...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 ...
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...Anderson displayed exceptional management communication skills, because the information was sent to the right stakeholders which were the employees of Delta Air lines, this communication or information was not meant for other stakeholders such as the customers of Delta or the employees of Northwest Airlines. This communication was also sent out at the right time, a day before the media got the news ensuring that the employees do not hear the news of the final merger agreement from an outside media source. The internal memorandum sent out within Delta Air lines gave the employees an idea of the change going on in the company and how they would be affected. In communicating change, the reasons for the change, and the benefits of the change should be stated. These areas were all communicated through the internal memorandum. Reading the internal memorandum one can see that the voice of the memo tries to connect with the readers. The style, tone, voice, and word choices Delta CEO Richard Anderson used in the memo effectively communicated the change. The memo listed out what has been changed hierarchically, who the new CEO and CFO would be due to the merger of both Delta and Northwest Airlines and what has been changed, talking about the physical office location, and also how this change would benefit his employees and the employees of Northwest airlines (Cite)...
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...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...
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...Up Staff Morale July 19, 2010 MG 729 By: Group 4 Misty Savage Melanie Scanlin Sheldon Shuman Chamyne Thompson Janet White Sakura Yuasa Delta Airline’s long history and wide spread reach influences the daily lives of people all over the world including 160 million customers each year and 70,000 employees. Delta was founded in the 1920’s as the first commercial agricultural fleet; present day the company services commercial flights in over 350 destinations on 6 continents. The company’s merger with Northwest in 2008 created an international airline with locations in every region of the world. In 2009, Delta celebrated 80 years of passenger service and became the only airline to offer nonstop flights between Los Angeles and Sydney, Australia. Since 2001, Delta has had many financial difficulties. The negative effects of the September 11th terrorist attacks and recent recession are among the most notable. Despite their financial woes, which ultimately resulted in bankruptcy in 2007, Delta has continued to stay innovative by introducing new technologies, internal restructuring, and expanded service (www.delta.org). Due to the monumental presence of Delta in the global market, the moral of its employees in response to the organization’s behavior is constantly under scrutiny. Delta employee’s behavior, attitude, and work ethic have the ability to positively or negatively impact the customer and ultimately the success of the company; because of this...
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...UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 FORM 10-K ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010 or TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 Commission File Number 001-5424 DELTA AIR LINES, INC. (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) Delaware (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) Post Office Box 20706 Atlanta, Georgia (Address of principal executive offices) Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: Title of each class Name of each exchange on which registered 58-0218548 (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) 30320-6001 (Zip Code) Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (404) 715-2600 Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share New York Stock Exchange No Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes No Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes No Indicate by check mark whether the...
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...The main cause that makes a company have to make changes is the external environment. It usually forces organizations to make changes to its mission, culture, leadership, and operating strategies. Changes in the 12 drivers bring a series of change to the overall structure. Changing anyone of the 12 “pillars” will influence the adjoining ones. But, changing the entire structure may or may not affect the entire system. These changes are influenced by the motivation of the individuals. They will impact the change to the entire organization. They all interact with each driver on the model. The Burke-Litwin Model has these basic parts that make up an overall change for a company. Change effect one part and then affect the overall performance of the model. 1. External environment: The key external cause on the organization must be identified and clearly established. 2. Mission and Strategy: The overall “vision” should be seen through the eyes of the employee. 3. Leadership: Leadership should be understood. 4. Organizational Culture: This should understand implied rules, regulations, customs, principles, and values. 5. Structure: The function based structure should be understood, such as responsibility, authority, communication, decision, making, and control structure. 6. Systems: This includes all the policies and procedures. 7. Management Practices: How the management accepts and conforms to the overall concept of the organizations strategy. ...
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...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...
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...United Airlines vs. Delta Airlines Ushma S. Patel 3/31/2013 Ushma821@gmail.com Work Cited 1. Introduction 3 2. United Airlines vs Delta Airlines 4 3. The Four-Frame Model 8 4. SWOT Analysis- United Airlines 12 5. SWOT Analysis- Delta Airlines 14 6. Analysis 15 7. Recommedations 16 8. Work Cited 17 INTRODUCTION In evaluating two companies who have had to restructure their business models to evolve to changing times I choose United Airlines and Delta Airlines. Both companies filled for bankruptcy in the early 2000’s and since then have nursed their company back to health and to becoming the industries leaders for airlines. I choose these two airlines because I frequently use them to travel. My family are also huge travelers and I spend a lot of time looking for the best deals for them. United Airlines filed for bankruptcy in 2002 and would become the longest case in the United States lasting until 2006. The airline was able to get their reorganization plan approved by the United States government by restructuring their management plan. In the restructure they also changed how their bonus plan was organized for successful executives. They also had to evaluate their employee’s efficiency while on the clock. They were able to reduce their workforce from 100,000 employees to half of that. Finally the airline had to revaluate the routes they were taking and then see which ones...
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...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...
