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Airtran

Mission Statement:
Innovative people dedicated to delivering the best flying experience to smart travelers. Every day.

Suggested Mission Statement:
Innovative, vital, impervious, and customer oriented firm striving to service smart travelers. Every day.

Case statement:
Our mission is to maintain our profitability in face of rising competition and fuel cost.

Background:
“AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings (NYSE: AAI), is a low-fare airline designed for business travelers, offering Business class, new planes with XM Satellite Radio and EasyFit Overhead Bins, assigned seats, and our accommodating frequent flier program A+ Rewards. AirTran Airways' mix of low fares and an affordable Business Class with excellent customer service and one of the world's youngest all-Boeing fleets has continued to strike a chord with the public.” (www.airtran.com)

Internal Factor Evaluation Matrix

Weight Rating Weighted Score
Strengths
1. Remaining Profitable .18 4 .72
2. High Service Quality .14 4 .56
3. High Plane Utilization .11 4 .44
4. Large Airport Presence .07 3 .21
5. Young Airline Fleet .03 3 .09

Weaknesses
1. High Operating Cost per ASM .18 1 .18
2. Concentrated to East US .10 2 .20
4. Low Ratings in Select AQR Categories .04 2 .08
5. Highly Dependent on Fuel .06 2 .12


Strengths
• AirTran needs to remain profitable, both to survive but more importantly to keep investor interest and confidence.
• High service quality is key for AirTran to keep a recurring customer-base healthy.
• Especially important in AirTran’s low-cost strategy, utilizing planes to their fullest potential is key.
• AirTran has a high airport presence throughout eastern United States.
• AirTran benefits from a young airplane fleet through cost savings, quality and marketing efforts.


Weaknesses
• A major weakness of AirTran is its high operating cost per available seat mile compared to other low-cost providers like Southwest and...