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DIALOGUE: Behind Asia’s New Low Cost Airline
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 altAsia’s air travel industry is soaring. New operators and flight routes are opening every year. Managing one of these new international airlines is no easy task, but for Scoot CEO, Mr. Campbell Wilson, it’s just another day in the office.
 
Campbell, who was born in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1971, knows better than most people about the challenges of building a dynamic, innovative multinational company. After obtaining first class honours in his Masters of Commerce in Business Administration, he joined Singapore Airlines (SIA) and has subsequently held a range of prestigious roles within the company.  His work with SIA has taken him to all around the world managing various aspects of the company’s operations in Japan, Hong Kong and Canada. He is currently based in Singapore where he heads SIA’s low cost subsidiary Scoot. Since Campbell took charge, Scoot has gone from strength to strength and is in the process of expanding into new international locations. With the company opening its new direct route from Tianjin Binhai International Airport to Singapore Changi on 23 August, we caught up with Campbell to find out more about Scoot and the man at the centre of the company.
 

Managing a low cost airline must be a tremendously difficult task. What have your main challenges been in this role?

My mission is to lead and shape an organisation that will touch so many people and places and, ultimately, to create an airline that delivers exactly what it promises: a fuss-free, engaging, fun, reliable, highly customisable and good value way to travel. Furthermore, I have had to meet these challenges within an aggressive one year deadline. It certainly presented its challenges. In the past year, not only did we fully retrofit and induct two 402-seat wide-bodied aircrafts, in quick succession, certified for international service to the two Australian cities, hired and trained about 200 ground staff, pilots and cabin crew; we also launched extensive marketing campaigns introducing Scoot to our target audience in our various destinations, and sold more than 100,000 tickets even before we started flying.
 

Tell us a bit about Scoot Airlines.

Scoot is 100% owned by Singapore Airlines (SIA) but is independently managed. Scoot is not your everyday airline name because we will not be your everyday airline. We offer a no-frills service on medium to long haul routes of 5 – 12 hours from Singapore. Our core values are safety, reliability and punctuality. The English dictionary tells us that ‘Scoot’ means ‘to move quickly’. But that’s not all.  For us, it’s also about offering fantastic value airfares and keeping things simple. We firmly believe that people should not have to subsidise the choices of others.
 

Scoot seems to be creating a trendy, unique and appealing brand. What do you credit as the main driving forces behind the airline’s success thus far?

 
Our marketing and communications strategy seeks to engage, solicit a reaction and to build an emotional connection. That is why we have been so focussed on social media, which has been a huge success. The feedback we’ve received from these social media initiatives has been overwhelming, and our community has reached out to us for information on jobs, fares, routes and other issues. It’s important to us that the community feels as though they have a hand in building the company.

It is especially important for us, as a start-up company, to introduce our brand to a critical mass in a short time frame. Social media offers a two-way communication channel. It  can be highly viral and relevant to our target audience, relatively cost-efficient, with the ability to transcend international barriers and enables us to track results of our online ad campaigns. It also puts us at the forefront of doing things differently.
 

altSingapore was recently named the easiest country in the world to do business with. Do you think that being a Singaporean company adds a degree of credibility to Scoot?

 
Certainly, that and being a 100% subsidiary of Singapore Airlines has boosted our partners and guests’ confidence in Scoot right from the beginning and I believe that we have proven ourselves worthy of their trust and confidence. The Scoot team is passionate about what the new airline stands for and how we can change the way people travel long distance.
 

Tianjin is Scoot’s first destination in China. Why here?

We will tap new markets, be they altogether new routes or new market segments on routes already plied. But there is no hard and fast rule. Scoot will fly wherever there is sufficient demand for our services and we feel that Tianjin has huge potential. Not only is it a city of 12 million in Northern China, Tianjin is also a mere 30-minute high speed bullet train ride away from Beijing. Besides being the first airline to fly direct to Tianjin from Singapore, Scoot will also connect Tianjin through one of the world’s biggest air hubs, Singapore, offering connections to 220 destinations across 60 countries. Scoot will give Chinese travellers a whole new travel option.
 

Given the fairly robust growth in Chinese and Asian demand for air travel, do you and your company intend to capitalise on this further by opening up more routes here and elsewhere?

 
We will be announcing new routes in China very soon and our geographic footprint is expected to grow steadily to encompass India, Europe and other markets at a later stage. We intend to operate in Africa and the Middle East as the fleet expands and longer-range aircraft are inducted.
 

Low cost airlines are often accused of sacrificing quality of service to provide cheap fares. Is this a fair comment?

 
There is a lot to be drawn from other airlines in terms of how they market themselves, the way they operate, the way they procure and recruit. But Scoot is not just another budget airline, we’re a no-frills, low-cost carrier that flies to a range of great destinations including; Singapore, Sydney, the Gold Coast and soon to be joined by Bangkok, Tianjin, Tokyo and Taipei. We firmly believe you can be no frills and still be cheerful, honest and respectful. Our service comes with the right personality- engaging, vibrant, fun-loving and upbeat; exhibiting what we call ‘Scootitude’.
 

altDo you see the budget airline market in Asia growing rapidly over the next few years?

The growth potential of low cost carriers remains hugely appealing. Generally speaking, the region’s economies are still growing at a healthy pace, and more people are entering the middle class with the time, money and inclination to travel. Demand for international travel is growing – it has been over 5.3% per annum for the last two decades, which means that volume doubles every 15 years or so. The rate of growth in this region is even faster, due to economic development, geography and demographic trends. The low cost airline segment is younger in Asia than in Europe or North America – less than a decade in South East Asia and only just starting to take off in North Asia. We have seen how successful this model is in the short haul arena, and there is a clear opportunity to grow a new market segment that either does not exist, or to capture those currently travelling on other carriers.
 

With fuel prices set to soar over the next decade and beyond, how much longer can airlines, particularly low cost operators, continue to make ticket prices affordable?

Obviously, rising costs and a weakening economy aren’t welcome for any business, but the low-frills segment is reasonably well-placed. Cost control is a religion and our structure and processes are already efficient relative to legacy carriers. On the revenue side, whilst some people may decide to defer travel altogether in a downturn, a far higher portion will still travel but try to save some money where they can. The desire for travel doesn’t follow the business cycle, only the willingness to impart with the money needed to do so. Those offering great value, as we do, offer the perfect solution.

Scoot’s fare structure is very competitive in keeping with the no-frills model. However, besides just rock-bottom airfares, Scoot offers substantial scope for guests to tailor their experience by adding only the frills and services they want, so that they’re not subsidising the choices of others. That’s why we have created Fly, which is a no-frills, no baggage product. Product combo bundles, FlyBag and FlyBagEat, which provide a-la-carte selection of frills. For those wanting a real premium experience, we also have ScootBiz, a premium cabin complete with wide leather seats offering 38-inch pitch, food & beverages and 20 kilograms of check-in baggage. Purchasing these add-on services in bundle combos will offer even better value for money – buying the bag and meal as part of a bundle saves about 20% versus buying a la carte. It's the McDonald’s Combo concept.
 

Can you tell us about some special offers for customers flying with Scoot in the near future?

To receive the latest news, updates and exclusive promotional offers, register at www.flyscoot.com or www.facebook.com/flyscoot.

By Josh Cooper
Photos Courtesy of Scoot Pte Ltd
 
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