Marketing: Southwest Airlines and Westjet Essay

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Pages: 10
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Executive Summary

WestJet is a culture and customer based airline which holds a unique sense of humor and friendliness that every passenger wants to experience. However, it’s also an airline which is high in demand and is widely growing in the market today. Their growth could contribute to many changes as it would attract different markets and regards to which, the culture which the airline practices might get affected. The two biggest threats the airline could face are as follow:
Their emphasis on the culture might create issues as they grow in the market
The threats imposed by terrorism are unavoidable
These issues and both internal and external and could cause a stressed situation for the airlines. Internal issues can be solved through customer feedbacks and employee suggestions however, external issues might be a problem as they are usually a force of nature or an unexpected event. Following are the points which WestJet can focus on to avoid the issues:
Focus on their strengths and opportunities
Avoid their weakness and understand the threats imposed
Focus on the changing trends and expectations of the customers
Realize that not every customer accepts the humor
Provide customer with assurance that they are safe
WestJet has set out to be one of the most desired airline in Canada while many others failed. It got through terrorist attack of 9 September 2001 which shows their culture is a steady strength towards them however, in the emerging market today it might not be able to stay as strong as it was. WestJet should avoid the culture based attitude towards every situation and understand their markets. Identification of the Problem
The airline business is highly influenced by its customers MNE’s where safety is usually considered the highest priority. A passenger is more likely to travel with an airline which assures their safety and security however, this concept was highly affected by the threat imposed not only on WestJet but every other airline around the world due to the terrorist attack in 2001. WestJet however, pulled through and have been one of the best carrier for Canada until this day. This is due to them being very customer oriented and sticking to their “culture” which makes every employer an owner. The culture however has its ups and downs whereas it helped WestJet survive through the tough September 11 attack, It currently also impose a threat towards the company as WestJet grows. This is strictly due to the rising change in trends and customer’s MNEs as WestJet has a culture which is affective towards many open minded individuals however the growth can certainly put the company at risk. Although it’s an ongoing progress to growth, WestJet certainly has many more positive strengths and opportunities to contribute towards as well as many weaknesses and threats to be able to face.
Strengths
WestJet was founded in 1996 and was the “first true low-cost, low-fare, short-haul scheduled carrier” which has gradually become one of the first choices for Canadians to travel on. This is highly influenced by the “culture” WestJet practices, making it their most powerful strength and separating them from every other airline in the industry. The culture is customer oriented and their main focus is on entertaining their passengers and making sure they leave the fleet with a smile on their faces.
One of their strongest service is their sense of humor. For example, the way they board passengers judging on their “sock color” and “zodiac signs” or their names on Valentine’s Day such as “Heart” or “Love”. This is an opportunity to make the passenger feel special and WestJet does that very well. They foster a caring culture and go out of their comfort zone to make the trip enjoyable. The humor does not only take place during the flight, passengers are made aware of their sense of humor during the “hold” procedure on a call to WestJet where jokes are played to entertain the caller. Furthermore, it
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