Heather Comparetto Brandon Glass Lindsey Hoffman Jessica Poe Lora Roney Isabel Trueba Airlines

1) Aero Mexico 2) Air Canada 3) Air Jamaica 4) AirTran Airways 5) Alaska Airlines 6) American Airlines 7) Bahamas Air 8) British Airways 9) Continental Airlines 10) Delta Air Lines 11) Frontier Airlines 12) JetBlue Airways 13) Skywest 14) Midwest Airlines 15) Northwest Airlines 16) Southwest Airlines 17) Spirit Airlines 18) United Airlines 19) US Airways 20) Virgin Atlantic

Importance of an Online Presence in the Airline Industry The importance of finding an airline on a search engine will be the difference between making a sale, or losing a customer. Using major search engines such as Google, MSN, and Yahoo to advertise your company can be very beneficial if done correctly, thus the importance of SEO. Our findings show that not all “good” websites have to pay to show up in the top listings of these major search engines.

Website Scores

Highest Ranking Sites 1) SouthWest Airlines 2) US AirWays 3) Virgin Atlantic

Offered in English & Spanish Stays current with What’s New section Great credibility with greeting from CEO Clean and easy to use format Offers travel guides for different cities Clear Contact section Well designed with lots of photos & graphics “5” Southwest Airlines

Offers 14 languages besides English Phone number & posted at bottom of every page Interesting graphics and images Well organized Good use of multi-media Stays current with news & updates on front page Letter from CEO in About section Interactive Customer Service and support section “5” US Airways

Variety of information Large About section Useful short cuts on front page Extensive privacy section Bright colors, good use of graphics Able to link to their company Facebook and Youtube pages Detailed Contact section “5” Virgin Atlantic

Lowest Ranking Sites 1) American Airlines 2) Spirit Airlines 3) Delta Airlines

Too much information on Homepage Links open into new windows Hard to find information Cluttered and not visually appealing “2” American Airlines

Site is mainly Flash Loads slowly and text overlaps on some pages About Us section is confusing, no employee information, made up bios only Sign-In required to view specials & deals Contact section confusing, very hard to find phone number “2.35” Spirit Airlines

Not enough information or descriptions Only available in English Poor graphics Hard to find information Contact section lacking in phone numbers “3” Delta Air Lines

Site flows well and is not distracting when searching for information Lists many different phone numbers for different departments in the Contact section Offered in both Spanish and English AVERAGE JetBlue Airways

Critical Website Elements Do’s Easy to find contact information (phone numbers and s) Credible About section (personalized greeting from CEO) Multiple language options Current News & Updates section Don’ts Cluttered pages without visuals Hard to find contact information Slow loading or Flash pages Pop-up windows

Airline Sales Percentage Growth Over 4 Years ( )

Highest Percent Growth 1)United (57.06%) 2)Spirit (45.97%) 3)American (38.17%)

Lowest Percent Growth 1)Northwest (-13.11%) 2)Continental (-2.69%) 3)Delta (-2.69%)

RESULTS No correlation between website ratings and percentage growth through the years There was actually a direct correlation showing the opposite: Spirit and American had some of the highest percent growths among the 20 websites yet they were rated two of the worst websites The top rated sites were in the top of the organic sections implying that they must understand SEO

POSSIBILITIES  There could be no correlation because consumers may visit local airport sites directly to book flights.  Consumers may be using travel agents or shopping agents such as Travelocity and Expedia to find flights and not be going directly to the airline’s website.  Website layout and content may not make a difference to consumers looking only for the best price, specific destinations or flight itineraries.

SUGGESTIONS  Link the airline’s site with local airport or travel agency sites  Make sure airline is showing up in Travelocity, Expedia, etc.  Integrate marketing concepts and apply them to the website such as clean, creative design, streamlined content, flow, and usability  Make sure that the site has the option to buy tickets, possibly give discount for tickets purchased through website  Make sure site is searchable on internet search engines and shows up on top  Use 20% of marketing budget on Search Engine Optimization and online marketing