Competitive Cost Leadership Strategy : Distinctive Features in Airline Industry

Compare with the earlier ages, the airline industry has evolved much; the operations become simpler and more efficient. Airline industry contributes to the economic growth of a country. The International Air Transport Association surveyed that the growth rate of the airline industry is about 6.6% every year. The author chooses Ryanair as the study object for learning low-cost leadership that developed by Michael E. Porter. The main idea of the paper is about the industry analysis applied to generic strategies thus generate competitive advantages. Ryanair is a Ireland-based low-cost airline.Ryanair is Europe's largest low-fare, no-frills airline and a pioneer of low-cost travel in Europe. Ryanair applies low-cost leadership on its whole operations which characterized as; high aircraft utilization, no frills (no free foods, no seat assigned, ticketless, no refundable ticket, no loyalty program), modernize operations (simple process, single class seating, standardized operations), basic amenities, point to point network, lean distribution system, positioning, and low operating cost. This thesis explained in detail the Ryanair strategy and whole operations that keep the cost low through the value chain analysis. In particular, the author applies Porter‟s generic strategy especially Low-Cost Leadership strategy to competitive strategy, to argue that Ryanair's success that strict with low-cost. Author thinks that it is the best company to learn the low-cost leadership strategy. The company strictly on low cost, breaks the travel norm, innovate the operation process, and become a strong leader in Europe. Keywords: Ryanair, competitive strategy, low-cost leadership strategy, competitive advantage, low-cost carrierindustry.