CompanyBConfidentialInterviewNotes.pdf

Page 1 of 3 pages Confidential – For Internal Distribution Only

TransGlobal Confidential Internal Memo

Interviews with Company Leaders: Company B

The notes below are a summary of recent conversations with company leaders at Company B. As much

as possible, I have summarized these in a question-and-answer format. I tried to transcribe actual

statements as they were made, but I was unable to capture every detail of each conversation. I’ve also

included some background from recent messages and last quarter’s reports.

As an introductory note, I’ll observe that smaller firms tend to be far less structured and less

bureaucratic than TransGlobal. This sometimes translates into quicker and more flexible decision

making. It also can result in some elements of good management falling through the cracks to some

degree. Also, I’ll note that my opportunities for discussions were quite limited, so these notes are not

comprehensive.

Interview #1: President

The Company B president is a new arrival to the company. She had prior experience in some high-tech

fields, but not in commercial aviation. Her strongest beliefs are that the way to move the company

forward is through the adoption of an agile culture, empowering employees, and placing emphasis on

innovation. She’s thrilled that the firm has recently entered into a strategic partnership with a software

company and that they will soon bring new levels of travel convenience to the customers right in the

palms of their hands. The IT team believes this will be a five-year effort; the president is hoping for one

year.

It seems that she’s been hired to make corrections in the financial trajectory of the company. About two

years ago, some costs got out of hand and resulted in a small loss for the year; the past 12 months have

been more favorable.

She’s not an expert on aircraft, but she did express interest and enthusiasm for new planes, with a

specific focus on the Bombardier line. Company B has used the Bombardier CRJ-700 and CRJ-200 in the

past with very good records of performance, safety, and reliability. She feels that it would be

advantageous to continue using those aircraft and possibly investigate alternative (newer) Bombardier

models.

At times, she expresses some truly visionary perspectives. Enhancing hand-held passenger convenience

and integrating the flight experience with other aspects of travel seem like excellent new directions.

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She’s also committed to the overall notion of environmental stewardship and moving toward net-zero

carbon as soon as possible.

On the other hand, a few of her ideas seem a bit like science fiction. As a hobby interest, she’s

interested in ornithopters, for example, and she’s actually asked the engineers in maintenance to look

into electric airplanes! A few folks have even heard her mention drones as a possible future business

line. Some employees wonder if she’s perhaps a bit offbeat.

Interview #2: Sales

The Company B sales team is relatively complacent. They perceive their marketplace and their routes as

mostly fixed and not likely to shift much in the coming decade. Passenger volumes over the past few

years have generally remained flat, plus or minus a few percentage points.

The last two quarters have shown a 5% decline in overall seat occupancy compared to the prior year.

Interview #3: IT Manager

The IT manager is a transplant from a much larger airline and also has experience working at Disney.

He’s always willing to try something new, and he has recently pushed the company into a business

relationship with a software company. They hope to reimagine vacation travel, bringing an integrated

and seamless experience from start to finish for the customer.

Others in the company have been skeptical and sometimes describe his approach as reckless and

fraught with excess costs. They were also a bit perturbed with the expense associated with the software

partnership, since a year ago, many of them had taken an obligatory temporary pay reduction. He

insists that “we need to be strategic and skate to where the puck is going to be,” using a strategic

metaphor of some kind involving Wayne Gretzky.

Interview #4: Operations and Maintenance

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The company has some very seasoned individuals in the maintenance and operations areas, several of

whom have prior military experience. They pride themselves on a positive performance record,

especially pointing to the statistic that their aircraft, while older than many fleets, are well maintained

and average a 90% availability rate, consistent with industry averages. The crew is innovative and hard

working, but there has been substantial turnover in recent years. Several current mechanics are in

probationary status, still acquiring their technical certification credentials. There is some concern that

the core of expertise resides in the employees that are approaching retirement age and that there is

inadequate knowledge transfer.

Interview #5: Human Resources

Company B employs an outside provider to handle most of its HR functions. The firm is located in

Orlando and handles a variety of travel-related clients. Their strengths are in union negotiations and

rapid onboarding.