Airline Pricing is not an exact science like Revenue Management as a lot of the decisions are subjective, although there are increasingly more system solutions available to airlines to at least help them in the decision process even if they can’t provide the silver bullet with regards to what is my best price.
Historically airline pricing analysts have received little to no training other than in the mechanics of fare filing through ATPCo or SITA, which is the easier part of the entire process. The most important area which has been neglected is determining a robust pricing strategy to help arrive at best prices by market conditions or special circumstances such as entering a market or reacting to new entrants in one’s own market. Increasingly there is a wealth of data which is easily accessible, given the correct tools to help one in the decision process. This has greatly increased with the advent of the internet and a focus on direct sales via the airline’s own website. This data supplemented with public fare offerings can greatly help in the day to day pricing activity provided that the resources are both adequate and appropriate, the correct systems and processes are in place to support the area, and adequate post pricing activity is undertaken to evaluate how good or bad the decisions made were retrospectively.
Other areas such as correct RBD (Class) usage, the correct fare rules, fare family structures and other special fares such as Groups, Corporate fares, Special event fares and Seamen fares all have to be constructed and considered within the overall pricing strategy of an airline as well as, most importantly, evaluating where the airline should position itself both overall and in specific markets versus its competitors. We can help you with all of these aspects and have had many years of experience at a pragmatic level in assisting airlines improve their revenues with a co-ordinated Commercial plan.
