Husky Airborne Express Case
Airborne Express
3. Now consider the situation of Airborne Express in 1997:
a. What activities does Airborne perform differently / more effectively than its competitors?
Airborne Express is unique to its competitors in several ways. First of all, Airborne Express targets business customers that regularly ship large volume of urgent items, primarily to other business locations, by-passing residential deliveries and infrequent shippers. This allows the company to focus its deliveries to major metropolitan areas to as much as 80 – 85% (compared to below 60% for FedEx and UPS). In order to secure large business accounts, Airborne markets itself as a “solution-oriented express carrier” by performing highly customized services for companies such as Nike, Compaq, Technicolor and Xerox. For example, Airborne invested in special sort codes to emit a beep in each barcode scanner when scanning a Xerox package to ensure that those packages are delivered first.
Airborne Express also differentiates itself from competitors in several ways operationally. Airborne Express owns the airport in Wilmington that serves as its major hub. As a result, Airborne does not have to pay landing fees, unlike its competitors, and can tailor the facility to its needs. These cost savings are partially offset by the fact that Airborne is unable to share facility expenses with other airlines. In addition, Airborne had built warehouse space on its Wilmington property which is leased to business customers. Airborne’s competitors such as FedEx and UPS offer similar warehousing options but not on the airport site itself. Airborne is able to reduce property tax arising from owning this facility by possessing the Community Reinvestment Act zone status.
Airborne’s fleet consists primarily of used aircrafts that are modified for its needs. Airborne’s patented cargo containers allow the usage of passenger doors without needing a large cargo door. Airborne also runs its aircraft roughly 80% full as
3. Now consider the situation of Airborne Express in 1997:
a. What activities does Airborne perform differently / more effectively than its competitors?
Airborne Express is unique to its competitors in several ways. First of all, Airborne Express targets business customers that regularly ship large volume of urgent items, primarily to other business locations, by-passing residential deliveries and infrequent shippers. This allows the company to focus its deliveries to major metropolitan areas to as much as 80 – 85% (compared to below 60% for FedEx and UPS). In order to secure large business accounts, Airborne markets itself as a “solution-oriented express carrier” by performing highly customized services for companies such as Nike, Compaq, Technicolor and Xerox. For example, Airborne invested in special sort codes to emit a beep in each barcode scanner when scanning a Xerox package to ensure that those packages are delivered first.
Airborne Express also differentiates itself from competitors in several ways operationally. Airborne Express owns the airport in Wilmington that serves as its major hub. As a result, Airborne does not have to pay landing fees, unlike its competitors, and can tailor the facility to its needs. These cost savings are partially offset by the fact that Airborne is unable to share facility expenses with other airlines. In addition, Airborne had built warehouse space on its Wilmington property which is leased to business customers. Airborne’s competitors such as FedEx and UPS offer similar warehousing options but not on the airport site itself. Airborne is able to reduce property tax arising from owning this facility by possessing the Community Reinvestment Act zone status.
Airborne’s fleet consists primarily of used aircrafts that are modified for its needs. Airborne’s patented cargo containers allow the usage of passenger doors without needing a large cargo door. Airborne also runs its aircraft roughly 80% full as