EasyJet
EasyJet plc, styled as easyJet, is a British low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport.[3] It operates domestic and international scheduled services on over 1,000 routes in more than 30 countries via its affiliate airlines EasyJet UK, EasyJet Switzerland, and EasyJet Europe.[4][5] EasyJet plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. easyGroup Holdings Ltd (the investment vehicle of the airline's founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou and his family) is the largest shareholder with a 34.62% stake (as of July 2014).[6] It employs nearly 15,000 people, based throughout Europe but mainly in the UK.[2]
EasyJet has seen expansion since its establishment in 1995, having grown through a combination of acquisitions,[7][8] and base openings fuelled by consumer demand for low-cost air travel. The group, along with associate companies EasyJet UK, EasyJet Europe and EasyJet Switzerland, operate more than 300 aircraft. It has 29 bases across Europe, the largest being Gatwick.[9] In 2014, the airline carried more than 65 million passengers,[10] making it the second-largest budget airline in Europe by number of passengers carried, behind Ryanair.[11]
EasyJet was featured in the television series Airline broadcast on ITV which followed the airline's operations at London Luton and later at other bases. Its pilot training scheme was the subject of another ITV television series, easyJet: Inside the Cockpit, which premiered in August 2017.[12]
On 30 March 2020, amid growing concerns over the COVID-19 outbreak, EasyJet announced that they had grounded their entire fleet of planes, with no confirmed date as to when they would restart
History
Origins and formation
EasyJet has its roots in the business activity of Greek-Cypriot Stelios Haji-Ioannou, who reportedly gained an interest in the aviation business after being approached as a potential investor in Virgin Atlantic's Greek franchisee. Recognising a vacant niche in the market, Stelios decided to examine the prospects for launching his own airline, having secured a commitment of a £5 million ($7.7 million) loan from his father.[14] While studying various business models in the industry, Stelios took significant interest in the American operator Southwest Airlines, which had successfully adopted the practice of price elasticity to be competitive with traditionally cheaper buses and attract customers that wouldn't normally have considered air travel. This principle became a cornerstone of EasyJet's operations.[14][15]
In 1995, EasyJet was established by Stelios, being the first company in what would later become the easyGroup conglomerate. Upon launch, it employed just 70 people; the company being based at London Luton Airport, which was traditionally used only by charter flights.[14][16] To encourage the company, Luton Airport chose to give EasyJet free use of a 15,000 square feet building for its headquarters, which it named easyLand; its management style typified minimal overhead, such as an early implementation of the paperless office concept.[14] EasyJet initially operated a pair of wet leased Boeing 737-200 aircraft, capable of seating 148 passengers each; these were flown on two routes: Luton to Glasgow and Edinburgh. Early on, EasyJet operated as a 'paper airline', the aircraft themselves being flown and maintained under contract by British World Airlines.[14] Early promotional activity focused on the airline's relatively low pricing in comparison to incumbent operators.[16] Within its first year, easyJet reportedly carried approximately 40,000 passengers.[16]
In April 1996, the first wholly-owned aircraft was delivered to EasyJet, enabling the company's first international route, to Amsterdam, which was operated in direct competition with rival airlines British Airways (BA) and Dutch flag carrier KLM.[14][16] Competitors responded to the emerging EasyJet in different ways; while BA was largely indifferent, KLM allegedly chose to respond with a predatory pricing strategy that led to an investigation by the European Union over unfair competitive practices.[14] Despite commercial pressure from the emergent no-frills sector, traditional airlines have been unable to directly adopt similar practices to EasyJet due to vigorous protection of existing employee privileges by unions.[17]
Until October 1997, all of EasyJet's aircraft were operated by GB Airways, and subsequently by Monarch Airlines and Air Foyle, as EasyJet had not yet received its Air Operator's Certificate.[18]
Flotation
On 5 November 2000, EasyJet was floated on the London Stock Exchange.[18] In October 2004, the FL Group, owner of the airlines Icelandair and Sterling, purchased an 8.4% stake in the airline.[19] Over the course of 2005, FL increased its share in the company periodically to 16.9%,[19] fuelling speculation that it would mount a takeover bid for the UK carrier.[20] However, in April 2006, the threat of takeover receded as FL sold its stake for €325 million, securing a profit of €140m on its investment.[21]
In March 2013, EasyJet was promoted to the FTSE 100; during the same month, the company launched its 100th route from Gatwick Airport, offering flights directly from London to Moscow.[22] By 2015, the company was flying routes to more than 130 destinations in 31 countries, operated 26 bases centred around Europe, and had a total of 10,000 employees.[16]
Expansion and acquisitions
In March 1998, EasyJet purchased a 40% stake in Swiss charter airline TEA Basle for three million Swiss francs. The airline was renamed EasyJet Switzerland and commenced franchise services on 1 April 1999, having relocated its headquarters to Geneva International Airport. Geneva was EasyJet's first new base outside the United Kingdom.[18] In 2002, rival airline Go Fly was purchased for £374 million; the airline inherited three new bases from Go, at Bristol Airport, East Midlands Airport and London Stansted Airport; the acquisition of Go almost doubled the number of Boeing 737-300 aircraft in the EasyJet fleet.[7][23]
In 2002, the airline opened its base at Gatwick Airport. Between 2003 and 2007, it opened additional bases in Germany, France, Italy and Spain, establishing a presence in continental Europe.[18] By 2007, easyJet was claiming to be operating more flights per day than any other European airline.[24]
On 25 October 2007, EasyJet purchased the entire share capital of GB Airways from the Bland Group.[25] This acquisition was valued at £103.5 million, and was used by the airline to expand its operations at Gatwick,[26] and to establish a base at Manchester Airport.[8][27][28][29][30]
