Expert answer:Alaska Airline Change Plan
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ALASKA AIRLINES: NAVIGATING CHANGE
Bruce J. Avolio, Chelley Patterson and Bradford Baker wrote this case solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors
do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain
names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality.
This publication may not be transmitted, photocopied, digitized or otherwise reproduced in any form or by any means without the
permission of the copyright holder. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights
organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Ivey Business School, Western
University, London, Ontario, Canada, N6G 0N1; (t) 519.661.3208; (e) cases@ivey.ca; www.iveycases.com.
Copyright © 2015, Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation
Version: 2015-03-25
In the autumn of 2007, Alaska Airlines executives adjourned at the end of a long and stressful day in the
midst of a multi-day strategic planning session. Most headed outside to relax, unwind and enjoy a bonfire
on the shore of Semiahmoo Spit, outside the meeting venue in Blaine, a seaport town in northwest
Washington state.
Meanwhile, several members of the senior executive committee and a few others met to discuss how to
adjust plans for the day ahead. This group included Bill Ayer, president and chief executive officer
(CEO); Brad Tilden, executive vice-president (EVP) of finance and chief financial officer; Glenn
Johnson, EVP of airport service and maintenance & engineering; the company’s chief counsel and
executives from Marketing and Planning, Strategic Planning and Employee Services. They were
concerned that the airline was steadily draining its reserves of customer loyalty and goodwill, which until
recently had seemed abundant — even boundless.
Alaska Airlines had recovered from an all-time operational low, where only 60 per cent of flights were on
time and seven bags per 1,000 passengers were reported as having been mishandled (defined by the
Department of Transportation as checked baggage that was lost, pilfered, damaged or delayed). The
airline was now back to the lower end of its pre-crisis status quo of 70 to 75 per cent on-time flights and
four mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers.1 Both these important metrics continued to vary from one day
to the next. Although the situation on the ramp was stable for the time being, it was still fragile, with the
ground crew handling baggage and also performing ground service in between flights. After focusing
many resources on operations to improve the airline’s operational results, the executives wondered what
might happen if performance were to slip again. Would the airline slip farther and faster than before?
What would it take to again recover to the current status quo? Would customers continue to be forgiving?
Would this mediocre level of improvement be sufficient?
Below is the agenda created that night for the next day’s discussions, when the full group would again
convene:
1
Aviation Consumer Protection and Enforcement, U.S. Department of Transportation, Air Travel Consumer Report, 2012,
http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/reports/, accessed July 7, 2013.
This document is authorized for use only by Kenneth St.vincent in OL-663 Leading Change 17TW1 taught by Lindsay Conole, Southern New Hampshire University from July 2017 to
November 2017.
For the exclusive use of K. St.vincent, 2017.
Page 2
9B14C059
9:00–11:00 a.m. 2008 Plan Discussion
Setup: No room for failure; tiger by the tail; you have 12 months to fix the operation sustainably and no
severance. What would the Carlyle group do if it purchased Alaska Airlines?
If you were the Carlyle Group, what proposals would you accept and why?
What else would you do?
How much benefit do you expect and how soon?
The following morning, the top executive team posed a tough question to the group, about 25 in all. One
executive recalled the framing of the activity the next day as follows:
What would a Carlyle2 or a Warren Buffet do? Imagine a big conglomerate has just come in and
bought the airline. We’re a $3 billion 3 company making little money; our reputation with our
customers has taken a beating; we’ve had major problems with Seattle, our main hub; and we’ve
had problems with two large groups of employees. What would Carlyle do because they are
emotionally unattached to this?
The assembled executives divided into groups to discuss different elements of the problem. One executive
recalled the experience and the outcome of that day as “one of the ugliest sessions I’ve ever been a part
of. Yet, we came out of there joined at the hip saying that the biggest challenge we faced was our
operation and it had to be fixed, and it had to be fixed now.”
