SriLankan Airlines, powered by MTI 8S process of strategic planning facilitated by MTI Consulting, is on its way to achieve a doubling of its profits to over Rs. 4 billion by the year 2005, from Rs. 2.1 billion in 2002/3.
It has also embarked on fulfilling its dream vision of becoming the most preferred airline in Asia.
Addressing a top conference organised this week by MTI to showcase how the national carrier flew back to impressive performance after the July 2001 setbacks when it lost half of its fleet due to a terrorist attack at Katunayake, SriLankan Airlines CEO Peter Hill said that its profits and revenues have been on the up. “We have doubled our profits this year. Revenue per employee will grow threefold in five years. SriLankan has also earned a favourable reputation for itself by winning several awards such as the Best Airline in Central Asia from Skytrax Research UK and the Best Cabin Staff award also from Skytrax,” he said.
Mr. Hill further explained that the company has experienced a complete turnaround from a turbulent period in 2001. Recalling that period, he said that SriLankan lost half of the fleet during the Airport attack in July 2001 while it further suffered following the terror on September 11th, which resulted in a travel phobia.
MTI Consulting CEO Hilmy Cader, explaining the MTI 8S process, said that it comprised eight components namely Scope, Scan, Sights, Strategy, Structure, Staff, Social Responsibility and Systems.
He pointed out that under the Scope component, a mission and vision was developed after which the environment was scanned to map the markets, evaluating need segments. In the case of SriLankan, the peace dividend was taken into account while markets were designed on the basis of travel influx. In addition, the current position of the company such as the cabin factor and the cargo capacity was also taken into account.
The most significant part of the system was to develop the staff. Introducing new values and regular meetings with the CEO were part of this programme. This resulted in a complete change, moving the entire staff towards a we attitude from an us attitude. “With all this we changed SriLankan Airlines to what it is today,” he added.
Written by Yohan Perera
Photo: SriLankan Airlines CEO Peter Hill and MTI CEO Hilmy Cader in 2005, with MTI’s 8S ® based Strategic Planscape that was deployed as the basis of monitoring the implementation progress