Says manager flight operations and testing john douglas

The Club teaches up to the Commercial pilot level, but also conducts flying instructor training and conversions to the European JAR standard. There is a fully equipped workshop for all aircraft maintenance and there are hangars available and aircraft parking bays for visiting pilots.

Then again, not everyone comes to the Royal Aero Club to learn to fly! Customers can also take a single, thrilling ride in a tiger moth aircraft or they may have been given a gift certificate for some aerobatic flying.

The Royal Aero Club is a hive of activity virtually every day of the year with non-stop pilot training and member activity. Conversion courses for night flying even see operations continue after dark and chartered aircraft can come and go around the clock. Perhaps this is why the Club places so much emphasis on learning aircraft ground handling skills and runway circuit practice. There is also a strong emphasis on navigation practice and meteorological theory. ‘After all’, says Manager of Flight Operations and Testing John Douglas, ‘it can be rather embarrassing getting lost, particularly on a perfect weather day when there is no excuse!’

Members of the general public are also welcome to come to the Royal Aero Club at Jandakot airport, take a drink a the bar, have a meal in the extensive dining room or perhaps just climb onto the rooftop sitting area and spend a leisurely afternoon watching aircraft operations. ‘It is a pretty good view’ says Josh,’ because the Club facilities are right next to the taxiways and landing aprons. On a good day you can just about touch the aircraft as they come into land on runway 06!’.

RACWA was established in 1929 and throughout its eighty plus year history has never had to face real market competition. The local market for flying and flying training was simply too small and the organisation, with its fleet of forty planes and over thirty five professional flight instructors, dominated the industry.

As a result marketing was never considered important and when it was undertaken it was sporadic and poorly targeted. Marketing was given even less import following a management change in 2007. The purchase of the Western Australian Aviation College and the shift in the theory component of flying training to that division provided top management with other priorities.

• The skyrocketing Australian dollar had resulted in very high course costs for overseas students (although this was less of a problem for students from the European Union).

• Local awareness had fallen because of the lack of marketing activity

The Royal Aero Club also wanted to spend money upgrading its Murrayfield airport but the competitive situation changed the focus to Marketing. That said, the plan had to be strategic, extremely well thought out and as financially restrained as possible.

The Club has a number of different products and so its target market is difficult to define. Whilst the flying community shares some common traits the local student pilot market is very different from the market for those taking a once-only joy ride. Even amongst potential students the market is quite varied. For example, a young student aiming to be a commercial pilot is completely different to an older person fulfilling a lifelong dream for a private licence. Then again, qualified pilots may want to charter aircraft, convert to different aircraft types or simply brush up on rusty skills. In addition, it must be recognised that the student is often not the person paying for lessons!

The emphasis of the entire campaign was on commencing a training campaign. The intention was to get customers ‘hooked’ on flying so that they would fall in love with the romance of flight and start their journey into light aircraft aviation. ‘We didn’t emphasise the required level of commitment or the end goal too much at the start’, commented Josh Senior, ‘but instead concentrated on customers understanding how much fun it can be’. That said, Royal Aero Club management is realistic enough to know that the cost of flying training can be daunting. A private pilot’s licence, for example, can easily cost $50,000 and gaining a commercial pilot’s licence can readily double that price.

Post campaign analysis

Questions associated with this case

1. Describe the target market for the Royal Aero Club in Western Australia (RACWA). In order to do this you will need to focus on just one product of the company. (5 marks)