Indeed, a three-pronged recommendation emerged:
1. We need to fix the Seattle hub first before trying to fix the whole system.
2. We need a higher-level person to devote 100 per cent of time to fixing the Seattle hub.
3. This person needs to be able to cross boundaries and break through silos.
A few weeks later, the executive leadership did two things. First, it appointed the staff vice-president
(VP) of operations to the new role of VP of Seattle Operations. Previously, the Seattle station had been
run by the individual managers of each functional operational unit (e.g., ticket counter, maintenance,
inflight, flight operations), each working within his or her silo. As the executive leadership explained to
the new VP of Seattle Operations, “Carlyle would come in and assign someone to fix Seattle and they’d
say either you fix it or you’re gone.” That was the message. Second, the executive leadership told
everyone at the Seattle-Tacoma International or Sea-Tac Airport that, in addition to reporting to his or her
functional manager, each now had a dotted-line reporting relationship to the new VP of Seattle Operations
and were expected to fully support him.
The new VP brought all the leaders of Seattle together and instituted a data-driven process, which
involved identifying standard processes: a detailed timeline for the time between aircraft arrival and
departure, using scorecards to measure how well Alaska was following its intended processes. Over time,
standard work processes were defined, and daily scorecards provided visibility about performance for
each step in the aircraft turn. Process improvement efforts were applied to remove wasted steps.
2
Carlyle Group was a global asset management firm that began investing in corporate private equity in 1990 through
investments in leveraged buyout transactions. These transactions involved finding and investing in underperforming, lossmaking businesses that had potential for growth, then selling them after exercising management and financial restructuring
to turnaround these “down-and-out” businesses. One of Carlyle’s turnaround strategies was to place its own choice of CEO
at the helm of a troubled acquisition and to create greater ownership among management.
3
All currency amounts are shown in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.
This document is authorized for use only by Kenneth St.vincent in OL-663 Leading Change 17TW1 taught by Lindsay Conole, Southern New Hampshire University from July 2017 to
November 2017.
For the exclusive use of K. St.vincent, 2017.
Page 3
9B14C059
This rigour led to a dramatic and sustained turnaround in Department of Transportation rankings for ontime departures, J.D. Power’s standings,4 mishandled bag rates (MBR) and operating margins from 2005
to 2010 with 2008 being a pivotal year (see Exhibit 1). Indeed, Alaska Airlines achieved the number-one
ranking in J.D. Power for customer satisfaction in year one (2008) following the initiation of the change
effort and for the next five years. In year two of the change effort, under a company-wide oversight team
led by the new VP of Seattle Operations, the Seattle work processes were standardized throughout the
system. Financial and operational performance received an additional boost when the company
transitioned its MD-80 aircraft out of the fleet. Modelled after Southwest Airlines’ aircraft strategy, an
all-Boeing 737 fleet promised greater fuel efficiency and fleet reliability, and required only Boeing parts
in inventory and simplified training for maintenance staff and crew.
To understand the dramatic changes and root causes that were addressed between autumn 2007 and midyear 2010, it is necessary to go back before 2006, when passengers were angered by mishandled bags and
wait times at the carousel, sometimes to the extent that airport police had to be called to the baggage
claim area to intervene. Indeed, insight into contributing causes could be traced back prior to 2005, when
the pilots, demoralized as a result of pay cuts, resisted efforts to improve operational performance, were
comparatively slow to taxi and often reported maintenance problems at the last minute, resulting in what
some executives saw as an unnecessary work slowdown. Other contributing causes included rocky
contract negotiations with other labour groups, which affected the engagement of other employee groups,
and ramp management’s hands-off approach to ramp operations oversight, which resulted in a lack of
operational understanding. One executive noted that root causes stemmed back to 1999, when the airline
was “succeeding despite themselves due to fortuitous fuel costs and a good economy.” The following is
an overview of the history, culture and events leading up to the 2007 decision to create the role of VP of
Seattle Operations; also included is a more detailed account of what occurred between 2007 and 2010 to
fix the airline’s largest hub, including a look at the root causes and subsequent solutions necessary for
analyzing the changes and leadership driving this rapid turnaround.
