This year, I’ve been fortunate to interact with key executives from COPA Airlines – one of the most consistently profitable airlines in the world. And in all the conversations, I sensed a distinct focus on the customer, which makes this airline so successful.
COPA’s keys to success
Here, I’ve included two interviews that shed light upon their keys to success – from a branding and e-marketing perspective. In summary, here’s what I’ve learnt from COPA:

Don’t fight the price war – it’s a bottomless pit
Focus – on the customer, on the product, and not only on competition
The brand is the asset – never compromise on it
Always keep metrics in mind, even when it comes to branding

Interview with the Director of eBusiness – Frank Kardonski
The first interview is with Frank Kardonski, the Director of eBusiness at COPA. He sheds a lot of light into how a well-thought out online strategy complements the strong brand fundamentals of the airline, making it one of the most profitable in the world. Here’s what he had to say:

The new COPA.com – makes it attractive to a widespread customer base. Customized portals for regional markets, like Brazil, Colombia or Panama. Auto-IP recognition (2:30)
eServices – Online check-in 36 hours prior …

The Bombardier CSeries aircraft is probably the only thing that both Airbus and Boeing agree about – that it’s a real threat to their hold on the narrow-body jet market. Due to enter service in 2013, the CSeries will be the first new aircraft to be built since the Boeing 787, and will be flown by the likes of Swiss International Airlines and Republic Airways.

Probably because it’s the largest jet being built by Bombardier, which is well known for regional aircrafts like the Q400, there are lots of innovations both inside and outside the cabin. I was privileged to be led on a cabin tour of the aircraft mock-up at Bombardier HQ in Montreal, followed by an in-depth tour of the aircraft’s aeronautical capabilities, by Sam Cherry – a Director at Bombardier who knows the product inside-out. And for the first time one the web, SimpliFlying has videos of what would exclusively be shown to airlines when they’re making a purchase decision.

The following video is of the CSeries cabin tour, which highlights the key game-changing features in passenger comfort being introduced …

For the first time on the web (and in English!), in this exclusive interview with SimpliFlying, we hear directly from the horse’s mouth. Aurelie Valtat was the person leading Eurocontrol’s much talked-about ashcloud response, and personally helped out thousands of stranded passengers using social media.

On April 14, 2010, the eruption of the Icelandic volcano [i still can't pronounce the name!] resulted in chaos — more than 100,000 flight cancellations between April 15 and 21 — affecting millions of travelers, and the fallout cost the airline industry $1.7 billion. The silver lining was social media – and how airlines and authorities reached out to stranded passengers to help them out. And Eurocontrol led from the front. Eurocontrol’s efforts were much admired on this blog, and on other leading websites like Mashable.

In my conversation with Aurelie, she spoke at length about how she handled the tasks, challenges encountered and lessons learnt. Below is a summary of the exclusive video interview (Click here if you’re unable …

Garuda Indonesia on a roll At the Singapore Airshow, I had to opportunity to interview the CEO of Garuda Indonesia – Emirsyah Satar at the CNBC studios and it was quite a revelation (see video below). After churning a healthy $66 million profit in 2008 (after years of losses!), going through a major re-branding effort and ordering brand new Boeing 777s,  Garuda Indonesia is set to start an LCC, CityLink, have an IPO this summer and re-launch flights to Europe at the same time. It’s certainly a brand on a roll, and kudos to Mr Satar for championing the turn-around. Though, work still needs to be done. A brand that needs to re-build trust As we discussed in the interview, the Garuda Indonesia brand suffered setbacks after a few of crashes between 1997-2007, resulting in a ban from the EU for all Indonesian airlines to fly to the continent. …

Once in a while, I come across an innovative airline which is lead by executives who love to think out of the box. Last year, it was AirAsia that left me stunned. Now, it’s airBaltic. During my recent trip to Athens, Greece, I met up with Tero Taskila, the Chief Commercial Officer of the airline who was previously leading Strategy at Gulf Air. I had been looking forward to interacting with him for some time now, and upon meeting him face to face, I can only confirm that he seems to be a very intelligent executive who’s not afraid to try new things to bring profitability to his airline. For example, traditionally a point-to-point carier, and now a “hybrid”, Latvia’s national airline airBaltic launched an Internet shop in December 2009 – airBalticOutlet.com. Customers can purchase leading branded goods for lower prices, with delivery on board an airplane. The products include perfumery, cosmetics, accessories, sweets, and airBaltic and Latvian souvenirs. How’s that for innovation? …

Twitter is the latest rage, and companies are flocking to it in hordes. Half of Fortune 100 companies are already on Twitter. Helping put some order to the chaos is Jesse Engle’s CoTweet – a startup that has caught the eye of big Twitter corporate players like Ford and JetBlue. CoTweet helps frontline staff collaborate in real-time conversations with the customers. And it comes packed with workflow and CRM-type tools.
How can airlines tame Twitter?
Twitter is different when it comes to branding and connecting with your customers. Twitter is all about earning the right to be heard, as opposed to putting a list of people together and sending them an email. And this is why a number of brands struggle with it.

