<p>It’s more than 20 years since Barbara Cassani caused a stir by being selected by British Airways to create and manage a low-cost subsidiary airline called Go. With start-up feed money from BA, she set a target of profitability in three years and had met that goal and led a management buyout before the airlines was bought by easyJet, not a move with which she agreed.</p>
<p>Other positions in airlines – notably Vueling, another LLC – have come and gone, as did involvement in London’s successful 2012 Olympic bid. Cassani’s latest role, however, is as a new member of the judging panel for the <strong>Airline Strategy Awards</strong>, organised by <em>Airline Business</em>, which takes place on 14 July in London.</p>
<p>Despite not being aligned to an airline currently, Cassani still takes a huge interest. Which is why it is intriguing to hear her assess how different it would be to be setting up an airline like Go right now.</p>
<p>“The biggest difference in today’s world versus the world of 1997 is that you’d need about ten times as much money and you would face a much savvier competitive environment. Go was set up for around £30 million and I don’t think you’d get out of bed [these days] for under £300 million,” she explains. “The costs associated with all of the elements, as well as creating a kind of fighting war chest to support you, would be so great.</p>
<p>“In the late 1990s/early 2000s, traditional airlines had not figured out how to compete with low-cost carriers. Sometimes they resorted to uncompetitive measures, like dumping. They didn’t really know how to compete their way out of it, but they’ve learned that. It’s to the benefit of consumers, but I think if you were starting an airline today, it would be really prohibitive.</p>
<p>“That’s why you rarely see start-ups, even in Asia. If you look at the Asia of 10-15 years ago, you could probably do a lot, but a lot of the world has been sliced and diced and there’s not much left.”</p>
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<p>One development Cassani is watching with great interest is long-haul, low-cost. “Anyone older than about 40 might think, ‘Oh we’ve been here before’. You look at it and think, ‘Am I just being an oldie or has something changed in the basic economics of flying that will allow long-haul, low-cost to prosper this time?’ I don’t know the answer yet,” she admits.</p>
<p>“One of the things that has happened – and I would say sadly – over the past 20 years is that the benefits of deregulation in the oldest deregulated market in the world, the US, have largely disappeared because of re-consolidation. With all the mergers between the big guys, you’re left with again, a very small group of airlines. I would bet there are fewer players today in the US than there were, say, 7-8 years after deregulation.</p>
<p>“Thank goodness for Southwest, for Spirit and JetBlue, but that’s about it. After that you’re left with the United, American and Delta groups,” Cassani emphasises. “Alaska took Virgin America in order to compete because they were finding themselves between two stools. Then I look at what’s going on in Europe and they’re trying to go down the same road.</p>
<p>“So if someone I liked came to me and said they were going to start an airline, I’d probably put my arm around them and say, ‘You know, I can think of other things to do with your money,’ she jests with a rueful laugh.</p>
<p>Having won awards for the way she led Go, it is enlightening to discover which airline leaders Cassani currently admires. “I love a good turnaround, so if I look at what’s happened at smaller airlines like airBaltic, or a slightly bigger airline like SAS, I’m just so impressed with Martin Gauss and Rickard Gustafson. They’ve done amazing jobs.</p>
<p>“SAS was on the brink of failure for a decade or so and I think it now has a shot at being one of the survivors and innovators in the next era. At airBaltic, they’re trying to work with different governments and they’re in an area where low-cost airlines are very strong. I really take my hat off to them.</p>
<p>Changing tack, Cassani says that if she were to pick a category that was ‘Which major airline has best incorporated low-cost travel into its portfolio’, she’d choose Singapore Airlines. “It is still one of the very best long-haul airlines, but it also has successfully developed and integrated Scoot. It’s a difficult thing to do and most traditional airlines have thrown their hands up and said, ‘We don’t know how to do both’. So I give SIA a lot of credit for that.</p>
<p>“Finally, because I now live on the US east coast, I think JetBlue is a really terrific airline,” she continues. “Its CEO, Robin Hayes, who I knew back at British Airways, does a terrific job there. They have figured out how to offer a very high quality product in a highly competitive part of the world.</p>
<p>So how does Cassani feel about JetBlue coming across the Atlantic in a couple of years’ time? “I’m nervous about that. I know how hard it is to compete against the Deltas and the BA–AA combos. It’s really tough,” she observes.</p>
<p>On the educational side of the airline business, Cassani still goes to schools and universities to discuss careers in aviation, something she finds little difficulty in advocating. “The wonderful thing about the airline business is that it’s about 10 industries rolled into one. You have to learn how to manage an extremely complex logistics system; have a very strong feel for a commercial service industry business; learn about complex demand management; and you’ve got to know about AI (artificial intelligence) and the ins and outs of all that,” she elaborates.</p>
<p>Cassani’s basic message is simple. “If you’re an intelligent person who loves puzzles and want to be in an industry that will evolve and be ‘cutting edge’ and fascinating for decades, it’s the airline business,” she declares. </p>