In June 2011, the airline opened its eleventh British base – at London Southend Airport, offering flights to Alicante, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Belfast, Faro, Málaga, Jersey, Palma de Majorca and Ibiza.[31]
In July 2017, EasyJet announced it would open a new European headquarters in Austria to enable it to operate after Brexit.[32]
On 28 October 2017, EasyJet announced it will lease 25 former Air Berlin A320 aircraft to operate across EasyJet Europe's network, under its European AOC. Several of these aircraft will be based at Berlin-Tegel Airport, where EasyJet is taking over some of Air Berlin's old services. Previously EasyJet had only operated from Berlin Schönefeld Airport.[33]
On 30 March 2020, EasyJet suspended all flights and grounded their entire fleet due to travel restrictions imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic
Marketing
EasyJet's early marketing strategy was based on "making flying as affordable as a pair of jeans" and urged travellers to "cut out the travel agent". Its early advertising consisted of little more than the airline's telephone booking number painted in bright orange on the side of its aircraft.[18] The specific color that EasyJet uses closely resembles that of the telecommunications corporation Orange and was a subject of dispute between the two companies in 2004 when easyGroup launched a mobile phone subsidiary, easyMobile.[40][41]
The Airline TV series created by LWT and filmed between 1999 and 2007 made EasyJet a household name in the United Kingdom. The series, while not always portraying the airline in a positive light, did much to promote it during this time.[42] The airline has used a number of slogans since its establishment, including "The Web's Favourite Airline", "Come on, let's fly" and "To Fly, To Save" (a parody of British Airways' slogan "To Fly, To Serve"). This was then followed by "[....] by easyJet", with "Europe by easyJet" and "business by easyJet" being the most widely used. It currently uses the slogan "This is Generation easyJet".[43]
Environment
In June 2007, EasyJet announced plans for the construction of its own airliner, dubbed EcoJet. It was claimed to possess improved fuel efficiency over contemporary airliners. To achieve this, the EcoJet was described as using propfan engines, as well as being constructed with extensive use of carbon fibre composite material. At the time of the announcement, it was stated that the first flight was scheduled to occur sometime during 2015.[44][45] Speaking at the time, EasyJet chief executive Andy Harrison commented that: "We have not developed a new concept. We have taken ideas from Boeing, Airbus and the engine manufacturers and put them together." Harrison claimed that the EcoJet, combined with other improvements in the industry, would enable a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions within eight years.[46] However, there has been few announcements on the project since then.[47]
In February 2011, the airline painted eight of its aircraft with a lightweight, thin "revolutionary nano technology coating" polymer. It works by reducing the build-up of debris and reduces drag across the surface of the aircraft, thus reducing the fuel bill. It was estimated the airline could save 1–2% annually, equating to a £14 million reduction in fuel costs. The coating has already been used on US military aircraft and if successful EasyJet would apply the paint to its whole fleet.[48] In late 2015, EasyJet started making use of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data for the purpose of improving efficiency, cutting costs, and enhancing the customer experience.[49]
On 27 September 2017, EasyJet announced its partnership with an American start-up company Wright Electric with the purpose of developing and introducing a short-haul 120-seat all-electric airline.[47] The propulsion system is said to comprise a series of eight electrically driven ducted fans that are buried in the wings, which are powered by numerous battery packs distributed underneath the cabin floor; it is claimed to possess a range of roughly 335 miles, suitable for about one-fifth of EasyJet's current city routes, and facilitate zero-emission flights, as well as being 50% quieter and 10% less expensive to operate than conventional jet airliners. At the time, EasyJet stated that it intended to introduce the electric aircraft into revenue service within 10 years.[47] In October 2018, EasyJet stated that progress was being made on its electric ambitions, and that the partnerships planned to test a nine-seater electric plane as early as 2019.[50][51]
The airline offers carbon offsetting to its customers' trips for a surcharge via a calculator that estimates a passenger's carbon footprint.[52]
Criticism
EasyJet has been criticised in Germany for not observing European Union law on compensation (and assistance to passengers) in cases of denied boarding, delays or cancellations (Regulation 261/2004). When flights are cancelled, passengers are supposed to be reimbursed within one week. In 2006, the airline did not always refund tickets in a timely fashion. Passengers occasionally had to wait longer for reimbursement of their expenses.[53][54]
EasyJet has campaigned to replace the air passenger duty (APD) tax in the UK with a new tax that would vary depending on distance travelled and aircraft type.[55]
In July 2008, the United Kingdom Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) criticised a press campaign by the airline, over a misleading environmental claim that its aircraft released 22% fewer emissions than rival airlines. The figures used were not based on emissions produced by an EasyJet aircraft or emissions produced by the airline overall as the advertisement implied, and ASA declared that the airline had broken advertising rules. The judgement that followed reprimanded the airline in April 2007 after it made comments that its aircraft created 30% less pollution per passenger than some of its rivals.[56]
In July 2011, the airline tried to refuse carriage of a boy with muscular dystrophy because he had an electric wheelchair.[57] In separate incidents in 2012, paralympians received similar treatment,[58] and a French court found the airline guilty of three counts of disability discrimination.[59] In January 2017, the company was fined €60,000 by another French court because it had refused to allow a disabled passenger to board in 2010; the company cited security concerns and internal regulations, but said it would not appeal against the ruling.[60]
In September 2013, a passenger who sent a tweet complaining about the airline after his flight was delayed said he was initially told he would not be allowed to board the aircraft because of the posting
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