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JetBlue Acquires Spirit Airlines: Will Straddling Work?

Michael Roberto

Source: Getty Images The bidding war for Spirit Airlines has ended. The combined airline will have 458 planes—up from JetBlue’s fleet of just over 280 jets now—and will have over 300 more on order. Historically, firms in the airline industry has struggled to be consistently profitable. It's a fascinating question.

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Herb Kelleher's Legacy at Southwest Airlines: 5 Important Lessons

Michael Roberto

Source: Southwest Airlines Yesterday, Southwest Airlines co-founder and long-time CEO Herb Kelleher died at age 87. Here are five simple, yet powerful, lessons that come to mind as I reflect on the Kelleher era at the airline: Make tradeoffs. At Southwest, Kelleher chose to run an airline in a very different manner.

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Norwegian Airlines: Are They Built to Last?

Michael Roberto

Travelers in my area have been enjoying incredibly low fare trips to Europe on Norwegian Airlines. The question is: Can they succeed in this highly competitive space? The Wall Street Journal has expressed skepticism about the airline in the past as well. in the U.S. and Ryanair in Europe.

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Strong Airline Profitability? Is it Really About Fees?

Michael Roberto

Source: Dallas News For decades, the airline industry has been characterized by abysmal profits. The list of airline bankruptcies is seemingly endless. airline industry profitability is very strong at the moment - "healthier than ever" according to the headline. airlines averaged $19.65 airlines averaged $19.65

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The Whole Foods Strategy…Isn’t (Whole)

Matthew May

In the midst of all this, Whole Foods has decided to take a market segmentation strategy to reverse its downward trend, a strategy aimed squarely at Trader Joe’s, a solid Millennial brand: launch a chain of smaller, lower-priced stores that focus entirely on stock with the Whole Foods private label, 365. Think Southwest Airlines.

Strategy 100
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Four Mind-Bending Business Models to Shake Up 2016

Leapfrogging

Here are four strategies to watch in 2016: Exclusivity – Play Hard to Get, to Get More Customers. It’s all about “playing hard to get” with your customers, something pretty counterintuitive in today’s fiercely competitive world. Figuring out how to rise above the competitive noise can be mind-bending in itself.

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Four Mind-Bending Business Models to Shake Up 2016

Leapfrogging

Here are four strategies to watch in 2016: Exclusivity – Play Hard to Get, to Get More Customers. It’s all about “playing hard to get” with your customers, something pretty counterintuitive in today’s fiercely competitive world. Figuring out how to rise above the competitive noise can be mind-bending in itself.