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Sky Talk with Mr. Herbert Koschier
of the Austrian Airlines Group in New York City.
The Austrian Airlines Group appointed consumer aviation executive Herbert Koschier to the position of General Manager - North America six months ago. Mr. Koschier now manages Austrian's North American-based business interests, including its transatlantic service between Europe and the USA and Canada. A native Austrian, Herbert Koschier was born in the provincial capital city of Klagenfurt in 1949. As a teenage exchange student, he attended one year of High school in Rock Island, Illinois, in 1967-1968. He completed his Doctor of law degree at the University of Vienna in 1975 and joined the legal staff of Austrian Airlines where he was promoted to head of International Relations for the company. From 1988 to 1995, Mr. Koschier served as Austrian's Vice President of Marketing and Customer Service in the Vienna world headquarters. From 1995 to 2001 he directed the company's charter subsidiary and in 2003-2004 he served as Austrian's country manager in Switzerland. Mr. Koschier is married and the father of one daughter. An accomplished classical guitarist, he is an opera and classical music enthusiast indoors, and an avid snow boarder and skier outdoors.
What is the best part of your job? For me, the best part of my job is working in the international business environment, getting to know people from different cultures and being able to travel, work and live in different places all over the world.What is the worst part of your job? You often see the light at the end of the tunnel, but getting close to it is a perennial challenge.
Do you see an end to the present chaos? I would not call it "chaos," as you do,but constantly changing external influences certainly don't make business any easier. However, as long as everybody else has to cope with them, you have a level playing field.
How do you see the present trends in air travel? Flying on trunk routes, both domestic and international, will become even cheaper, due to the fierce competition of the so-called "low cost carriers." On other routes, the yield decline will follow, but not at the same pace. This is great for passengers and increasingly difficult for airlines.
How do you see the future of air travel: near term and beyond? I think that the biggest problem is overcapacity. Every new aircraft delivery adds to this challenge, because each replaced aircraft usually remains in production somewhere. And, the entire industry suffers from the "marginal cost syndrome," which encourages airlines to increase production to a maximum utilization of their fleet. This has resulted, for many years, in declining yields. This isn't the biggest problem, if you have low load factors. But, with high load factors on your own flights and fierce competition due to overcapacity on competitors' flights, there is not much of a margin remaining for revenue gains.
In you opinion, what makes a successful airline? Most of all, success for an airline rests on its human service standards, which must meet or exceed customer expectations. Other key factors, in my view, are competitive fares, your route network and an integrated, harmonized schedule for optimum connections.
What is the key to retaining passengers and attracting new ones? It will always be customer satisfaction, which is our goal every hour of every day.
How important is innovation? Innovative service features are an important aspect for air travelers, whether it's new in-flight service features such as telephone, television, Internet access, etc., or new check-in and booking features. But, these offerings must truly make life easier for passengers, otherwise they are simply gimmicks, which passengers don't really value in the long run.
How important are promotional and marketing gimmicks? Gimmicks are marketing and PR tools with a certain competitive importance for getting attention in the short run, but gimmicks typically have no lasting value.
Who are your main competitors ?
North America: Air France, KLM, CSA, Malev
Europe: Low cost carriers like Air Berlin, Germanwings, FlyNiki, Air France, Swiss International, Malev, CSA.
How long have been a frequent flyer for? 25 years
Do you remember your first flight? Yes, it was a business trip to Sofia and because of snow storms we landed at Varna.
How often do you travel? Once weekly within the US and to Canada, once monthly over the NA.
Where do you travel the most for work? Within the USA
and for pleasure? To Europe
Do you have a preferred destination or region: National ? New England
International? Northern Italy, Austria, Croatia
Do you have a favorite airline, alliance, frequent flyer program? Austrian Airlines; Star Alliance; Miles & More
What class do you usually fly? Business Class
How often do fly low cost airlines? Never
What are the most annoying things for you when you are traveling? Overbooking and baggage that doesn't arrive with me.
Do you have a pre and post-travel ritual? No.
Do you have in your survival kit when you travel? Yes, for long trips, I always pack a kit of survival basics so that I could go for one or two days without my checked luggage, if absolutely necessary.
What is your latest gadget/tech purchase? I bought an MP3 player for my daughter for Christmas.
What is your primary news source when you travel? Newspapers and magazines
Favorite to travel with? My wife, because then it is most likely a vacation trip.
Do you have an oasis, a place to go you cannot live without? With an open mind and the right attitude, you can find desirable people and places in every country, even in places that your friends or colleges might consider unlikely. For example, in peaceful times, I met fascinating people and had memorable travel experiences in many countries, including Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan.
A place you would like to go you never have before? Hawaii and the Pacific Islands
Any travel tip for air travelers? On a long trip, always prepare one piece of carry-on, hand luggage that would equip you to "survive," if necessary,for one or two days without your checked baggage.
This interview was conducted in January 2005 by Aram Gesar,
editor of Airguide Magazine and AirguideOnline.com.
feedback@airguideonline.com
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