The Strategist

Virgin Atlantic on the Rise



03/11/2015 - 14:58



With the support and assistance of its partner, American Airlines Delta, the brainchild of Richard Branson managed to earn 14.4 million pounds in operating profit for the year, reports Financial Times.



YSSYguy
YSSYguy
Virgin Atlantic Chief Executive Craig Kreeger said that over the next three years, the airline is expected to reach 100 million pounds of annual profits with effective fuel economy schemes and additional benefits of its transatlantic partnership with Delta.

Airlines margin remains more than modest – it is only 0.5%, but Kreeger says that Virgin Atlantic has made the implementation of all three objectives of the plan approved by the company's exit from the crisis, namely, to restore confidence and motivation of employees, improve service to passengers and left positive operating profit.

In the year 2015, Virgin Atlantic is going to supply route for eight new aircraft Boeing 787s, which meet the highest standards of fuel economy. This is only the beginning of fleet renewal program, and by the end of 2018, 50% of the aircraft would be replaced. In the field of consumer service, the company guarantees improvement in economy class catering and promises to invest millions in aircraft’s Wi-Fi access point equipment.   

Over the previous three years, combined losses Virgin Atlantic reached the level of 230 million pounds, which is why the airline was forced to abandon exotic destinations with unstable occupancy flights and focus on servicing flights to the United States.

It will be recalled that in 2014, the charismatic founder of the Virgin empire Richard Branson was named the most influential and successful British businessman for the past fifty years. He was much-lauded after receiving results of a survey of business owners, executive and chief financial officers, lawyers and executives recruitment services companies in the FTSE 100 and FTSE250 ratings of The Financial Times.

Sir Richard Branson is the founder of the corporation Virgin Group, which includes about four hundred companies of various profiles, including Virgin Atlantic airline, and was considered one of the richest people in the UK. The businessman has a reputation of an adventurer and innovator who is always ready to try novelties - for example, recently Virgin Atlantic has officially announced the start of testing Sony SmartWear equipment on its jets.

It is expected that the introduction of new technology will significantly improve the maintenance of aircraft during flights.

For 8 weeks, the company's engineers, working both on board and in the hangars of the airport, will apply in their work Sony gadgets: SmartEyeglass and SmartWatch. The gadgets will be tested at London’s airport Heathrow.

The main objective of the test process is to check out how the innovations can be used for online communication between engineers on board and support team on the ground. It is expected that the use of devices Sony will optimize the transmission of the necessary technical information. This will allow engineers to the airport to always be up to date on the plane and, if necessary, promptly provide the necessary assistance.

During the test, the mechanics will use SmartWatch to transmit notification of any changes in the instruments and reports on the distribution of work between them. SmartEyeglass’ use in the field of civil aviation allow online transmit photos and videos of technical problems from aircraft to ground control.