SAS Scandinavian Airlines: Strategic Alliances in the Making

Abstract

Among those in the travel industry, and more specifically air travel, the mere mention of SAS Scandinavian Airlines brings forth comments of envy and admiration as well as fear. Consistently rated as one of the world’s best airlines in terms of safety, punctuality and service, it has proved to be one of Europe’s most successful and competitively aggressive airlines, with a knack not only for survival but also for profitability in the face of hard times. This has been the case since 1981, when Jan Carlzon was named Chief Operating Officer of the Group (after entering in 1980 as Chief Executive Officer of SAS) and began the now-legendary turnaround of a company then in financial trouble.

There are clear limitations to how far we can develop and refine the specific air transport product ... We have to identify and evaluate the business traveller’s total service needs. In the 1980s we saw a customer in every individual. In the 1990s, we see an individual in every customer ... Our strategy is to distribute traffic to as many important destinations as possible in a global system, offering non-stop or at the most one-stop service in co-ordination with our partners....

(Jan Carlzon, President and Chief Executive Officer, the SAS Group)