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...Running Head: ANTITRUST MATTERS Antitrust Matters Antitrust Matters What is Antitrust Law Anti-trust law is a law designed to ensure free competition in an open market. The first anti-trust laws have emerged in the United States at the end of 19th century: some companies were so powerful that they had a monopoly or quasi-monopoly in the sector. Companies like Standard Oil and American Tobacco have been dismantled through anti-trust laws. In addition, the antitrust laws prohibit price fixing between competitors. In 1934, Boeing became a large enterprise, producing aircraft engines, carrying mail, dealing with airports and ensuring many airlines. But under pressure from anti-trust law prohibiting manufacturers to operate airlines, its creators sold their holdings and "United Aircraft and Transport" got divided into three entities: * United Airlines responsible for air transport * United Aircraft responsible for manufacturing in the East * Boeing Airplane Company responsible for manufacturing in Western countries. United Aircraft and Transport Corporation is a vertically integrated group, present in all sectors of aviation. In 1934, an anti-trust law is to separate aircraft manufacturers companies carrying mail, and forces the company to split into three entities, * United Air Lines in 2011, which is the largest airline in the world * United Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation, which later became the United Technologies Corporation * Boeing Airplane...
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...PAPER Great Team University of Phoenix InterClean Benchmarking Today's organizations thrive on benchmarking to find best practices or solutions to a company's problems through outside industries or companies. This paper highlights some of those issues focusing on how other companies have implemented plans to handle those issues. The issues facing InterClean highlighted in this analysis are human resource philosophy, employee retention, mergers and acquisitions, human resources product handling and servicing. Benchmarking was conducted to evaluate how other companies had handled situations similar to those of Interclean. Outside companies evaluated for comparison come from the mortgage industry, pharmaceutical industry, oil industry, specialty eatery industry, technology industry, airlines industry, chemical industry, insurance industry, and home improvement retail industry. The companies evaluated in this paper were Guardian First Funding Group, Trinity-Chiesi Pharmaceuticals, BP Amoco, Starbucks, Google, Northwest Airlines and Delta Airlines, Rohm and Haas Company, Liberty Mutual Holding Company, Pepsico, and LOWE’s. Evaluation of these companies showed several concepts used in handling the issues and how the companies used these concepts. Situational Analysis Retaining Employees Guardian First Funding Group - Guardian First Funding Group (GFFG) is a mortgage company exclusively involved in the reverse mortgage business. They have been selling reverse mortgages for...
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...CASE STUDY: Delta Airlines Inc. by Benjamin Godman Delta Air Lines is a major American airline and one of the world’s largest air carriers by traffic serving over 330 destinations in over 60 countries on six continents. Originally starting out operating crop dusters and delivery mail in Louisiana, Delta now utilizes over 700 aircraft and subsequent support activities like maintenance and operations. Delta airlines services over 165 million customers worldwide every year by averaging over 5000 flights daily. Delta Air Lines is now the oldest airline operating in the United States and is the result of multitude of airline mergers over the past 80 years that included Pan American World Airways and Western Airlines just to name a few. Its most recent merger with Northwest Airlines in 2010 was its largest in its history and in 2013 finished with $5.7 billion in unrestricted liquidity, generated $4.5 billion in cash from operating activities, reduced debt by $1.4 billion and funded capital expenditures of $2.6 billion and returned $350 million to shareholders. Delta’s 2013 pre-tax profits were up 147% in comparison with 2012. In recent years, Delta was a founding member of the Sky Team Alliance, created Delta One which is an Elite business cabin, introduced flatbed seats for international travel, Delta Comfort+ for increased comfort in the main cabin seating and other amenities to ensure its competitiveness with other airlines such as American Airlines Group Inc., Southwest...
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...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...
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...Accounting standards for business consolidations XXXX ACC 407 Your name Date Accounting standards for business consolidations In competing market it is very common for one business to merge with another one. In order to survive in this rivalry marketplace, Companies need to expand business to the most profitable capacity. No matter what kind of reasons for company seeking extension under the ownership, the main one is to track potential profit. Today’s business environment Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), one of regulators represented concepts related with business combinations. Below is my briefly understanding of accounting standards of business combination. What is the history of account for business combinations? How many businesses are consolidated with each other? Companies often learn that entry into new product areas or geographic regions is more easily accomplished by acquiring or combining with other companies than through internal expansion. For example, SBC Communications, a major telecommunications company and one of the “Baby Bells,” significantly increased its service area by combining with pacific Telesis and Ameritech, later acquiring AT&T ( and adopting its name), and subsequently combining with BellSouth. Moreover, Cingular Wireless, the largest provider of mobile wireless communications in the United States and now part of AT&T, was operated as a joint venture of AT&T (Baker, R. E., Christensen, T., & Cottrell, D. (2011))...
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...Political-Legal Environment: Delta Airlines Delta Air lines is not immune to the political and legal structures that exist both domestically and globally. There are many factors that affect the political and legal structures for Delta in their domestic environment of the United States and also in the global environment of Europe. Teresa Cederholm in her article on MarketRealist.com states “The airline industry is widely impacted by regulations and restrictions related to international trade, tax policy, and competition” (2014) She goes on to elaborate further on issues that impact the airline industry such as “war, terrorism, and the outbreak of diseases” (2014). All of these issues require the government to set in and set different rules for airlines on how they operate both at home and abroad. There have been many factors that have recently affected the political and legal environment for Delta Airlines. One of the biggest events of our generation that affected the airline industry was the terrorist attacks of September 11th. After September 11th, the United States government many security regulations in place to make air travel safer for both the passengers and the crew of the air plane. With many of the restrictions in place, Delta Air Lines faced many problems financially. According to Cederholm, the revenue for all the United States airlines dropped to $107.1 billion in 2002 from the $130.2 billion in 2000 (2014). Cederholm goes on to state that “the global airline...
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