Question

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Please ELABORATE and give examples on the 2 courses of action/strategies Delta Airlines will take that are listed below:

1st course of action: Emphasize policies and protocols aligned with the CDC and WHO to ensure customer safety to retain brand loyalty (for aftermath of pandemic). Do this through advertising/marketing/consistent communication from CEO himself/offer benefits and reliable customer service.

2nd course of action: Shift their focus to other sources of revenue by undertaking a broad diversification strategy (freight flights and penetrating foreign markets in geographic regions where the “first wave” of COVID-19 has already passed through - like Asia).

Answer 1

1st Course of Action: Description

Delta Airlines,among other aviation players have come up with a detailed roadmap of what its flyers can expect in the post COVID-19 world.The policies are aligned with CDC and WHO since assuaging the fear and ensuring flier safety is priority above anything else.They have initiated fogging (alongside pre and post cleaning after every flight) a process of spraying disinfectant in places which can come up with any contacts.They have started giving the usual sanitization with boarding passes.All the employees have been provided with face masks.Even during boarding and checkout period the fliers would be checked for temperature.Food has been discontinued for flights less than 250 miles ensuring minimal human contact.They are advertising choose your own seat or change to future flights with no change fees to ensure that the social distancing measure is maintained.Recently the management team of the CEO kept interacting with the media to ensure that normalcy will be returned but flying would be different post this pandemic.

2nd Course of Action:Description

With Ed Bastian,CEO reporting that 70 percent of flights would be suspended and even freezing further hirings and ensuring no share buybacks things are not running smooth.He recently commented that the effect is worse than what happened post 9/11 pandemic.With trade relations with China taking a hit ,Ed Bastian can look for entering newer markets like India/Japan/Thailand however my personal view is that this would not be an ideal strategy as these are price sensitive markets and aviation in their countries itself struggling entering with government diktats wouldn't be a cakewalk.What I agree with is moving freight flights specifically in countries wherein the production is stopped since cargo has already taken a humongous hit and things will gradually improve.Hence in order to ensure that revenues bracket covers their operational workflow freight flights diversification would be the way for them to operate  alongside the corrective course of action of passenger flights  wherein it is expecting a 40-50% revenue hit until 2021.