...Summary Delta airline has a long history whose roots begin at the year 1924.This airline has grown to become one of the largest airlines serving the United States of America and also majority of the world through its international routes. The aim of this paper is to see the history of the airline together with its financial position with concentration on the various strategies the company has implemented to reach where it is right now. The paper will also include various suggestions to the airline to help it to grow further. Delta airlines began in the year 1924 but during that time it was known as Huff Daland Dusters. This was the first aerial crop dusting which had its headquarters in Georgia. The following year, the company moved its headquarters to Louisiana. The directors of the company were B.R Coad and Collett Woolman.Huff Daland went on its first international route and that was to begin its services in Peru which brought in enough money and increase in purchasing power. The year 1928 gave birth to what is known as Delta Airlines today. Furthermore, the year 1930 came with a major setback to the airline. Delta failed to secure a commercial airmail contract and therefore suffered major losses which forced the airline to suspend passenger service. As time went by, the year 1934 seemed to be the year for Delta Airlines as they secured a low-bid contract for the new Route 33 airmail service between Dallas and Charleston, South Carolina, via Atlanta .The airline also resumed...
Words: 3203 - Pages: 13
...Case 27 Delta Air Lines (2012): Navigating an Uncertain Environment FOF #1: Differentiation In order to compete in a pricesensitive industry, Delta Air Lines needs to focus on differentiating itself from competitors. By doing this, Delta is creating sustainability through customer retention and loyalty. To set itself apart from competitors like United Airlines and American Airlines, Delta needs to implement a program to improve customer service. Because of Delta’s poor service reputation, I believe that the company needs to primarily concentrate on offering superior customer service as a way to gain a competitive advantage. After Delta’s merger with Northwest, customer complaints increased significantly. In 2009 Delta’s customer complaints doubled the industry average, and only two years later accounted for a third of all complaints. Additionally, results from a survey done in 2011 showed that Delta had the lowest customer satisfaction rating out of Southwest, Continental, American, US Airways, and United Airways at a staggering 56%. A rating as low as that is alarming, and can easily persuade consumers to ultimately choose competing airlines. In an attempt to counter diminishing brand loyalty and reputation, Delta needs to focus on the following three issues: 1. Improving comfort This includes designing seats that accommodate passengers of all sizes for trips of all durations. Legroom should be expanded. Additionally, the airline should offer a better selection of meals...
Words: 1512 - Pages: 7
...History of Song Llc Airlines Esequiel Garcia Dr. David Lowe ASCI 254 Monday, July 30, 2012 Table of Contents Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………………...…3 History of Huff Daland Duster Company………………………………………………...……….4 Collett Everman Woolman………………………………………………………………..………4 Air Mail Contract.....................................................................................................................…...4 Peruvian Airways merger with Pan American Grace Airways…………………………..……….4 Delta Air Service first passenger flight………………………………………………………..….5 The Air Mail Act of 1934……………………………………………………………..…………..5 The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) determine routes………………………………..………….5 The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978……………………………………………………..……..6 Song Airlines…………………………………………………………………………………..….8 Song Airlines Aircraft fleet………………………………………………………………………..9 Song Airlines Marketing Strategy…………………………………………………………...…..10 Delta Airlines Bankrupt……………………………………………………………………..…...13 Delta Airlines Disband Song Airlines…………………………………………………………....13 Delta Airlines merges Song Airlines fleet with Delta……………………………………..….....14 Conclusion of Song Airlines…………………………………………………………………..…15 Figure 1-A Delta SWOT Analysis…………………………………………………………....…16 Figure 2-A Song SWOT Analysis…………………………………………………………….....17 References……………………………………………………………………………….………18 Abstract In the competitive business environment it is imperative for any organization to ensure that its knowledge of the industry...
Words: 3638 - Pages: 15
...Affairs This portion of the paper will include key information about Delta Air Lines, Inc. (Delta): (a) history; (b) culture; (c) important leaders over the years; (d) current products and service offerings: (e) target markets; and (f) methods of product and service delivery. History This section describes the history of Delta. The company was founded in Macon, Georgia, in 1924, as the world’s first crop-dusting service, Huff-Daland Dusters. The company moved to Monroe, Louisiana, in 1925. In 1928, field manager C. E. Woolman and two partners purchased the service and renamed it Delta Air Service after the Mississippi Delta region it served. Delta was the first international mail and passenger route on the west coast of South America. Delta operated its first passenger flights over route stretching from Dallas, Texas to Jackson, Mississippi, via Shreveport and Monroe, Louisiana. Also, Delta was awarded a US Postal Service contract in 1934 to fly from Fort Worth to Charleston via Atlanta (Hoover’s, 2011). In 1941, Delta relocated to Atlanta. Woolman became the president in 1945 and he managed the company until his death in 1966 (Delta, 2011). Delta offered its first night service in 1935, using the Stinson Model A; the first Delta aircraft with two pilots. Douglas DC-2 and DC-3 service was introduced and the introduction of flight attendants, called “stewardesses,” added to flight crews. Delta contributed to the war effort by modifying 1,000 plus aircraft, over-hauling...
