Song's Startup Flight Plan

By: Scott KirsnerWed Dec 19, 2007 at 12:40 AM

How does an established corporate giant (in this case, Delta Air Lines) respond to disastrous economic circumstances and the rise of a new breed of competitors that operate by different rules? By creating a whole new operation (in this case, Song) that runs by those rules, and then trying to fly beyond the competition. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the ambitious flight plan and bumpy launch of an internal startup.

One of Selvaggio's objectives with Song is to revive some of the romance of the early days of jet travel. "It has become mass transportation," he says. "It's boring and a hassle." One idea, cooked up during an early brainstorming session, was to have pilots walk through the cabin before takeoff and greet passengers. But the 50-minute turnaround time -- not to mention union rules -- made that impossible. Song's pilots will be active Delta pilots: They'll be paid at the same scale and wear Delta uniforms when they fly Song planes.

Song will also share some of its airport employees with Delta, which will help the airline get more out of its people. But during check-in, how will the same employees offer a different experience to Song passengers than they do for Delta's? "We will go to those stations, talk to those agents, and work with them on being lighter, more intuitive," Selvaggio says.

At an "audition day" for Song flight attendants in February, executives try to explain to a classroom full of longtime Delta flight attendants how Song will be different -- all while being careful not to snub Delta. A stirring video shows clips of Nelson Mandela, the Beatles, and Steve Jobs declaring, "The revolution begins now." Then Smith, wearing a Song T-shirt over her long-sleeve blouse, says, "This is not an independent airline starting up from scratch. It's taking the best of what Delta has to offer and rebranding it for leisure travel." Then the applicants break up into smaller groups and go off to be screened by assessors from Delta's HR department.

Getting sufficient help from the parent company has been a constant challenge for the Song team, which up until the launch operated with a senior team of just seven executives and a handful of administrative employees. Smith says that the employees at the main-line carrier (as opposed to Delta Shuttle or Delta Connection, the operations under Delta's commuter arm) are "charged up about Song, but resources are tight" because of recent cuts that eliminated more than 12,000 jobs at the company. "There are fewer people available to support us, and that's sometimes a problem," says Selvaggio. "But the flip side is that you deal with less bureaucracy, and you can make decisions faster and easier."

The Brand: Making Song Sing

Song's name has provoked quizzical responses both internally and from the public. Still, says Mapes of marketing, its uniqueness serves to separate the new operation from other airlines. "There was a need to say, 'This is not your father's Oldsmobile,' " says Mapes. On its Web site, the startup has been using the slogan, "It's your Song."

Song will emphasize its roomier planes and the 33 inches of legroom between rows. Later this year, customers will not only be able to watch free live television on a personal screen -- a standard JetBlue feature -- but they will also be able to pay extra for movies, games, or the option to create their own customized digital-music playlist.

One of Song's marketing realizations was that, with leisure travel, women are the decision makers -- and yet airlines are trapped in a mind-set that targets male business travelers. Mapes pulls out "The Song Book," a handbook produced by ad agency Leo Burnett and branding firm Landor Associates. Its purpose is to define the brand for its own executives and for the ad agencies that they work with. Song is "friendly, simple, and approachable," it says. Song is more like comedian Janeane Garofalo ("funny and human") than Martha Stewart ("too uptight, too vanilla"). In the back of the book is a CD containing music that helps characterize the Song brand. It includes tracks from New York punk band The Strokes, Cuba's Buena Vista Social Club, and British band Portishead.

The internal marketing campaign has been almost as elaborate. Song execs have been visiting mechanics, pilots, and baggage handlers throughout the 60,000-employee parent company. "We want people at Song to feel like they're part of Delta and vice versa," says Mapes.

The day before the airline's inaugural flight in April, a Boeing 757 filled with 199 Delta employees who helped get Song off the ground made a repositioning flight from Atlanta, where it was painted and refitted, to JFK Airport. "The hope was that it would create a ripple effect in the pond, even if we could not take every single employee on that flight," Mapes says. Song intends to roll out about one new plane a week after its first passenger flight, from JFK to West Palm Beach. (As this issue went to press, Selvaggio remained ready to adjust that plan, based on how the war's aftermath would affect spring and summer travel.)

Selvaggio receives a daily report, detailing such metrics as the percentage of seats sold on each flight, average ticket value, and on-time departures. "We should shoot ourselves if we don't do better than Delta Express did on those routes," he says. "The game has changed. Now we see that having a great low-fare product is a much bigger part of the business than we thought. It's where the growth is, and we have to succeed there in order to survive."