Staying off the ground with easyJet

The Problem

“Significant gains in profitability and efficiencies will be achieved by minimising the time our planes spend on the ground between flights. We will reduce average turnaround time from 50 minutes to 25.”
easyJet share offer document Summer 2000

This was the challenge Stelios Haji-Ioannou set as part of the flotation plans for the company in the Summer of 2000
The easyJet team had a very, very short three months to make it happen

The Process
A joint ?What If! and easyJet team set up camp in a portacabin at Luton Airport. The project process was extremely varied.

We interviewed everyone involved in aircraft turnarounds; from baggage and catering companies, cleaning agencies, refuelling companies, to the front line easyJet and airport staff themselves. We visited other airports and witnessed activities both on and off the planes. We also ran a communication and suggestion programme at easyJet to get everyone’s input, this was updated and disseminated weekly.

The Solution
With such an enormous number of people involved, all from different companies (caterers, cleaners, baggage handlers etc), the fundamental problem was that there was little awareness of what anyone else was doing and how each individual was reliant on their team to achieve their objective. This meant that they were missing the benefits of teamwork. So the solution lay not only in finding out how to help cut out little bottlenecks in the system but also in building a motivated, collaborative effort where people could use their initiative.

We ran cross-functional training sessions every day for 6 weeks for the +1500 people involved in the turnaround process.

Using videos of the whole process, we improved everyone’s appreciation of other people’s roles, and of where their own roles fitted into the wider picture. We then came up with a bucketful of ideas to help. Here is an example The technical operator who had to wait until everyone ‘disembarked’ before he could board and speak to the pilot is now given a set ofheadphones and can get his information from outside the plane. Little things, lots of them; big time savings!

The Results
easyJet’s average turnaround time dropped from 50 to 33 minutes by the end of the project. The new turnaround efficiencies have been the significant factor in improving aircraft utilisation by 15%, a core contributory factor to their margin improvement.

The airline went public with a share offering on the London Stock Exchange on 22 November 2000. The airline raised £195.3 million and was valued at £777 million at flotation. Despite being offered only to financial institutions, the shares were over-subscribed by a factor of nearly ten.

This project proved a significant contributor to the September 2001 results of +26% turnover - at a time when the airline industry as a whole was in big trouble. Even after September 11, 2001 easyJet profits continued to rise as did passenger loads.

“Working with ?What If! is like working with your best friend, always very stimulating and ready to put you right back on track when you stray. We needed to evaluate our turnaround and look to innovate and think outside the box. We needed experts, who like us were dynamic, entrepreneurial and fun. ?What If! demonstrated all the above and as a team weachieved the project objectives. They have since worked in partnership on other projects with easyJet, and are too classed as ORANGE!” Chris Goscomb, easyJet

“This was a very unusual project for us to work on and one which required a highly collaborative approach. We had a tight deadline of under three months to not only work out how to reduce the time but also to train up the +1500 people involved in the operation. I feel our success was down to the absolute priority the project was given throughout easyJet and Luton airport and the very positive 'can do' and trusting attitude the tight deadline inspired. It was hard work but also hugely satisfying and a real team effort.” Sarah Pajwani, ?What If!