The budget airline that is taking off in poor economic conditions
ANOTHER month, another sterling set of passenger figures from easyJet. Far from wilting in the heat of the Eurozone’s latest financial turmoil, the carrier has shone, with an almost unbroken spell of traffic growth this year.
What’s more, a tight rein on costs has prevented the sort of runaway expenses seen at some of its rivals.
Airlines like to blame soaring fuel costs – like the weather – for myriad woes, but easyJet has managed to more or less sidestep both problems this year, after a bruising 2011.
Looking further out, its fledgling campaign to target corporate travellers has already made a mark on the public imagination, with almost three in ten believing easyJet offers the best value for money for hard-up business customers, according to a recent survey by Liberum analysts. This and other steps taken by chief Carolyn McCall in the last two years have lined up the carrier well for the long haul.
Last week, the firm won the blessing of advisory services Glass Lewis and ISS for its chairman Sir Mike Rake, who is feeling the heat for his role at Barclays.
Activist founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou rightly continues to keep close watch, but at least for now, his list of grievances has been put in the shade by a reliable operational performance.