product offering where it needs to be and getting new aircraft. It's been all about getting the mechanics of the business where it needs to be."
Now Fyfe's message of personal innovation is getting through. He illustrates this with a compassionate story of an elderly couple rushing to be at their daughter's bedside after a serious car accident: "The daughter was being taken to Invercargill Hospital and the couple were flying from Christchurch in one of our ATR 72s.
"Just as the aircraft was taxiing out, a message came through to ops that the daughter was being taken to Dunedin instead. Ops and the captain decided not to recall the aircraft and delay the couple but instead to drop into Dunedin en route to Invercargill.
"Our staff in Invercargill and Dunedin worked really hard and by the time the aircraft was back in Christchurch it was just a few minutes late. The other passengers, rather than being annoyed at the extra stop in Dunedin, were thrilled to be part of a compassionate situation."
Fyfe and Ed Sims, Air NZ's group general manager, both enthuse when talking about the new "relaxed luxury product" on the airline's 747s and 777s.
"Yield is up. Economy passengers are moving up to premium economy and our business and first class passengers are coming back in droves," says Sims.
They are returning, he says, to sample an interior configuration that reflects what passengers want and are prepared to pay for. At the pointy end, the old first and business offerings have been replaced in Business Premier with true flat beds that are 2.07m long. The airline has introduced Pacific Premium Economy, adjacent to the premium cabin, which sports a seat pitch of 99-101cm together with extra seat width. Air NZ has retained its economy class seat pitch of 86.3cm -- 5cm more than most airlines.
"This extra leg-room is extremely important on longer-haul routes that appeal to Australians and New Zealanders, who are the world's tallest travellers after the Dutch," says Sims.
While Air NZ may have been paralysed by a lack of vision and funds in the 1990s, it's a very different story today, Fyfe explains with a wry smile. "We may not have scale but we do guerilla warfare real well."
Fyfe puts it quite simply. "We can make decisions in a fraction of the time. For instance, we can refit our fleet in just a year whereas it takes some airlines up to three years." The speed of responce was demonstrated when Air NZ introduced Tasman Express and cut back on the service levels in business class too hard. "Within six weeks we admitted we had made a mistake and returned some of the service features."
Fyfe says they had great feedback from the industry, which was impressed by the fact the airline admitted it had made a mistake and then fixed it fast.
But Fyfe wants even more flexibility, agility and creativity from the airline and is not afraid to make more mistakes. "I would much rather be the person that tries five or six things and gets three and four right," says Fyfe.
One thing Fyfe and his team did right was ordering Boeing 787s in July 2004. It was the second airline to commit to the model - the best-selling twin-aisle aircraft - when it also ordered 777s with a total commitment of 52 aircraft. The initial eight 777s, which will all be delivered by the end of this year, are opening up new routes such as daily San Francisco flights, a second daily London service via Hong Kong to start in September, and a Shanghai service. India and South America are also on the radar.
Fyfe also sees interesting options for Auckland as a hub to connect South America to Asia, to avoid the annoying transit stops in LA - where passengers are required to clear customs regardless of final destination.
As the 777s are introduced, its fleet of 767-300ER aircraft is being reduced from seven to just four, which will be retained for Pacific and Perth services. The airline is also mulling acquiring additional 777-200ERs, although there is no timetable on that decision.
Air New Zealand's first 787-9 will be delivered in 2010, although the airline may elect to take 787-8s in 2009. Fyfe suggests that the airline's 747-400 replacement time is 2012-13 and hasn't ruled out leasing some more 747-400 capacity in the near term. The replacement would involve either the 777-300ER or 747-8, says Fyfe.
Effectively, the airline cannot really access the scale of success of its new long-haul product until it is on all routes in December 2006, and full-scale advertising is launched. But yields are already on the rise.
For the six months to December 31, long haul yields were up 2.9 per cent after adjustments for the negative effects of the stronger NZ dollar. Load factor jumped 1.6 per cent to 78.8 per cent.
While Air NZ is the flag carrier of The Land of the Long White Cloud, for the airline, it is all blue skies.
A question to the Air NZ staff out there, did the Ralph Norris philosophy "I look after the staff, they look after the customers and the customers will look after the shareholders" happen or was it just the CEO talking the talk?
A question to QF staff out there, can you imagine Dixon coming out with that one? Could you ever imagine it happening or the directive coming from any of his senior management team?
Ex.
Article:
May 12, 2006
THE message from Air New Zealand's new chief executive, Rob Fyfe, is simple: learn the operations manual thoroughly and then throw it away. "I don't want a whole lot of clones on our flights. I want individuality and warmth," he says.
Fyfe's predecessor Ralph Norris - now Commonwealth Bank chief - had hurled out the Harvard textbook on shareholder value with his philosophy: "I look after the staff, they look after the customers and the customers will look after the shareholders".
