EasyJet

Benedict Gombocz

EasyJet: Background• British airline carrier headquartered at London Luton Airport.• Biggest airline of the UK (by number of passengers); operates

both domestic and international scheduled services on more than 600 routes in 32 countries.

• Listed on the London Stock Exchange; is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

• Employs “over 8,000 people” as of 7 March 2013.• Has undergone quick expansion since it was established in

1995; a combination of mergers and base openings fuelled by consumer demand for low cost air travel have contributed to EasyJet’s growth.

• Now operates (together with subsidiary airline EasyJet Switzerland) more than 200 aircraft, primarily Airbus A319.

• Has 23 operating bases throughout Europe; the biggest base is Gatwick.

• Carried more than 50 million passengers in 2012, making it Europe’s second-biggest low-cost carrier, second only to Ryanair.

• Was featured on the television series Airline broadcast on ITV (which followed EasyJet’s operations at London Luton and subsequently at other bases).

EasyJet: Business strategy• Much like Ryanair, EasyJet borrows its business model from U.S. carrier Southwest Airlines.• Both airlines have taken up this model for the European market by means of further cost-cutting measures, like not selling connecting flights or

providing complimentary snacks on board; high aircraft utilization, quick turnaround times, charging for extras (priority boarding, hold baggage, and food), and keeping operating costs low are they main points of this business model.

• One primary characteristic that distinguishes EasyJet and Ryanair from Southwest is they both operate a younger fleet of aircraft (Southwest has a normal fleet age of 11.9 years and EasyJet’s fleet age is only five years).

• EasyJet’s original employment strategy was to retain control with minimum union participation.• The airline, in recent years, has assumed a more devoted strategy with a plan in place to have room for unions.• Despite a shared business initiative, EasyJet’s approach is different from than of Ryanair in numerous areas.• EastJet chiefly flies to major airports in the cities that it serves, whereas Ryanair frequently favors minor airports to further lower costs.• For instance, EasyJet flies to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and Paris Orly (the main airports in Paris), and Ryanair flies to the smaller Beauvais-Tillé

Airport, a 75-minute bus journey via Paris. • EasyJet likewise focuses on drawing business passengers by offering services like the “Flexi fare”, which permits free of charge changes to the flight

within a window, speedy boarding, and a checked in bag.

EasyJet: Head office• The main office of EasyJet is Hangar 89 (H89), a building located on

the property of London Luton Airport in Luton, Bedfordshire.• The hangar, an old Britannia Airways/TUI facility, is located 150

metres (490 ft) from EasyLand, EasyJet’s former headquarters.• Built in 1974, Hangar 89 has 30,000 square feet (2,800m2) of office

space in which it can store three aircraft the size of an Airbus A319 at the same time.

• EasyJet had a 1970s style office setup when it obtained H89; it renovated the building, painting it orange.

EasyJet: Marketing• EasyJet’s early marketing was centered on “making flying as affordable as a pair of jeans” and urged travellers to “cut out the travel agent". • Its initial advertising was made up of little more than the airline’s telephone booking number painted in bright orange on the side of its aircraft.• EasyJet was made a household name in the UK with the Airline TV series made by LWT and filmed from 1999-2007.• Despite not always depicting EasyJet in a favorable light, the series did a lot to advance the airline at the time.• Since its founding, EasyJet has used a number of slogans such as The Web’s Favourite Airline (an indication on the airline’s bold and cheery image),

Come on, let’s fly, and To Fly, To Save (a cheeky play on British Airways’ slogan To Fly, To Serve). • The most commonly used slogans are Europe by EasyJet and Business by EasyJet.

EasyJet: Environment• EasyJet announced plans for manufacture of its own airliner, called EcoJet, in June 2007.• With propfan engines, the EcoJet would feature an increase in fuel efficiency, and would be built with extensive use of carbon fibre composite

material; 2015 was the year given for the first flight.• EasyJet is offering the likelihood to carbon offset the CO2 to its purchasers’ trips for a supercharge from a calculator which determines a passenger’s

carbon footprint.• The airline painted eight of its aircraft with a lightweight, slim “revolutionary nano technology coating” polymer; it works by lowering build-up of

rubbish, lowering drag across the aircraft’s surface, which lowers the fuel bill.• It is guesstimated that the airline could save 1-2% yearly, which would equal a £14 million drop in gas prices.• This idea has already been used by United States military aircraft; if it succeeds, EasyJet will use the paint on its entire fleet.

