Patrick Bianquis
Air France
VP alliances
 Having been part of Skyteam (one of the three global airline alliances) from its inception, I am more than willing to share with Aviance what are the main lessons to be drawn from our 8 years of cooperation (incidentally, the two alliances are the same age!).
Of course, this is not intended to be a lecture but only a personal point of view on the topic:
Lesson 1:
When you establish the alliance, define clearly its mission to avoid inefficient future strategy discussions.
You are not getting together because it looks nice but based on a clear business vision (even better if you have a clear target with numbers to reach).
Lesson 2:
Make sure in doing so that your customers will find benefits.
If you wish to create additional value, this needs to be really perceived by the market and your alliance viewed not as a cartel to enhance your own profits but as a tool to generate additional business. As a side effect, this might help your case if a regulatory review is needed for your alliance.
Lesson 3:
It is an alliance, not a merger or a JV. It means also that you may express opposite interests sometimes but the important factor is that the alliance is an appropriate forum to solve them in a friendly manner. So you should not overestimate the appetite each of your members will have to reach consensus. It has two consequences:
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Do not set too high targets, as the alliance not driving your own independent profit and losses, will not drive your own strategies but simply complement them on items could you not achieve alone. |
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Be careful with your governance. If you decide you need full consensus for each decision, it will take time and your efficiency will be limited. |
When Skyteam grew from 4 to 7 carriers, we hired a third party consultancy to review and enhance our governance. The advice we received was basically pointing in three directions:
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Use voting when necessary to accelerate the decision process |
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Accept the fact that all may not wish to go at the same speed and let some “explorers” implement in an opt-in/opt-out procedure (others may join later) |
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Do not rely on goodwill but nominate people, empower them and make sure they will be accountable for progress. |
Lesson 4:
Be fully aware of cultural and corporate differences
Cultures are different by country but also by companies. It’s worth spending time not really fully bridging the gaps which might prove impossible but at least understanding where they are (mostly around empowerment vs. hierarchy, decision-making process before, during and after meetings, time to market sensitivity, vision of the future, etc.).
Some intercultural training might help but selecting the right alliance representatives will prove of utmost importance.
Also, try to avoid to be too politically correct otherwise you will not understand everyone’s views. At the same time, help the silent parties to speak up and always write down agreed upon action plans to make sure that all share the same understanding.
Lesson 5:
As an airline, I would encourage you to meet often face-to-face. No video conference or conference call will ever bring you as much as real meetings where body language will tell you a lot.
And….
Have fun, have good food together, do some sport, get into a karaoke, etc. on top of working together as TRUST is not granted and team building is necessary.
Whishing your success in your own alliance, having fun and a lot of accomplishments.
This is our guests opinion and does not necessary reflect the alliance viewpoint.
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