http://www.chriskerns.com The business of aviation Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:54:10 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.7 http://www.chriskerns.com/2008/09/14/buyer-for-ilfc/#comment-7300 Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:57:41 +0000 http://www.chriskerns.com/2008/09/14/buyer-for-ilfc/#comment-7300 [...] It looks like my intuition is turning out to to be right, in that Steven Udvar-Hazy is apparently leading an effort to buy ILFC back from AIG. I have very high confidence that Mr. Udvar-Hazy will make the deal happen. Chris Kerns [...] […] It looks like my intuition is turning out to to be right, in that Steven Udvar-Hazy is apparently leading an effort to buy ILFC back from AIG. I have very high confidence that Mr. Udvar-Hazy will make the deal happen. Chris Kerns […]

]]> http://www.chriskerns.com/2008/05/27/nagoya-surprise/#comment-7166 Fri, 30 May 2008 21:37:25 +0000 http://www.chriskerns.com/2008/05/27/nagoya-surprise/#comment-7166 Wow...I did some checking on both of these aircraft and see why you were so excited to be able to catch them both together. Very interesting!! Wow…I did some checking on both of these aircraft and see why you were so excited to be able to catch them both together. Very interesting!!

]]> http://www.chriskerns.com/2008/03/09/the-problem-with-lucrative-business-plans/#comment-6534 Mon, 10 Mar 2008 00:17:13 +0000 http://www.chriskerns.com/2008/03/09/the-problem-with-lucrative-business-plans/#comment-6534 Interesting article. You're absolutely right that airlines have seen business class as easy money but Silverjet's model is different. They charge about a third of the usual fare to make th experience more affordable. Interesting article. You’re absolutely right that airlines have seen business class as easy money but Silverjet’s model is different. They charge about a third of the usual fare to make th experience more affordable.

]]> http://www.chriskerns.com/2007/12/15/joint-ventures-and-mergers-and-acquisitions-oh-my/#comment-5672 Thu, 07 Feb 2008 03:20:04 +0000 http://www.chriskerns.com/2007/12/15/joint-ventures-and-mergers-and-acquisitions-oh-my/#comment-5672 It's amazing this case was explored just recently since there was an article in the WSJ today that CAL and United are near a deal to merge.(Assuming Delta and NWA announce a deal since there are some ownership stake issues with NWA and CAL). It’s amazing this case was explored just recently since there was an article in the WSJ today that CAL and United are near a deal to merge.(Assuming Delta and NWA announce a deal since there are some ownership stake issues with NWA and CAL).

]]> http://www.chriskerns.com/2007/12/15/joint-ventures-and-mergers-and-acquisitions-oh-my/#comment-4564 Sat, 05 Jan 2008 12:15:16 +0000 http://www.chriskerns.com/2007/12/15/joint-ventures-and-mergers-and-acquisitions-oh-my/#comment-4564 Believe or not, during the integrative case I consulted www.chriskerns.com! Believe or not, during the integrative case I consulted www.chriskerns.com!

]]> http://www.chriskerns.com/2007/08/29/whitehurst-resigns-from-delta/#comment-4290 Fri, 28 Dec 2007 21:20:51 +0000 http://www.chriskerns.com/2007/08/29/whitehurst-resigns-from-delta/#comment-4290 [...] As I predicted back in August, Jim Whitehurst has reemerged at the helm of a company. Starting January 1st, 2008, Mr. Whitehurst will begin his new role as President and CEO of Red Hat, an open-source software company. I’ve heard many people comment on the airline industry’s difficulty in attracting and/or retaining top talent among the management ranks; this would seem to bolster their point. Gordon Bethune used to say that sickest patients need the best doctors. It will be interesting to see what medicine Mr. Whitehurst has for Red Hat and how that company’s performance compares to that Delta’s. Vastly different companies, to be sure, but I don’t think the impact a CEO can have on a company can be overstated. Chris Kerns [...] […] As I predicted back in August, Jim Whitehurst has reemerged at the helm of a company. Starting January 1st, 2008, Mr. Whitehurst will begin his new role as President and CEO of Red Hat, an open-source software company. I’ve heard many people comment on the airline industry’s difficulty in attracting and/or retaining top talent among the management ranks; this would seem to bolster their point. Gordon Bethune used to say that sickest patients need the best doctors. It will be interesting to see what medicine Mr. Whitehurst has for Red Hat and how that company’s performance compares to that Delta’s. Vastly different companies, to be sure, but I don’t think the impact a CEO can have on a company can be overstated. Chris Kerns […]