<p>Other positions in airlines – notably Vueling, another LLC – have come and gone, as did involvement in London’s successful 2012 Olympic bid. Cassani’s latest role, however, is as a new member of the judging panel for the <strong>Airline Strategy Awards</strong>, organised by <em>Airline Business</em>, which takes place on 14 July in London.</p>
<p>Despite not being aligned to an airline currently, Cassani still takes a huge interest. Which is why it is intriguing to hear her assess how different it would be to be setting up an airline like Go right now.</p>
<p>“The biggest difference in today’s world versus the world of 1997 is that you’d need about ten times as much money and you would face a much savvier competitive environment. Go was set up for around £30 million and I don’t think you’d get out of bed [these days] for under £300 million,” she explains. “The costs associated with all of the elements, as well as creating a kind of fighting war chest to support you, would be so great.</p>
<p>“In the late 1990s/early 2000s, traditional airlines had not figured out how to compete with low-cost carriers. Sometimes they resorted to uncompetitive measures, like dumping. They didn’t really know how to compete their way out of it, but they’ve learned that. It’s to the benefit of consumers, but I think if you were starting an airline today, it would be really prohibitive.</p>
<p>“That’s why you rarely see start-ups, even in Asia. If you look at the Asia of 10-15 years ago, you could probably do a lot, but a lot of the world has been sliced and diced and there’s not much left.”</p>
<p><a href="https://jobs.flightglobal.com/jobs/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=FJ_job_search"><img alt="Flight Jobs - Job search " src="/getasset/635f0a93-7ecb-4d76-8268-6f14d01d6f29/" /></a></p>
<p>One development Cassani is watching with great interest is long-haul, low-cost. “Anyone older than about 40 might think, ‘Oh we’ve been here before’. You look at it and think, ‘Am I just being an oldie or has something changed in the basic economics of flying that will allow long-haul, low-cost to prosper this time?’ I don’t know the answer yet,” she admits.</p>
<p>“One of the things that has happened – and I would say sadly – over the past 20 years is that the benefits of deregulation in the oldest deregulated market in the world, the US, have largely disappeared because of re-consolidation. With all the mergers between the big guys, you’re left with again, a very small group of airlines. I would bet there are fewer players today in the US than there were, say, 7-8 years after deregulation.</p>
<p>“Thank goodness for Southwest, for Spirit and JetBlue, but that’s about it. After that you’re left with the United, American and Delta groups,” Cassani emphasises. “Alaska took Virgin America in order to compete because they were finding themselves between two stools. Then I look at what’s going on in Europe and they’re trying to go down the same road.</p>
<p>“So if someone I liked came to me and said they were going to start an airline, I’d probably put my arm around them and say, ‘You know, I can think of other things to do with your money,’ she jests with a rueful laugh.</p>
<p>Having won awards for the way she led Go, it is enlightening to discover which airline leaders Cassani currently admires. “I love a good turnaround, so if I look at what’s happened at smaller airlines like airBaltic, or a slightly bigger airline like SAS, I’m just so impressed with Martin Gauss and Rickard Gustafson. They’ve done amazing jobs.</p>
<p>“SAS was on the brink of failure for a decade or so and I think it now has a shot at being one of the survivors and innovators in the next era. At airBaltic, they’re trying to work with different governments and they’re in an area where low-cost airlines are very strong. I really take my hat off to them.</p>
<p>Changing tack, Cassani says that if she were to pick a category that was ‘Which major airline has best incorporated low-cost travel into its portfolio’, she’d choose Singapore Airlines. “It is still one of the very best long-haul airlines, but it also has successfully developed and integrated Scoot. It’s a difficult thing to do and most traditional airlines have thrown their hands up and said, ‘We don’t know how to do both’. So I give SIA a lot of credit for that.</p>
<p>“Finally, because I now live on the US east coast, I think JetBlue is a really terrific airline,” she continues. “Its CEO, Robin Hayes, who I knew back at British Airways, does a terrific job there. They have figured out how to offer a very high quality product in a highly competitive part of the world.</p>
<p>So how does Cassani feel about JetBlue coming across the Atlantic in a couple of years’ time? “I’m nervous about that. I know how hard it is to compete against the Deltas and the BA–AA combos. It’s really tough,” she observes.</p>
<p>On the educational side of the airline business, Cassani still goes to schools and universities to discuss careers in aviation, something she finds little difficulty in advocating. “The wonderful thing about the airline business is that it’s about 10 industries rolled into one. You have to learn how to manage an extremely complex logistics system; have a very strong feel for a commercial service industry business; learn about complex demand management; and you’ve got to know about AI (artificial intelligence) and the ins and outs of all that,” she elaborates.</p>
<p>Cassani’s basic message is simple. “If you’re an intelligent person who loves puzzles and want to be in an industry that will evolve and be ‘cutting edge’ and fascinating for decades, it’s the airline business,” she declares. </p>