Words: 7453 - Pages: 30
...Strategic Plan of Delta Airlines Abstract Delta Air Lines, Inc. (Delta) is an air carrier based in Atlanta, Georgia that provides scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo throughout the United States and around the world. The Company offered customers service to destinations with Delta and Delta Connection carrier service to 321 destinations in 58 countries in January 2008. To Latin America and the Caribbean, Delta offered more than 500 weekly flights to 63 destinations in January 2008. It is a founding member of SkyTeam, a global airline alliance that provides customers with worldwide destinations, flights and services. Through the late 1970’s and 1980’s, Delta Air Lines worked to establish its name as the premier U.S. airline for customer service. The foundation of Delta’s customer service was based on a company with a culture of “southern hospitality” and employees who went above and beyond the call of duty. The company’s human resource strategy helped build the skills, motivation and opportunities for employees to deliver great customer service, and that allowed Delta to attract business travelers who paid premium prices for travel (Wright, 2008). Delta’s success shows just how important HR strategy can be, especially in its impact on company performance (Wright, 2008). The information published on Delta’s offers a great deal of information about the company, culture, and the benefits to jobseekers. Furthermore, the website provides an abundance...
Words: 2837 - Pages: 12
...Delta Airlines and the Trainer Refinery American Public University Strategic Management 05 July 2015 By Jon Kaercher Abstract The airline industry is a highly competitive service industry that operates on thin profit margins the airlines have to be flexible and adjust quickly to changes in customer’s preferences, increased fuel costs, and changes in the economy that can have a direct impact on profitability. The airlines look for solutions such as adding services, offering discounted ticket pricing and receiving subsides from the government to ensure they remain solvent This requires each airline constantly monitor its business strategy to ensure that it exploits every opportunity to provide their customers with the best possible flying experience. 1) What drive the basic economies of the airline industry? The refining industry. The airline industry operates as a service industry in which it provides the transportation of its customers and their personal belonging from one destination to another for a fee. To provide this service the airlines require a large amount of capital to purchase and maintain expensive equipment and facilities. Their cash flow is generated from profits and the depreciation of their airplanes, this cash flow is used to repay debts and buy new aircraft. The airline industry is very labor intensive because it’s in the service industry and its customers require personal attention, this can be very expensive for the airline. Over one...
Words: 1554 - Pages: 7
...Human Resource Management Delta Case Study: Improving Delta’s Profit Margin Written by Filiz McNamara, Ogochukwu Udekwe and Vicki Troftgruben February 21, 2011 Table of Contents Page Introduction 3 External Environment 3 Internal Environment 18 Systems and Stakeholder Analysis 32 Conclusion 34 Problem Identification 36 Generation and Evaluation of Alternatives 37 Recommendation 38 Decision Implementation 39 References 40 Introduction Delta Airlines was founded by C.E. Woolman, an agriculture extension agent (Anthony, Kacmar, & Perrewe, 2010). C.E Woolman was not a banker, venture capitalist or war pilot, as many of the competing airlines were. He didn’t have the aggressive military style that many of the other airline founders had. What C.E. Woolman instilled within the employees at all levels of the organization is that people matter and should be treated fairly and equitably. This philosophy led Delta Airlines to be the leader in customer service from the company’s inception through the many mergers over the years. Through the difficult financial times when other airlines were laying off employees and filing for bankruptcy, Delta continued to pay their people well and keep them employed. There was an exception during the Ronald Allen CEO era of 1987 thru 1997. Human relations took a significant down turn during his tenure as CEO, especially during 1993 and 1994, but Delta decided to part ways with Allen and began repairing...