THE HISTORY OF ALASKA AIRLINES: EIGHTY YEARS IN THE AIR
Alaska Air Group traced its roots to McGee Airlines, founded in Alaska in 1932 by bush pilot Mac
McGee. The airline merged with Star Air Service in 1934, making it the largest airline in Alaska with 22
planes; however, many of these planes were small bush planes and would eventually be decommissioned
as the airline grew. At the 10-year mark in 1942, the company was purchased and the name changed to
Alaska Star Airlines, with a final name change in 1944. By 1972, the company was struggling but was
salvaged by new leadership, which focused on improving operations and taking advantage of the rich
opportunities that came with the construction of the trans-Alaska Pipeline. The following year, 1973,
marked the first of 19 consecutive years of profitability, aided in part by industry deregulation in 1979,
which enabled the 10-plane airline to expand throughout the West Coast, beyond its previous service to
10 Alaskan cities and to Seattle, its single destination in the “lower 48 states.” By the end of the 1980s,
Alaska Airlines (Alaska) had tripled in size, in part as a result of having joined forces with Horizon Air
and Jet America. Its fleet had increased five-fold and the route map now included flights to Mexico and
Russia.
4
J.D. Power is an American-based global market research firm founded in 1968 and purchased in 2005 by McGraw Hill
Financial for inclusion in its Information and Media Group. The firm conducts consumer opinion and perception research
about customer satisfaction with product and service quality in a variety of industries including travel. J.D.Power produces
ratings and awards based on its research that aid consumers in making informed purchase decisions. Awards are sought
after by corporations for their endorsement value.
This document is authorized for use only by Kenneth St.vincent in OL-663 Leading Change 17TW1 taught by Lindsay Conole, Southern New Hampshire University from July 2017 to
November 2017.
For the exclusive use of K. St.vincent, 2017.
Page 4
9B14C059
As of mid-2010, the airline employed roughly 8,650 with an additional 3,000 or so employed in Horizon
Air. Approximately 160 to 170 of the airline’s employees were at the director level and above (including
directors, managing directors and VPs). The two airlines, at this point, shared many backroom services
such as accounting and planning. Exhibit 2 provides some basic operating data for the period 2002 to
2010.
PERFORMANCE: A CULTURE OF “JUST GOOD ENOUGH”
Throughout the 1990s, Alaska was typically in the middle of the pack in terms of most airline
performance indices, such as on-time departures. Falling in the middle range of performance without
significant motivation for change appeared to be based on the mentality that, “it’s OK to be late, so long
as we’re nice.” This viewpoint could partially be attributed to the leadership of Ray Vecci, the CEO from
1990 to 1995, who openly fought the adoption of mandatory Departure on Time (DOT) reporting
requirements, saying that Alaska was different because of its operating environment. Vecci’s attitude led
to a general tendency to “blame the system” rather than confront the fact that Alaska was rarely on time.
Alaska’s employees prided themselves on having the best customer service in the industry, which they
defined as being nice — not necessarily as being efficient. Indeed, Alaska enjoyed a great deal of
customer loyalty and a significant reserve of goodwill from its customers.
LABOUR RELATIONS: A LONG AND HARRIED HISTORY
In 1945, the pilots were the first of Alaska’s employee groups to form a union, followed in 1959 and
1961, by the organization of mechanics and flight attendants, respectively. In 1972, customer service,
baggage handlers and other operational employees followed suit.
As for many of the major carriers and for smaller, older airlines, such as Alaska, labour negotiations
(sometimes marked by strong contentions, slowdowns, strikes and flight cancellations) were a routine and
costly aspect of the airline business. Even when settlements were reached through negotiation or binding
arbitration, resentments could last for years, affecting both morale and productivity. An airline could be in
almost constant negotiations as employment contracts lasted from three to five years (depending on the
union), and as many as six collective bargaining agreements could be in play.
For Alaska, despite a strong employee-customer bond, the relationship between labour and management
fell short of being ideal for many years. An International Association of Machinists (IAM) strike in 1985
lasted for three months, during which time replacement workers were hired.5 In 1993, a flight attendants’
intermittent strike, the suspension of 17 flight attendants and a subsequent federally ordered reinstatement
suggested the tip of a larger iceberg of labour-management problems looming ahead. The flight
attendants’ strike was a unique form of “intermittent strike” called CHAOS (and still used today by
Association of Flight Attendants), which Alaska management viewed as illegal job action. In 1998,
contentious contract negotiations between the company and members of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal
Association began and were not settled until the middle of 1999. As in the case of the pilots’ union
agreement of the prior year, this new agreement called for third-party binding arbitration in the event that
future agreements could not be reached in 120 days. In the fall of 1999, the IAM, representing clerical
workers and customer service agents, reached an agreement after more than two years of protracted
negotiation.
