Last week, Skytrax World Airline Awards were announced. The prizes, also called Passenger Choice Awards, are especially significant because they represent consumer preferences as expressed in direct votes cast by travelers from across the globe and collected by the Skytrax organization. Other airline awards are usually granted based on judgments of aviation experts and executives, whose impartiality may be colored. As such these awards have become coveted quality accolades for the world airline industry and a global benchmark of airline excellence.
Against long odds, young Gulf carriers, as well as revitalized Asian carriers, reaped the lion’s share, occupying the top 10 positions, while European and American airlines did not. Qatar Airways ranked first globally, advancing from second place last year. Emirates Airlines advanced from fifth to fourth and Etihad Airways moved from ninth position in 2014 to sixth in 2015 rankings.
Asian airlines ranked also among the top: Singapore Airlines ranked second and Cathay Pacific ranked third (instead of first position in 2014). Japan-based ANA All Nippon came in seventh place, Indonesia’s Garuda eighth, while Taiwan’s Eva Air came in ninth. Turkish Airlines came in fourth place.
Dominance of new Gulf and Asian airlines is fully understandable. These young and rejuvenated airlines have established quality, cost and service standards that older airlines in Europe and the US could not match; nor could older Gulf airlines. Passengers merely voted with their feet and pocketbooks. While a few European airlines occupied respectable positions in the rankings, but not the top ten, US carriers did not. Delta came in 45th place, United 60th, Air Alaska 65th, while the venerable American Airlines came in 79th! Other US-based airlines were nowhere to be seen on the top 100 list. Arab airlines did not fare well either. With the notable exceptions of Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad, Arab airlines came in quite low in the global rankings. The best of this bunch, Oman Airways, came in 35th place. Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) slid from 77th place in 2014 to 84th in 2015; Gulf Air came in 88th. Other Arab airlines, including old ones such as Egypt Air, Kuwait Airways, Middle East Airlines (Lebanon), Air Maroc and Air Tunisie, disappeared from the top 100 airlines.
The steady decline in the fortunes of American and European airlines, the oldest in the world, has created a stir in aviation circles. A number of them have sought, with some success, to establish partnerships with new and successful Gulf and Asian airlines to improve consumer satisfaction and retain passengers.
At the same time, some large American and European airlines are waging a war against Gulf carriers in particular, accusing them of “unfair” competition and getting government subsidies. This losing and sometimes scurrilous campaign is waged publicly in the media and privately in meeting rooms. Those accusations get support from some European politicians especially, with barely veiled threats of “retaliation.”
It is unlikely that such confrontations would achieve the results sought by carriers on the losing side. After all, consumers are the final arbiters and they are unlikely to accept a return to the old days, when a handful of companies monopolized travel to the US and Europe, providing substandard services at inflated prices.
What is more likely to work is cooperation. First, there is a more civilized dialogue on the subject between the European Union (EU) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to discuss the issues involved. Second, a number of companies have already entered into partnerships to boost their sales and standards of service, with some success. For example, the struggling Australia-based Qantas Airlines occupies 10th place in 2015 ranking (from 11th last year), which is rather surprising considering the level of service that the company had descended to after 80 years of service. Its partnership with new Gulf carriers has apparently raised its level beyond expectations. Another surprising result was British Airways. Although it slid from 17th place last year to 20th in 2015, the fact that it is anywhere near the top is good news for the antiquated carrier that appeared destined to oblivion. American Airlines, which has partnered with Gulf companies, has jumped from 89th to 79th place in one year.
It is clear that old carriers, started in the old days of regulation and monopoly, have to change their ways to retain their passengers and attract new ones. They can do that by emulating new Gulf carriers, which operate more like private enterprises, and partnering with them to share their lucrative routes.