Words: 10181 - Pages: 41
...flying full-service business class with Delta opposed to flying with a discounted low-fare carrier like Southwest. As the economy struggles and air travel becomes more competitive it is not easy to establish the best niche market strategy for an airline. Teplensky defined (as cited in Parrish, Cassill, & Oxenham, 2006) niche market strategy as, "an emphasis on a particular need, geographic, demographic, or product segment" (p. 695). Therefore, it would be ideal for Delta to seek a more specific niche in air travel and differentiate by precisely satisfying customers’ needs; rather than attempting to generalize broad niches that only partly satisfy customers’ needs as a whole. Company Overview/ Description of Location Delta Air Lines Inc. has their corporate headquarters in Atlanta Georgia. However, Delta Air Lines Inc. has a vast worldwide airline system. Delta serves over 160 million customers annually, and offers 356 destinations in 65 countries. Additionally, Delta has over 80 years of passenger service, more than 80,000 employees, and 700 aircraft that spread across six continents. Packed with an array of good services, Delta offers more than 13,000 daily flights, SkyMiles rewards (frequent flier plan), the world's largest airline loyalty partnership, over 50 Sky-Clubs, and an award-winning BusinessElite program (Delta Air Lines Inc., 2011). Description of Product or Service Focusing primarily on business amenities, Delta has a worldwide collection of services for...
Words: 3022 - Pages: 13
...Title of essay: Exploring Marketing with Delta Airlines as a Case Study Tedlow, Richard S. believes that the history of consumer product marketing in the United States can be divided into three phrases.1 The history of marketing will aid us in understanding the business world today and is thus useful in this essay to explore this in brief before embarking on studying Delta Airlines as a case study to approach the topic of marketing, in the context of the U.S Airline Industry. Phrase 1 is that of fragmentation and this is purely due to logistics reasons, rather than the result of any marketing strategy. This results in transportation of bulky goods from one region to another being relatively expensive and for a consumer product to achieve national distribution, a favorable ratio of weight and bulk to value is required. This phrase happened before the 1880s and the market size is restricted due to a lack of information, and it is characterized by a high margin and low volume. The second phrase of unification is the rise of mass marketing, with high volume and a low margin, which is the direct opposite of the first phrase of fragmentation. The development of this phrase is possible due to firstly, the development of the railroad and the telegraph and secondly, innovations in manufacturing technology. All the above innovations led to a more effective transportation and communication network that lowered the cost of mass marketing products by significant percentages. There is a rise...
Words: 5315 - Pages: 22
...Title of essay: Exploring Marketing with Delta Airlines as a Case Study Tedlow, Richard S. believes that the history of consumer product marketing in the United States can be divided into three phrases.1 The history of marketing will aid us in understanding the business world today and is thus useful in this essay to explore this in brief before embarking on studying Delta Airlines as a case study to approach the topic of marketing, in the context of the U.S Airline Industry. Phrase 1 is that of fragmentation and this is purely due to logistics reasons, rather than the result of any marketing strategy. This results in transportation of bulky goods from one region to another being relatively expensive and for a consumer product to achieve national distribution, a favorable ratio of weight and bulk to value is required. This phrase happened before the 1880s and the market size is restricted due to a lack of information, and it is characterized by a high margin and low volume. The second phrase of unification is the rise of mass marketing, with high volume and a low margin, which is the direct opposite of the first phrase of fragmentation. The development of this phrase is possible due to firstly, the development of the railroad and the telegraph and secondly, innovations in manufacturing technology. All the above innovations led to a more effective transportation and communication network that lowered the cost of mass marketing products by significant percentages. There is a rise...
Words: 5315 - Pages: 22
...Delta Airlines Cynthia Howard-Morgan BUS499 Professor Anderson July 29, 2012 Introduction The longest-running airline carrier, Delta Airlines began in 1924 as a crop-dusting company called Huff Deland Dusters. Delta has since become a world leader in providing efficient, on-time travel, since 1941, the company has been based in Atlanta, where Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport serves as its largest domestic hub and primary base for flights to over 57 countries. The airline also operates four other hubs in major U.S. notably Los Angeles which it has recently reestablished (Delta, 2011). Due to competition from lost-cost airlines, the negative effects of 911 on travel and skyrocketing fuel prices, the company held over $20 billion in debt as of September 2005 Delta declared bankruptcy. Delta was able to emerge from bankruptcy in 2007, achieving profitability that same year. In April, 2008, Delta announced its intention to purchase Northwest Airlines. The two companies combined created the world’s largest airline. Currently it is the only airline to service all six permanently inhabited continents in the world. The company's structure and management approach have constantly evolved in order to maintain competitive in the cutthroat airline industry (Delta, 2011). Delta vision will able them continue to be the world’s largest and the world’s greatest airline. Segments of General Environment Segments that rank the highest would be suppliers and work...
