‘It’s about the small things’

ON NOVEMBER 15,
2006, low-cost
carrier Mango took
to the air for the first time,
between Johannesburg
and Cape Town. The
airline launched with
four aircraft and 250
staff. Founding ceo, Nico
Bezuidenhout, had just
turned 30 years old.
Since then, Mango has
grown to be one of South
Africa’s leading airlines.
The carrier now flies
to eight destinations,
recently celebrating its
20 millionth passenger.
It has grown its fleet to
10 aircraft and employs
750 staff. Passenger
volumes are, on average,
up 20% year-on-year and
the airline boasts eight
profitable years out of
the 10 in which it has
operated.
But it’s the little things
that count, says Nico.
Such as celebrating the
“small” achievements.
He recounts an incident
in the first three days of
launch that saw serious
flight delays. “A crack in
the eyebrow window of
the aircraft resulted in
rotational delays, with
a knock-on effect on all
flights. The last flight of
the day didn’t take off
and 36 passengers were
left sitting at the airport.”
Nico, together with Mango
staff, climbed into their
private vehicles and
transferred customers –
driving back and forth –
to the hotel.
This has become an
important part of the
company’s culture –
stepping up, taking
accountability and getting
personally involved in
operations to ensure
things run smoothly
and customers are
happy. Mango has one
of the highest employee
productivity ratios, with
4 300 passengers carried
every year per employee,
he says. “There is little
absenteeism and when
staff are off, there is
always someone to fill the
gap. Staff are multi-skilled
and move from check-in
to call centre to crew,
wherever they are needed.
We run a tight ship,” he
says. “This also helps
keep costs down and
customer satisfaction up,
as staff are exposed to
all touch points in the
value chain.”
Fabulous firsts
Nico is also proud of
Mango’s “firsts”, such as
being the first domestic
carrier to develop a
mobile app for booking
and payment, the first
to offer on-board WiFi,
and the first carrier to
accept store account
cards as payment method.
Edcon Thank U account
cardholders are able to
book and pay for their
flights using their cards
online and through its call
centre, which has allowed
Mango “to invite the
previously un-flown market
on board”, says Nico –
those South Africans
who do not have access
to the Internet to book
flights, many of them firsttime
flyers.
“Success in casting
our net wider is not
only a consequence of
affordability but also
of our wide distribution
strategy and accessible
payment acceptance
practice,” says Nico.
“The number of credit
card holders in the South
African market is finite
and, with the addition of
several million Edgars and
Jet account holders to the
mix, an untapped market
became available. In
addition, retailing through
Shoprite and Checkers
Money Market Counters
ensured accessibility and
affordability of air travel
to a far greater number of
citizens.”
The future
Now, the airline has set
its sights on growing its
corporate client base. The
airline recently signed a
full-content agreement
with Travelport, and will
soon be available on
other GDSs. “In the first
two weeks of being on
the Travelport database,
we saw a 400% increase
in sales,” Nico says.
“Traditionally, Mango has
operated as a ticketless
carrier. We realised
we needed to change
the make-up of our
distribution to gain better
exposure to business
travellers. It also opens
up opportunities for
interline and codesharing
agreements with other
airlines.”
This latest step to
target business travellers
is part of a strategy
that Mango began
implementing a few years
back, with the launch of
products such as Mango
Plus (offering guests
more leg-room) and
Mango Flex (allowing
guests to change flights
at no extra cost). “We
want to address the
business traveller at
all touch points. We’ve
been building towards
this and plan to further
differentiate our product
in the coming months to
continue to appeal to the
corporate traveller,”
says Nico.
And while the airline
will continue to consider
options to expand
its route offering –
particularly looking beyond
SA’s borders to possible
leisure destinations such
as Mauritius, Kilimanjaro
and the Comoros – it will
do so with caution. “As a
result of the depressed
economic situation, we
will, over the next 12
months, constrain our
growth and consolidate
routes.”