Vivacolombia: the Challenge of Growing a Low-Cost Airline in Latin America
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Volume 15 Issue 4 December 2017 HEC195 VivaColombia: The Challenge of Growing a Low-Cost Airline in Latin America Case1 prepared by Elkin RAVE2 and Juan FRANCO3 On December 29, 2015, the board of directors of VivaColombia, a low-cost Colombian airline, met to review the strategic plan they had to approve and execute over the next three years. In particular, they had to decide whether to consolidate the airline’s position in the Colombian market or open a new air route to Brazil. The Brazilian option seemed to be a promising growth opportunity, but consolidating local operations was also a priority since the airline had been experiencing quality issues. The most recent service-related incident had made headlines4 just a few days before the meeting after passengers protested the cancellation of their flight. VivaColombia was established in 2008, although it did not begin operations until May 2012. It now operates in both domestic and international markets. It provides passenger transportation services, flying to major and intermediate cities in Colombia and to major cities internationally. Domestically, VivaColombia grew from transporting 558,000 passengers in 2012 to 2,670,000 in 2015. Internationally, it grew from transporting 65,000 passengers in 2014 to 249,000 in 2015. In its first year of operations in the international market, it entered Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and the United States. In 2015, it had nine Airbus A320 aircraft and served 21 routes in Colombia and six international routes in North, Central, and South America. It had over 500 employees. In 2015, VivaColombia carried over 2.9 million passengers, with sales of US$119.2 million and profits of more than US$971,000. Although the board was satisfied with the results achieved to date, they disagreed about how to proceed. Some board members believed that VivaColombia should consolidate its domestic market position. They were concerned about the large number of customer service complaints. 5 Specifically, 20% of customers had said they would not fly with VivaColombia again. In addition, 1 This case is to be used for academic purposes only as a basis for class discussion. Some data and figures have been modified, and the case scenario is fictitious. 2 Elkin Rave is an assistant professor at CEIPA Business School in Sabaneta, Colombia. 3 Juan Franco is an assistant professor at CEIPA Business School in Sabaneta, Colombia. 4 The following headline had appeared in a national Colombian newspaper a few days before the meeting: “Protests at El Dorado airport in Bogota and Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport in Cali following cancellation of several flights by VivaColombia” (www.elespectador.com/noticias/pasajeros-viva-colombia). 5 Semana, interview with VivaColombia’s vice-president (http://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/vivacolombia-un-caos-un- modelo-de-negocio/382418-3) © HEC Montréal 2017 All rights reserved for all countries. Any translation or alteration in any form whatsoever is prohibited. The International Journal of Case Studies in Management is published on-line (http://www.hec.ca/en/case_centre/ijcsm/), ISSN 1911-2599. This case is intended to be used as the framework for an educational discussion and does not imply any judgement on the administrative situation presented. Deposited under number 9 00 2017 004 with the HEC Montréal Case Centre, 3000, chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, Montréal (Québec) H3T 2A7 Canada. VivaColombia: The Challenge of Growing a Low-Cost Airline in Latin America two low-cost international companies, Wingo and Norwegian, were planning to enter the Colombian market (offering both domestic and international flights),1 which the board feared would jeopardize VivaColombia’s position in the domestic market. Other board members thought VivaColombia should expand into Brazil, a major Latin American market. Specifically, they thought VivaColombia should take advantage of the opportunity presented by Aerocivil, Colombia’s civil aviation authority, which had authorized VivaColombia to operate the Bogotá, Colombia – Sao Paulo, Brazil route.2 The company still had no link to the Brazilian market, although the number of passengers travelling between the two countries had been growing at more than 20% annually. At that time, approximately 90% of the Colombia-Brazil market was served by just three airlines, including VivaColombia’s two main competitors, Avianca and LAN Colombia.3 Although they favoured different options, the board members agreed on the following four points: First, the airline could afford to carry out just one of the two projects within the next three years. Second, they wished to maintain the current capital structure without going into greater debt by tapping new financial sources. Third, they had to decide quickly since the Aerocivil aviation authority allows just one year to begin servicing new routes. Fourth, whichever project VivaColombia chose had to yield a minimum