Amtrak is a state-owned, for profit, national railroad Company that provides efficient rail service both long and short distance transportation services. Being the primary provider of passenger-rail service in the U.S has a network that connects more than 500 cities and towns in 46 states. It offers long-distance and short-distance service corridors throughout nationwide operating daily, offering several choice of service class – first class sleeping car, custom class and economic services for different age groups with different travel needs. Amtrak receives federal funds to be used for their operating expenses. Its ridership and revenue growth have progressively increased in the past five-year successfully building relationships with the public and customers, recreating branding, and improving new services/quality, and it projects a continued growth in passenger revenue at about 4% per year with modest growth in passenger ridership (Exhibit C4.1, Page 245). To fully capitalize on the opportunities Amtrak has, it need to develop a new strategic business plan, which will help and focus Amtrak in continuing its business growth, building the brand, being customer focused, and being a financial and organizational excellence company. Below is a SWOT analysis (strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of products/services, which should further help develop a strong realistic business strategy. SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths • Efficiency, convenient and safe/secured - national network and competitive services as it is the only nationwide provider of passenger’s service. • Varity of routes - Routes Long Distance, Commuter Routes, Regional Routes, High Speed Rail – Acela. • Improved customer service – “The Amtrak Promise.” • Create... ... middle of paper ... ...s the car rental prices, Amtrak needs to continue to work with rental car and booking services to make it easy, affordable and favorable experience for the riders; have strong partnerships with union, health care provider etc. Increase in airline ticket prices provides Amtrak a competitive edge, but it needs to elevate its position as a “ America’s premium travel or Expert travel” option where customers’ are willing to pay a higher ticket price leading to generate higher net revenues. In conclusion, for Amtrak to increase its profits and build its brand, it needs effective communications and cost management strategies, deliver high-quality cost effective product/services and improve the workforce with training and development. The new strategy might be expensive in the beginning, but profitable in long run, as it would increase their customer base and market value
It is their task to find all affected stakeholders involved and make sure to meet their needs. It is also important that they increase their public relations. When an incident like this happens, the public rarely will remember the small details that it wasn’t even Amtrak’s fault. All that will be remembered is that Amtrak had a huge crash that killed 47 people. It is important for Amtrak to recognize this and work towards having customers forget and see the new regulations in place to help prevent this from occurring again in the
By checking the percentage of different groups of travelers, we found out that business and leisure travelers are nearly equal to each other, but business travelers are always a little higher than leisure travelers in overall. Therefore, we were more aggressive with Miami in our price increases for the weekdays because most of our customers are not price sensitive. Based on a few results of ours, they also showed that increasing price will benefit us more in profits. For the weekends, the market size of leisure travelers is higher. In order to match with the inelastic demand, we adjusted our price based on the demand
The airline industry not only transports passengers across the country and world but it also moves cargo from location to location. The largest segment for the airlines is general commercial passengers and business travelers. In 2004, there were 15 major airlines with 12 of those being mainly passenger carriers, the remaining three being cargo carriers. In addition to the large airlines (Delta, United, American, Southwest, Northwest), there are numerous low-cost regional carriers that have tapped into the larger carriers’ customer base. These smaller companies generally fly from smaller airports and serve a smaller amount of destination cities. Calling them a no-frills air carrier would not be far from the truth. Their goal is to move customers f...
The seventh largest major domestic airline in the United States (US), Southwest Airlines, is commonly known or referred to as a low-cost carrier. Southwest Airlines is the only major airline that provides short-haul, point-to-point service in the United States. In fact it was the first airline of its type ever started; it has become the archetypical low-cost airline. The idea has proven itself so well, that other start-up airlines have based their company strategies upon the basics of Southwest. Today, there are two other low-cost air carriers (the other two airlines are considered national airlines and not major airlines) that are actively and aggressively competing with Southwest Airlines for business and profit turning. The three American low-cost air carriers are currently posting profits even in light of the US economy’s current state of affairs, with Southwest Airlines first, JetBlue second, and Air Tran third, in profits. How is this possible when the major six airlines are reporting losses of millions and millions of dollars each quarter? The answer to this question begins about 30 years ago.
The Transcontinental railroad could be defined as the most monumental change in America in the 19th century. The railroad played a significant role in westward expansion and on the growth and development of the American economy (Gillon p.653). However, the construction of the transcontinental railroad may not have occurred if not for the generous support of the federal government. The federal government provided land grants and financial subsidies to railroad companies to ensure the construction. The transcontinental railroad contributed to the formation of industry and the market economy in America and forever altered the American lifestyle.
