台灣低成本航空穩健經營模式之研究 —以T航空為例

Abstract

低成本航空公司，是近年來迅速發展的航空業模式，眾多外國籍低成本航空公司在台灣設點，搶食航空業的大餅，而低成本航空也讓有需求搭乘飛機的旅客多了一種低成本的選擇。根據亞太航空中心在2013年的統計資料顯示，台灣桃園國際機場在旅客人數上是北亞第十大，可見台灣發展航空產業的潛力可見一番。 有鑑於全球航空市場對於低成本航空發展前景的看好，本研究將針對低成本航空運作的模式，以及如何降低成本的方法進行研究，探討低成本航空在各項支援及資源均有限的情況下，如何在這競爭激烈的市場中脫穎而出並且找出最適合自身的經營之道是一個值得研究的課題。本研究係以台灣本土新成立之低成本航空為例，對個案低成本航空公司的管理階層進行專家深度訪談，從經營管理者的角度探討在低成本航空業者與日俱增之下，台灣本土低成本航空該如何找出穩定經營的模式。 研究結果顯示低成本航空在市場上的佔有率係逐年提高，且以有效控制成本支出為前提，達到銷售價格較同產業中之競爭者低廉為賣點，其中仰賴的是成本領導方式，商業策略型態則是利用科技提供各項服務提升效率、區隔出服務要求性低但票價低廉要求性高之市場，以及因服務項目單純化，可藉由生產流程的標準性及正確性增加效率的方式，符合成本領導中找出低成本的顧客、將訂製的服務標準化、減少服務傳遞的個人成分、降低聯繫成本之核心方法。因此，低成本航空在台灣發展成功的可行性是肯定的。

Low-cost carriers (LCCs) is a fast-growing aviation business in recent years. Many foreign LCCs have set up a branch in Taiwan to share this lucrative market. The emergence of LCCs also offers passengers a low-cost choice of airlines. According to 2013 statistics released by Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport ranks 10th among all airports in North Asia in terms of passenger volume. This indicates that there is a huge potential for Taiwan’s air transportation industry. In light of the promising development of LCCs, this study focused on the business model and cost reduction methods of LCCs. How LCCs can succeed under intense competition and find a suited business strategy given limited supports and resources was the issue examined in this study. The subjects in this research were newly established Taiwan-based LCCs. Through in-depth interviews with the management of these companies, this study attempted to investigate how these local LCCs should develop a stable business model as the number of LCCs continues to grow. Results showed that the market share held by LCCs has been increasing year by year. Under effective control of costs and expenses, these LCCs have relied on cost leadership to offer cheaper tickets than competitors. In business strategy, they have utilized technologies to improve service efficiency and target customers in the segment characterized by a low demand for services but a high demand for low ticket fares. Besides, as their service items are more streamlined, they can increase their efficiency by standardizing and maintaining the accuracy of production processes. This strategy conforms to cost leadership which suggests identifying customers of low-cost services, standardizing services, reducing personalized elements in service delivery, and lowering the contact cost. Therefore, developing LCCs in Taiwan is feasible.