rate of return of 8%. The origins of VivaColombia VivaColombia was founded in May 2008 under the name of Fast Colombia. It was the brainchild of William Shaw, who came up with the idea of creating a low-cost airline during his postgraduate studies and discussed it with Juan Emilio Posada, Gabriel Migowski, and Fred Jacobsen. All four men had significant experience in the airline industry: Shaw was former CEO of British Airways; Posada was former CEO of Avianca; Fred Jacobsen had been CEO of Tampa Cargo from 1998– 2007; and Gabriel Migowski was a former executive with Brazilian Air and a former consultant for Bain & Company. All four company founders were convinced there was a growing need for a low-cost airline in Colombia.4 Between May 2008 and July 2010, the partners focused on funding the project. Financial resources were scarce, however, and they decided to retain an investment bank to analyze the risks and prepare an investment appraisal, which attracted the interest of over 100 potential investors.5 In August 2010, when sufficient investors had signed on to the project, Aerocivil authorized the 1 El Colombiano (http://www.elcolombiano.com/negocios/empresas/wingo-otra-aerolinea-de-bajo-costo-en-colombia- FC5206340) 2 This is a hypothesis made to enliven discussion. 3 Calculations made by the case authors based on operational statistics published by the Aerocivil aviation authority (http://www.aerocivil.gov.co/atencion/estadisticas-de-las-actividades-aeronauticas/boletines-operacionales). 4 Enrique Patiño, “Viva Colombia: Así nace una aerolínea”, Revista Diners, May 30, 2012 (http://revistadiners.com.co/articulo/58_557_viva-colombia-asi-nace-una-aerolinea). 5 Ibid. © HEC Montréal 2 VivaColombia: The Challenge of Growing a Low-Cost Airline in Latin America incorporation of the airline. VivaColumbia is owned by four shareholder groups:1 Grupo Fast, Grupo Bolivar, Grupo Iamsa, and Irelandia Aviation (see Exhibit 1 for details). For the first two years, until February 2013, Fred Jacobsen (former CEO of Tampa Cargo) served as president and CEO. During his tenure, the company carried 400,000 passengers. Between February and August 2013, Milke Szucs served as CEO. Szucs was a former CEO of Viva Airbus in Mexico, former CEO of Spanair in Spain, and former operations manager of Easy Jet, a low- cost British airline. During his tenure, the company carried 923,821 passengers.2 Between August 2013 and July 2014, Barry Biffle was CEO. Biffle had eighteen years’ experience in the aviation sector, having managed the business model of Spirit Airlines, a low-cost American carrier, and been responsible for the expansion of its routes to Central America, the Caribbean, and South America.3 During his tenure, the company carried 1,873,679 passengers.4 In July 2014, Biffle left VivaColombia to become CEO of Frontier Airlines, a low-cost American airline based in Denver.5 Biffle was replaced by Juan Emilio Posada, who was still CEO in 2015, at the time this case was written. During Posada’s tenure, the company has carried 4,061,000 passengers. VivaColombia originally operated out of the José María Córdoba de Rionegro International Airport, 29 kilometres from Medellin, capital of the department of Antioquia. In June 2014, it opened a second operations centre at the El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá to serve more routes and flights from that airport. VivaColombia’s business model VivaColombia, which began operations in 2012, was Colombia’s first airline to adopt a low-cost business model.6 Low-cost airlines (also known as no-frills, discount, or budget airlines) focus on reducing expenditures so they can offer low prices.7 The following are the main differences between low-cost and traditional business models. Tighter seating. VivaColombia makes maximum use of its aircraft space. Its A320 aircraft hold between 180 and 189 seats, 20% more than the same aircraft used by traditional airlines. This reduces the idle capacity. In comparison, traditional airlines such as Avianca and LAN Colombia have an average of 128 seats on their domestic flights. Fewer seats mean greater comfort but also higher opportunity costs. 1 VivaColombia, About us (https://www.vivacolombia.co/en-co/info/about-us) 2 Aerocivil aviation authority, air transport statistics (http://www.aerocivil.gov.co/atencion/estadisticas-de-las-actividades- aeronauticas/boletines-operacionales) 3 Viva Colombia (http://vivacolombia.org/nuevo-presidente-en-vivacolombia/) (retrieved on April 6, 2016) 4 Aerocivil aviation authority (http://www.aerocivil.gov.co/atencion/estadisticas-de-las-actividades-aeronauticas/boletines- operacionales) 5 Frontier – Low Fares Done Right (www.flyfrontier.com) (retrieved on April 8, 2016). 6 Southwest Airlines, founded in Texas in 1967, was the first low-cost airline in the U.S. Low-cost airlines also exist elsewhere. Ryanair Ltd. is an Irish low-cost airline founded in 1984, and Tigerair, founded in 2003, was a budget airline headquartered in Singapore. 7 Maria C. Williams, “Do low-cost subsidiaries work? – Competing in low-cost airline world”, Aviation Industry Conferences, London, November 2004.