Rail in Chicago is essential to Railroads throughout the country of North America. Chicago is also the known for it’s center in the railways throughout America. In comparison to any other city in the country, Chicago offers more railroad tracks to the surrounding states. “Chicago today remains the busiest rail hub in the United States. Each day, nearly 1,300 trains pass through the region (500 freight and 760 passenger). Chicago handles one-fourth of the nation's freight rail traffic, each day handling 37,500 railcars” (About CREATE). Being the center for American freight Chicago also is known for it railyards. The railyards are gateways to the other rail tracks. It is home t...
Adoption of a single global operational model whereby all segments—Europe, Asia, and stateside—are combine operationally as a single entity.
Jesse Victor and Diane E. Brown. Arizona PIRG Education Fund. “The Businesses of Light Rail: A Compilation of Local Business Interviews”. < http://www.arizonapirg.org/sites/pirg/files/reports/The-Businesses-of-Light-Rail.pdf>. April
Northwest Airlines is one of the pioneers in the airline transportation industry and is ranked at the fourth largest air carrier in the United States today. The success of the carrier depends on the quality and reliability of the service at a reasonable price. Close competitors force Northwest to innovate their services by increasing efficiency. This essay will try to examine different perspectives in the services needed to successfully complete the company’s objectives. The analysis will explain historical and financial perspectives that may give a better understanding of the current market trend of the organization.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is an organization that some universities are a part of, but not recommended to join. It is a non-profit association that regulates athletics of institutions, conferences, organizations, and individuals. It organizes the athletic programs of colleges and universities in the United States. It is designed to help prolong the lifelong success of college athletes. There are 1,121 college and universities, 99 conferences, and 39 affiliated organizations. There are over 460,000 athletes that make up the 19,000 teams that participated in over 54,000 competitions each year. My SWOT analysis will identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing the association, when it comes to its daily business, finances, and rules and regulations of this organization.
Southwest Airlines has always proudly identified themselves as a low cost airline. They have successfully been able to incorporate Human Resource management, merger and acquisitions, financial performance and allocation of resources as part of their corporate strategy. When it comes to the meat and potatoes, Southwest Airlines has implemented a corporate value-creating strategy. Ultimately, because of this strategy, Southwest is surpassing its competitors and gaining a larger share of the market. Furthermore, this strategy is adding perceived value to its products and services by taking advantage of the economies of scope (Bradley, 2016). The airline’s business units can take advantage of their differentiation by lowering their cost structure. For example, Southwest Airlines 714 fleet consist of only one type of aircraft, the Boeing 737. The advantage of having one type of aircraft is extremely cost efficient as the airline only has to train mechanics to repair one type of aircraft and they only have to store parts for one type of aircraft therefore lowering overhead and human resources expenses which translates into lower fares to its passengers (Southwest,
By using a SWOT analysis Starbucks can see where they are doing well, and where they could be improving. SWOT stands for Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat. (Marketline, 2016).
This reflective essay will critically review my personal and professional skills that I am less confident in whilst in practise, which is essential for communication and developing effective relationships with others in an organization and even for personal development. The skills identified for improvement was highlighted in a skills audit for communication and effective relationships. A SWOT analysis was carried out to focus on the skills recognised, where finally an action plan was made to address how to improve the skills, what the challenges would be to develop them and how it is beneficial. The skills audit, SWOT analysis and the action plan are included as an appendices. It will also apply communication theories to
The SWOT analysis is a useful tool for identifying our personal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to our plans and goals. According to a “Fuel My Motivation” article (2010), this analysis considers internal influences that can positively or negatively affect our ability to achieve our goals. The internal factors are our strengths and weaknesses. Also considered are opportunities and threats, which are external influences that can have a positive or negative impact on the ability to achieve our goals. I will share how the self-assessment instruments and self-exercises in this course have contributed to assessing and understanding my strengths and weaknesses. I will also discuss techniques I will use to leverage my strengths and understand my weaknesses. In addition, I will consider opportunities that I can take advantage of and the threats that can possibly impede my progress.
Furthermore, the high-speed rail network could mean twenty-nine million fewer car trips and 500,000 fewer plane flights annually, according to a 2006 study ...