5
“Mechanics Pact Ends 3-Month Strike against Alaska Airlines,” Los Angeles Times,
http://articles.latimes.com/1985-06-04/news/mn-6533_1_alaska-airlines, accessed July 7, 2013.
June
4,
1985,
This document is authorized for use only by Kenneth St.vincent in OL-663 Leading Change 17TW1 taught by Lindsay Conole, Southern New Hampshire University from July 2017 to
November 2017.
For the exclusive use of K. St.vincent, 2017.
Page 5
9B14C059
By the end of 1999, contract settlements had been reached with four out of six unions, leading to a new
wave of contract negotiations beginning about 2003. Under normal circumstances, these negotiations
could be daunting enough; however, no one could predict what would unfold in the industry or for Alaska
over the next 24 months.
ORGANIZATIONAL AND INDUSTRY SHOCKS: NO PAIN, NO GAIN?
At the turn of the new millennium, two successive airline-related tragedies affected Alaska in very
different ways. On January 31, 2000, an Alaska Airlines MD-80 jet carrying 88 passengers and crew from
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to San Francisco crashed into rough seas 64 km (40 miles) northwest of Los
Angeles, shortly after reporting mechanical problems. Among the passengers of Flight 261 were 12
working and off-duty employees and 32 family members and friends of Alaska employees. Because half
the victims had a connection with the airline, the event would forever and uniquely alter Alaska’s
collective self-concept. The accident truly shook the morale of everyone working for Alaska.
And then came 9/11. Ensuing changes in security and boarding procedures in the third quarter of 2001,
and into 2002, interrupted airline operations industry-wide. Demand for travel plummeted. Exhibit 3
shows the epidemic of airline bankruptcies from 2002 to 2008. Though Alaska was not immune to the
nationwide grief and industry turmoil in the wake of 9/11, the impact on Alaska may have been tempered
because of the prior tragedy of Flight 261. The following is one executive’s reflection on the two events:
From an employee perspective, no matter where you were in the organization, [the accident was]
a failure. The press wasn’t awfully kind, so from an employee basis there was probably a little bit
of shame associated with it. I think it had a greater impact than 9/11. 9/11 was shocking, but it
was that way for everyone. Even if you didn’t work for an airline, if you worked in an office
building, 9/11 was shocking. [The Flight 261 accident] was more personal.
Perhaps a testament to Alaska’s resilience in the face of adversity, when almost all other airlines across
the United States began immediate furloughs, Alaska’s leaders intentionally chose not to lay off
employees. This strategic move by management restored much of the faith employees had in the
company, as it appeared that the leadership was betting on its employees to keep the airline aloft. Alaska
was able to bank away from the disaster in 2001 because of two actions: the airline’s cutting of the flight
schedule by 13 per cent as a cost-cutting measure and the injection of $79.9 million in compensation from
the federal government as part of an industry-wide program to cover losses related to September 11th.
Alaska’s annual passenger traffic dropped 5.6 per cent in 2001 compared with the industry-wide decline
in domestic passenger travel of 19 per cent. The airline attributed this difference to its dominant market
position; strong customer loyalty and less falloff in demand for air travel by people living on the West
Coast and in the state of Alaska (see Exhibit 4).
SOARING COSTS — WORRISOME LOSSES
Partly the result of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) supply management
policies, oil prices had been on the rise since 1999 (see Exhibit 5). Crude oil prices affected the airline
industry directly through higher fuel costs, which could account for 15 to 35 per cent of the cost of
operating an airline, and indirectly through the resulting global economic downturn of 2000/01. Alaska
Airlines’ annual fuel and oil expenditures peaked in 2008, as did its fuel expense as a percentage of
operating revenue for the years 2002 to 2010. With the added economi …
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