preview

Continental Airlines

Decent Essays

Case Study > Data Warehousing

Continental Airlines

I. Executive Summary
Table of Contents
I II III IV V Executive Summary The Decision to Invest Implementation New Business Strategies ROI 2 4 6 9 19 20

Technical Appendix A

Continental’s comeback from “Worst to First” is an airline industry legend. Now the company is engaged in a new initiative to move from “First to Favorite.” To support this ambitious initiative, Continental tapped into its Enterprise Data Warehouse and expanded it to enable a real-time business intelligence capability. In the first five years of operations, the EDW achieved an ROI of more than 1000% on a $25 million investment. To do this, Continental has changed the way it does business, transforming its …show more content…

Its last profitable year had been 1984. The company had filed twice for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and was headed for a third bankruptcy. Ten CEOs had come and gone in ten years. If Continental was going to compete and stay in business, change was needed. The story of the airline’s transformation “From Worst to First,” under the leadership of CEO Gordon Bethune is a lesson for every struggling business. Today Continental has won accolades and awards for all aspects of its business performance. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Continental is the fifth largest airline in the U.S. and sixth largest in the world, employing about 49,000 people. It carries more than 50 million passengers a year to five continents (North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia), with over 3,045 daily departures to more than 271 destinations, serving more destinations than any other airline in the world.

EB-4349

>

1007

>

PAGE 3 OF 25

Continental Enterprise Case Study

II. The Decision to Invest
From 1994 through the end of 1997, Bethune’s “Worst to First” business strategy relied little on technology. Bethune began by reshaping the company with his “Go Forward Plan,” which still guides the business today. The Go Forward Plan has four interrelated parts, dealing with the airline’s product, finances, market and people: > Fly to Win. Understand what products customers want and what they are willing to pay for. > Fund

Get Access