The Impacts of September 11, 2001 on the Aviation Industry’s Marketing Mix

Abstract

This paper discusses the impacts of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the aviation industry. Specifically, how aviation industry members were forced to alter their marketing mix in response to the events. The four "P's" of marketing were all modified. The airlines had to change their product (route structures) and their prices. They also had to change their promotion tactics to ease the customer's "fear factor". Lastly they had to alter the means of delivering their product to the consumer due to enhance security measures (place).

September 11, 2001 will always be considered a turning point in the history of America. The events of 11 September 2001 were unlike any other shock experienced in the history of civil aviation. They have had a unique, unprecedented, devastating and immediate impact on all segments of the air transport industry in its broadest sense: airlines, airports, air navigation service providers, ground-handling and cleaning companies, air transport equipment manufacturers and a multitude of other suppliers. The airline industry was competing in a difficult climate even before the attacks. No airline had been able to totally escape the effects of fuel prices that had risen considerably above forecasts, cutting profit margins even more than usual. Added to this, despite continued predictions of healthy growth for the industry, average growth across the board over the last 12 months was only about 0.5 percent. As a result, many carriers were experiencing hardships they would not have budgeted for and, in the days following the events, some airlines announced harsh measures to cope with the financial problems they were already facing. Following the September 11th events, the air transport industry, already experiencing declining and even negative growth rates due to an economic slowdown, faced a sharp decline in air travel. It was reported that in the first four days after the event, domestic US bookings fell by 74 percent, and bookings for the world excluding the United States were down 19 percent. Owing to the "fear factor" some passengers canceled vacations and business travelers postponed business meetings or conducted them by video or teleconferencing.

Just after the attack, nation's aviation system was shut down and produced a cash "burn rate" for the industry in excess of $330 million per day for the during the stoppage. It has been estimated that just in the first week after the tragedy the US airline industry lost between $1 billion and $ 2 billion. The effects of the 9/11 attacks continue to harm the industry significantly to this day. The fear of recurrence

of the 9/11 tragedy causes the public to avoid air travel. So we can clearly see the trend