When I met Jesse at the Inbound Marketing Summit in Boston last month, I thought he’d be the best person to talk about how airlines can get on-board this latest craze and actually master it. And he sure obliged to my request.

Watch the full interview (8:30 mins) to hear Jesse explain:

How airlines with little money or resources can get started on Twitter (1:07)
How to set up an initial team to handle Twitter (1:30)
How to listen well …

When it comes to social media branding, Southwest Airlines has been the trendsetter for quite some time, and is looked upon by competition and even other industries. From their very successful blog, “Nuts about Southwest” to its over 700,000 followers on Twitter – they’ve got their act together. And behind these efforts is a very hardworking team led by Paula Berg. I had the pleasure of meeting Paula at the Inbound Marketing Summit in Boston, where she delivered a keynote on Southwest’s social media branding strategy and I led a session for airlines/airports in social media.
What makes Southwest Airlines so successful on social media?
In this interview by SimpliFlying.com, Paula, who’s the Manager of Emerging Media at Southwest Airlines, reveals what makes Southwest Airlines successful on social media. From her journey as a one-lady show, to the sizeable social media team she now manages, Paula shares how challenges were overcome, disasters averted and successes rewarded. It’s the Southwest culture in full show. She shares her thoughts on the importance of “white-knuckle moments” as well as how to overcome them.

Watch the interview with Paula (6:03 mins) to hear her explain:

Why social media is a perfect fit for …

I recently read in the news that Aeroflot Russian Airlines had sent their flight attendants to Singapore, for training in grooming and customer service, by Singapore Airlines. This, after holding a competition among 40 design agencies to refurbish their image, including new uniforms. I’ve personally taken four (not-very-memorable) flights on Aeroflot, and trust me, this comes as a pleasant surprise.

In Russia, airlines are often ridiculed for rickety planes, atrocious service, inedible food and constant delays. Moreover, airlines often started on the whim of a billionaire. But this seems to be changing. First, it was Siberian, which hired Landor to re-invent itself at S7 and now there’s Aeroflot trying to pull up its socks. But are these just exceptions, or the coming of age of the Russian aviation industry? Why not have an expert share with us?
In conversation with Stuart Barwood – Russian aviation expert
We had the opportunity to catch up with Stuart Barwood, the Commercial Director for Brolin Consulting. Formerly with easyJet, Stuart is now a Russian aviation expert who probably spends more time in Moscow than his home in the UK.

Watch the interview with Stuart …

Last week, I was in Sydney at the Aviation Outlook Summit and on the first day of the conference, I sent out this Tweet:

Right in the lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel in Sydney, Turkish Airlines had this flagrant display of teenagers in red, visible not just to all the conference attendees but also to those passing by the hotel (see pic below). And they had totally stolen the thunder from Malaysia Airlines, which had paid thousands of dollars for being the official sponsor of the conference.

Turkish Airlines had announced its presence, and in quite some style. After spending some time with Dr Temel Kotil, the airlines’ humble CEO, I feel other competitors should be vary of the rising star from Turkey.

Why’s Turkish the atypical Middle Eastern airline?
Dr Kotil mentions a number of points in the video interview below which prove that Turkish Airlines in not yet another Middle Eastern airline with global ambitions. …

Think of what an ideal airline would be like, one you’d love to fly. It will have the best on-time performance in the world. It will serve Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast. It will have rock-concerts and fashion shows in the air. It will have the happiest employees in the world, who go out of their way to help you travel well. Stop thinking. Welcome to Volaris Airlines, from Mexico.

I believe this is bound to go down as one of the most inspirational interviews on SimpliFlying, with the Chief Operating Officer of Volaris, the fastest growing Mexican airline. Late last month at the low-cost carrier conference in Miami, I caught up with Andres Fabre, who is also the first employee of the airline, to learn how he and his team has built from scratch an airline with astonishingly happy employees, satisfied customers and performance that even other airlines are talking about.

Watch the interview with Andres (7.43 mins) to hear him explain:

How the culture inside the company makes all the difference in performance (1.09)
How operational excellence can be achieved when by “enjoying life” (1.45)
Why the money-back guaruntee is an investment …