Words: 2513 - Pages: 11
...INFORMATION SYSTEMS Case Analysis – Tale of Two Airlines PROBLEM STATEMENT Neglect and inconsistency in applying standard operational strategies and procedures can make a significant difference in meeting the expectations of passengers, affects passenger loyalty and have potential consequences on the ability of an airline to retain existing customers and attract new ones. In the information technology age “technology is only a small enabling piece of a total service concept.” How can an airline cause information technology, operations strategy, management control, empowered/unempowered work force, and service management to come together to produce customer satisfaction and long term customer loyalty?. In analysing the case, let’s examine some of the issues that were encountered during his travel, the reasons for these issues and what could have been done differently to provide a hassle free travel experience. It is a fair expectation and assumption that when a comparison is made with quality services and the impact of the use of information technology in 1985 versus 1995 there should be a distinct difference due to the era and the stages of advancement in information technology. It is therefore assumed that whatever service was provided in the 1980’s would have been improved ten years later. This leads us to examine: * Was the assumption made by Professor McPherson to think that it was possible for the network between airlines to make it feasible for him to connect to...
Words: 3174 - Pages: 13
...Depreciation at Delta Air Lines and Singapore Airlines (A) In the early 1990s, the American airline industry experienced a $12.8 billion loss. During this fragile economic state, airline companies reconsidered accounting policies and the long-term effect of each policy on a company’s bottom line. Accounting for such a large part of Total Assets (approximately 50%), the PPE account and its contra account, Accumulated Depreciation, affect both the Balance Sheet and the Income Statement of airline companies. Therefore, the method and assumptions a company implements relating to the calculation of depreciation can significantly alter the company’s financial appearance. Delta Airlines and Singapore both use the straight-line method to depreciate their airline equipment. However, the two companies assume different useful lives and salvage values, influencing the amount and timing of depreciation expense. Delta assumes longer useful lives than Singapore, increasing the life over time from 10 to 15 to 20 years in April 1993 (see Exhibit 1). A longer useful life spreads out depreciation over a longer period of time, therefore lowering the annual expense and increasing Net Income. Conversely, Delta is decreasing the residual value of PPE from 10% to 5% of cost. The increased depreciable base of Delta’s fleet paired with the extremely high useful life, Delta decreased their annual depreciation expense on every $100 of gross equipment from $9 in years prior to July 1986 to $4...
Words: 1479 - Pages: 6
...Global Competitive Strategy Executive Brief: Delta Airlines Executive Summary: After years of instability, decreasing profit margins, and volatile costs, the airline industry is experiencing stabilization and profitability. Though low-cost carriers, such as Southwest and Jetblue, were able to succeed during rough economic times, Delta should not launch a new stand-alone discount airline to directly compete within this market. As shown in Exhibit 1, despite recent changes in the industry - including consolidation, bankruptcy filings, and a forecasted positive economic outlook - intense competition and supplier power remain extremely high for the industry. Based on the following analysis, Delta is in direct competition with other legacy airlines such as United/Continental and American Airlines for the higher end market juxtaposed to its less direct competition with low-cost carriers, e.g. Southwest, which fall into a separate strategic group targeting a different market and consumer. As a result of Delta’s entrenched strategy of providing many routes and amenities for higher ticket prices, the company’s core competencies, resources, and activities do not align with the discount airline market and, therefore, the company should not launch a new low-cost carrier airline. Company and Competitor Analysis: Delta’s core competencies are to provide multiple domestic and international routes to travelers, customer service and luxury, technological innovation, and access...
Words: 1605 - Pages: 7
...SECOND SEMESTER FEBRUARY 2015/2016 (A152) GROUP: B (5) WRITTEN REPORT CASE ANALYSIS CASE : Depreciation at Delta Air Lines: The “Fresh Start” PREPARED FOR: PROF. DR. MOHAMAD ALI B ABDUL HAMID PREPARED BY: NAME | MATRIC NO | AHMAD SHABIRIN BIN BAHRIN | 221521 | YELMI MARIANI BINTI ZULKIFLI | 221792 | LEONG SIAO ZHUEN | 230190 | NIWASHINI A/P SUBRAMANIAM | 230293 | ANG HUI QIN | 230294 | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Delta Airline began 2008 with more worldwide destination of 321 destinations in 58 countries. In 2008 merged with Northwest Airlines, become the largest airline in the world. In May 1st 2007, Delta adopted policies regarding estimated lives & residual values for aircraft, but its was far from the 1st time it had changed its estimates. PPE (flight, ground property) are often more than half of the total asset. Depreciation of those asset is a major operating expenses and is not an attempt to measure the current value of assets. The amount of depreciation estimated by an airline company for each operating period is based in the cost of asset, estimates of asset lives, and assumptions about residual values at the end of the asset lives. These estimates & assumptions have changed through the years for almost all airlines. Depreciation practices had been change several time. CAUSE AND STATEMTN OF PROBLEM Delta, has changed assumptions of economic life of aircraft 4 times since 1986, each time extending the expected life by 5 years...
Words: 944 - Pages: 4
