Connecting the Unconnected
Harvard Business School – Case Study

Pradeep Bhat
Strategy Assignment
MIP – Politecnico di Milano

1. In an industry where profitable firms are scarce, Emirates has delivered solid growth and solid financial performance for years. Why? What is behind Emirates’ success?

Ṝecently, on May 20th 2014, the Air French – KLM announced their results showing record losses. The strategy of alliance between two struggling airlines is yet to prove its success. Meanwhile, in a complete contrast, The Emirates Airlines have passed a massive order of 32 Airbus 380 super jumbo jets at the Berlin Air show 2010.
Today, Emirates has a total of 140 orders for the Airbus 38010 and is the largest operator of A380 crafts around the …show more content…
They also assured the companies with a guaranteed buy from them.

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Strategic decision to not be in an Alliance7: Emirates believed that the marketplace will be hindered when an airline will need a consensus from its Alliance partners.
In 2000, however, the carrier briefly considered joining “Star Alliance”, but opted to remain independent of all the three major alliances in the industry. Emirates are currently not a member of any of the three global airline alliances.

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Younger & Limited number of Fleets3: Restricting its fleet to only three types allowed
Emirates to optimize its pilot Deployment more effectively and serve its long-haul destinations. It also standardized the customer experience.
Emirates also maintained a younger fleet in the industry, with an average airplane age of 6.4 years, which enhanced the passenger experience and increased fuel efficiency.

Leadership at Emirates is considered as an influential and democratic. The aptitude and skills inspire as well as influence the subordinates to achieve a common goal. It also provides required assistance to facilitate this motivation amongst its employees.
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Dubai Government Support

Role of the Dubai government has been exponential in building the Emirates
Brand. The government maintained a strict arms-length financial relationship with the airline through