Feature of the Month
Navitaire Customers Win Airline Business Strategy Awards
Navitaire congratulates our customers AirTran Airways and Jetstar, two recipients of Airline Business magazine's prestigious 2007 Airline Strategy Awards. AirTran Airways' Joe Leonard, chairman and CEO, received the award for Regional and Low-Cost Leadership. Jetstar was presented the award for Operations. The sixth annual awards for airline strategy were announced in London on 15 July 2007.
Joe Leonard was recognized for his transformation of AirTran Airways. Leonard joined AirTran in 1999 as the carrier faced almost certain bankruptcy, and since then the company has had eight straight years of profitability. He has also brought significant growth to the airline - increasing operations from 268 departures in 1999 to 768 departures in 2007 and total revenue from $523 million in 1999 to $1,893 million in its 2006 fiscal year. At the same time, AirTran maintained consistent quality, ranking high in the Department of Transportation's performance reports. In addition, AirTran was recently recognized by Entrepreneur magazine as the nation's Best Low-Fare Airline, and Leonard was named the recipient of the 2006 Tony Jannus Award which honors extraordinary accomplishment in commercial aviation.
Jetstar was recognized for its success executing the low-cost airline model while balancing its relationship as a subsidiary of Qantas Airways. Jetstar's achievement marks the first time an Airline Strategy Award has been presented to a wholly owned subsidiary of another airline. Since its launch in 2004, Jetstar has increased passengers from 320,000 to 5.8 million in 2006. The airline has amplified its success by applying its low-cost model to long-haul international routes, turning unprofitable Qantas routes into highly profitable routes for its subsidiary. Jetstar Group General Manager - Operations Gerry Turner accepted the award for the airline.
The Airline Strategy Awards winners were selected by a highly-respected independent panel of industry experts. Judging criteria for the Regional & Low Cost Leadership award category as established by Airline Business magazine, included excellence in leading a regional, low-cost or independent carrier. A key element in the evaluation was demonstrated leadership in exploiting the high growth rates on offer, while maintaining a tight grip on costs and production integrity. Similarly, the judges evaluated Operations Strategy Award nominees on excellence in running airline operations, including the management of fleets, networks and ancillary services. Airline Business defined excellence as the successful delivery of reliable, cost-effective service as well as flexibility and innovation across a broad spectrum of areas including passenger and cargo services, engineering and catering.
Navitaire is honored to have two Airline Strategy Award winners as customers. Navitaire strives to provide key services behind the scenes to power each winner, enabling them to achieve this highly coveted award by innovatively deploying their business model, enabling high growth by reaching new customers and serving their customer base. For more information on Airline Business' Airline Strategy Awards, visit the www.strategyawards2007.com web site.