Now, Fyfe is throwing out the stereotyped service manual. His vision is to re-establish the airline as a genuine growth airline with huge potential and marry that with a personality that is in touch with the airline's passengers.
"We want our staff to show their skills and knowledge and engage our passengers, discussing everything from the best surfing beaches and wines to the best places to see the Maori heritage," he says.
The turnaround at Air NZ is truly remarkable. In the past year the airline introduced the Boeing 777-200ER, completed a total long-haul fleet cabin makeover, and redesigned menus and uniforms.
Fyfe explains that "the last two years has been about getting the infrastructure back in place, getting the product offering where it needs to be and getting new aircraft. It's been all about getting the mechanics of the business where it needs to be."
Now Fyfe's message of personal innovation is getting through. He illustrates this with a compassionate story of an elderly couple rushing to be at their daughter's bedside after a serious car accident: "The daughter was being taken to Invercargill Hospital and the couple were flying from Christchurch in one of our ATR 72s.
"Just as the aircraft was taxiing out, a message came through to ops that the daughter was being taken to Dunedin instead. Ops and the captain decided not to recall the aircraft and delay the couple but instead to drop into Dunedin en route to Invercargill.
"Our staff in Invercargill and Dunedin worked really hard and by the time the aircraft was back in Christchurch it was just a few minutes late. The other passengers, rather than being annoyed at the extra stop in Dunedin, were thrilled to be part of a compassionate situation."
Fyfe and Ed Sims, Air NZ's group general manager, both enthuse when talking about the new "relaxed luxury product" on the airline's 747s and 777s.
"Yield is up. Economy passengers are moving up to premium economy and our business and first class passengers are coming back in droves," says Sims.
They are returning, he says, to sample an interior configuration that reflects what passengers want and are prepared to pay for. At the pointy end, the old first and business offerings have been replaced in Business Premier with true flat beds that are 2.07m long. The airline has introduced Pacific Premium Economy, adjacent to the premium cabin, which sports a seat pitch of 99-101cm together with extra seat width. Air NZ has retained its economy class seat pitch of 86.3cm -- 5cm more than most airlines.
"This extra leg-room is extremely important on longer-haul routes that appeal to Australians and New Zealanders, who are the world's tallest travellers after the Dutch," says Sims.
While Air NZ may have been paralysed by a lack of vision and funds in the 1990s, it's a very different story today, Fyfe explains with a wry smile. "We may not have scale but we do guerilla warfare real well."
Fyfe puts it quite simply. "We can make decisions in a fraction of the time. For instance, we can refit our fleet in just a year whereas it takes some airlines up to three years." The speed of responce was demonstrated when Air NZ introduced Tasman Express and cut back on the service levels in business class too hard. "Within six weeks we admitted we had made a mistake and returned some of the service features."
Fyfe says they had great feedback from the industry, which was impressed by the fact the airline admitted it had made a mistake and then fixed it fast.
But Fyfe wants even more flexibility, agility and creativity from the airline and is not afraid to make more mistakes. "I would much rather be the person that tries five or six things and gets three and four right," says Fyfe.
One thing Fyfe and his team did right was ordering Boeing 787s in July 2004. It was the second airline to commit to the model - the best-selling twin-aisle aircraft - when it also ordered 777s with a total commitment of 52 aircraft. The initial eight 777s, which will all be delivered by the end of this year, are opening up new routes such as daily San Francisco flights, a second daily London service via Hong Kong to start in September, and a Shanghai service. India and South America are also on the radar.
Fyfe also sees interesting options for Auckland as a hub to connect South America to Asia, to avoid the annoying transit stops in LA - where passengers are required to clear customs regardless of final destination.
As the 777s are introduced, its fleet of 767-300ER aircraft is being reduced from seven to just four, which will be retained for Pacific and Perth services. The airline is also mulling acquiring additional 777-200ERs, although there is no timetable on that decision.
Air New Zealand's first 787-9 will be delivered in 2010, although the airline may elect to take 787-8s in 2009. Fyfe suggests that the airline's 747-400 replacement time is 2012-13 and hasn't ruled out leasing some more 747-400 capacity in the near term. The replacement would involve either the 777-300ER or 747-8, says Fyfe.
Effectively, the airline cannot really access the scale of success of its new long-haul product until it is on all routes in December 2006, and full-scale advertising is launched. But yields are already on the rise.
For the six months to December 31, long haul yields were up 2.9 per cent after adjustments for the negative effects of the stronger NZ dollar. Load factor jumped 1.6 per cent to 78.8 per cent.
While Air NZ is the flag carrier of The Land of the Long White Cloud, for the airline, it is all blue skies.