EasyJet: Criticisms • EasyJet has faced disapproval in Germany for not following EU law on compensation (and assistance to passengers) in the event of refused boarding,

delays, or cancellations (Regulation 261/2004).• Passengers should be compensated within one week in the event of cancellation.• EasyJet did not always repay tickets in an appropriate manner in 2006; passengers sometimes had to wait longer for reimbursement for their

expenditures. • EasyJet has campaigned to replace the air passenger duty (APD) tax in the UK in favor of a new tax that changes depending on distance travelled and

type of aircraft. • In July 2008, the Advertising Standards Authority condemned a press campaign by EasyJet for a deceiving environmental claim that its aircraft made

22% fewer emissions than its rivals.• The statistics used were not based on emissions made by an EasyJet aircraft or emissions made by an EasyJet Airline on the whole, leading ASA to

declare that EasyJet violated advertising rules.• The judgment came after the airline was warned in April 2007 after it made claims that its aircraft produced 30% less pollution per passenger than

some of its rivals.• It was reported in September 2013 that a law professor who sent a tweet complaining about EasyJet after his flight was delayed claimed he was

originally told he was denied boarding due to the posting.

EasyJet: Disability discrimination policies

• In 2012, the airline was found guilty of three charges of disability prejudice by a French court. • In July 2011, the airline tried to deny entrance of a boy with muscular dystrophy because he used an electric wheelchair; paralympians

were subject to similar treatment in 2012.

EasyJet: Destinations • The five biggest EasyJet bases by order of size are London-Gatwick, Milan-Malpensa,

London-Luton, Bristol, and London-Stansted. • The airline’s smallest base is currently Toulouse Airport, with only two aircraft.• Instead of the more customary airline hub and spoke model where the passengers

need to change aircraft in transit at a major airport, EasyJet flies in a point to point model; for instance, EasyJet flies to the primary Düsseldorf airport, rather than Weeze, which is used by Ryanair as a minor airport, and 70 km away from Düsseldorf.

• While major airports are not always close to the city they serve and in reality can be further than the city’s smaller airport (in the case of Belfast, Gothenburg, and Rome), EasyJet still favors serving the larger airport.

• EasyJet has 19 European “bases”.• In spite of being a British airline, and having a prevalent presence in the UK, EasyJet

has a prevalent presence in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and many other European states.

• The UK, with EasyJet’s biggest base and nine other bases (as well as six other non-base airports) is its largest market.

• Ryanair, unlike EasyJet, has a focus on smaller or lesser airports; it has targeted holiday makers in recent years.

• EasyJet, in contrast, focuses a great deal on business passengers, but operates a bigger assortment of holiday destinations than Ryanair.

• Nonetheless, EasyJet has a very low presence at holiday destinations such as Greece, with restricted frequencies and only a small number of airports out of which to fly.

• Ryanair’s presence at holiday destinations is way higher, particularly at all of the Canary Islands and some Greek islands, especially Kos and Rhodes.

• Ryanair frequently refers to EasyJet as a high fares airline; EasyJet often condemns Ryanair for its choice of airports.

EasyJet: Codeshare agreements• EasyJet entered a commercial agreement with Transaero to set up a codeshare agreement where Transaero has the right to sell a specific number of

seats on EasyJet LGW-MOW route.• Transaero Airlines CEO Olga Pleshakova and Chief Financial Advisor for EasyJet Chris Kennedy signed the agreement.• Under the agreement, Transaero Airlines will give a portion of seats on EasyJet flights on the Moscow (Domodedovo) –London (Gatwick) route.• This agreement applies to the flights since October 27, 2013 that are operated under these codes: from London UN7401/U28401 and

UN7403/U28403 and from Moscow UN7402/U28402 and UN7404/U28404; this is EasyJet’s first codeshare agreement.• Because low-cost carriers operate a point-point route network, they normally do not depend on codeshare agreements.

EasyJet: Fleet• As of December 2013, the EasyJet is made up of the following aircraft:

– Airbus A319-100– Airbus A320-200– Airbus A320neo

• EasyJet is the biggest operator of the Airbus A319.• In addition to the aircraft above, its subsidiary airline EasyJet Switzerland operates 15 Airbus A319 and seven Airbus A320

aircraft under Swiss law.

EasyJet Airbus A319 and EasyJet Airbus A320 in special orange livery

The End• YouTube links:

– Europe by easyJet - TV Ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfDw6CeLmEk

– Easy Jet Commercial Business Communications Fall 2013: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq6Fu6BMwu4

– EasyJet Safety Demonstration Demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2doCUJtuAo

– Easyjet Safety Demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZ7EBkEIWNY