]]> http://www.chriskerns.com/2007/11/04/aircrafts-is-not-a-word/#comment-4224 Thu, 27 Dec 2007 01:56:57 +0000 http://www.chriskerns.com/2007/11/04/aircrafts-is-not-a-word/#comment-4224 nor Democratic Party... :) nor Democratic Party…

]]> http://www.chriskerns.com/2007/09/10/power-drills-and-airliners/#comment-2828 Thu, 15 Nov 2007 03:50:57 +0000 http://www.chriskerns.com/2007/09/10/power-drills-and-airliners/#comment-2828 [...] When I wrote about door to door service back in September I didn’t realize that Emirates has been offering such a service, called Chauffer-Drive (Note to Firefox users: this link may crash your browser) to its first- and business-class customers for years. While it’s nice to have my line of thinking validated, it also illustrates how hard it is to have a unique idea in a world of over 6 billion people. Chris Kerns [...] […] When I wrote about door to door service back in September I didn’t realize that Emirates has been offering such a service, called Chauffer-Drive (Note to Firefox users: this link may crash your browser) to its first- and business-class customers for years. While it’s nice to have my line of thinking validated, it also illustrates how hard it is to have a unique idea in a world of over 6 billion people. Chris Kerns […]

]]> http://www.chriskerns.com/2007/11/04/aircrafts-is-not-a-word/#comment-2632 Fri, 09 Nov 2007 09:33:18 +0000 http://www.chriskerns.com/2007/11/04/aircrafts-is-not-a-word/#comment-2632 I understand! There are no "Canadian" geese, either! Whether one or a hundred, they are Canada geese! :) I understand! There are no “Canadian” geese, either! Whether one or a hundred, they are Canada geese!

]]> http://www.chriskerns.com/2007/09/10/so-sayeth-the-marketing-researchers/#comment-446 Tue, 11 Sep 2007 04:10:39 +0000 http://www.chriskerns.com/2007/09/10/so-sayeth-the-marketing-researchers/#comment-446 [...] This got me thinking about the analogy in the airline business. What are customers of airlines really buying? A plane ticket? A plane ride? Hospitality? It seems to me that customers by plane tickets because they need to get from one place to another. But if you consider it for a moment, airlines don’t really fulfill that service. What do I mean? Well, when was the last time you said, “I think I need to go to O’Hare”, or “a trip to La Guardia sounds fun”? More likely, you needed to attend a conference in Schaumburg or make a business presentation in Manhattan. If you are sitting in Pittsburgh, that means that the airlines only provide a piece of the service that you really need. In other words, airlines don’t provide the service of moving passengers from where they are to where they want to go. Instead, airlines tell their customers to get their items together and be at an airport close to their origin 2 hours before flying out, and then they transport their customers to a an airport closest to the their destination. From a marketer’s perspective, airlines are focused on selling seats on airplanes instead of providing the service that customers are really looking for. [...] […] This got me thinking about the analogy in the airline business. What are customers of airlines really buying? A plane ticket? A plane ride? Hospitality? It seems to me that customers by plane tickets because they need to get from one place to another. But if you consider it for a moment, airlines don’t really fulfill that service. What do I mean? Well, when was the last time you said, “I think I need to go to O’Hare”, or “a trip to La Guardia sounds fun”? More likely, you needed to attend a conference in Schaumburg or make a business presentation in Manhattan. If you are sitting in Pittsburgh, that means that the airlines only provide a piece of the service that you really need. In other words, airlines don’t provide the service of moving passengers from where they are to where they want to go. Instead, airlines tell their customers to get their items together and be at an airport close to their origin 2 hours before flying out, and then they transport their customers to a an airport closest to the their destination. From a marketer’s perspective, airlines are focused on selling seats on airplanes instead of providing the service that customers are really looking for. […]

]]>