The rise of low-cost airlines has been devastating to legacy carriers like Delta. However, Delta tried to beat them at their own game, through Song Airlines.
However, Song Airlines was a major flop, and after only a few years of operation, was forced to stop operating. But why did that happen?
Before Southwest
Before Southwest was founded, Delta was one of the most profitable airlines in the US, not to mention the world. Delta, as with most other airlines of the era, operated flights to be at the height of luxury all the time.
Prior to WWII, Delta had operated mainly air mail flights, transporting mail to and from major cities along the East Coast before eventually moving in to transcontinental air mail.
After WWII, Delta became a fully fledged passenger airline where it operated scheduled passenger flights mostly from the north to the south, with an exception of an international flight to Caracas via Havana.
The late 1940’s and early 1950’s were also quite good for Delta. In 1953, Delta even bought another airline- in the form of Chicago and Southern Air Line, operating for several years afterwards as Delta-C&S.
The late 1950’s and early 1960’s saw the purchase and introduction of new aircraft, mainly jet airliners in the form of DC-8s and later Convair 880s before receiving DC-9s in 1965.
By the end of the 1960’s, Delta had become one of the first all-jet airlines, which was a major selling and marketing point for the airline, giving it an edge over other airlines.
The Rise of Southwest
However, the formation of Southwest in 1967 and the commencement of operations in 1971 didn’t initially make legacy carriers scared. If anything, they didn’t really take much notice of Southwest.
For the first decade, Southwest only operated a few flights per day to a few locations inside of Texas. Throughout the 1970’s, Southwest had little plans for expansion into neighboring states.
If Southwest was a threat to any major airline, it was probably a threat to US Air or American, both headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, the same as Southwest.
However, over the 1980’s and 1990’s, Southwest expanded beyond Texas. At the end of the 1990’s, Southwest was operating flights not only in Texas, but all over the US too.
By 2000, Southwest was a major force in the airline industry, taking a major bite out of the biggest US airlines. The major attraction that made Southwest so successful, was its low pricing.
This pricing began to severely undercut the profit margins of legacy carriers- they had to lower prices or make themselves more luxurious to justify their higher prices.
Pre-Formation
With that in mind, the Delta executives had a great plan: beat Southwest at its own game. To do this, the Delta executives devised an airline using the same model that Southwest had perfected over the years.
Delta’s executives spent years studying Southwest. They decided that they’d learn from the best. However, they still decided to add remnants of Delta’s luxury in their aircraft.
They chose to market it slightly differently than how Southwest does. They were the first airline to market themselves almost solely towards women, they were also the first low cost airline to be established by a legacy carrier.
From studying Southwest, Delta decided that they’d use a fleet consisting of solely one aircraft. Where, Southwest chose the 737 for short haul flights, Song chose 757 for medium haul flights across North America.
Most of these 757s were taken from the main Delta fleet, being replaced by former Northwest 757s repainted in Delta livery. Some Delta routes previously served by 757s were replaced with 737s, 747s and 767s.
The Delta executives decided that the airline that would become Song Airlines would serve short and medium haul routes served by Southwest as well as several other low-cost carriers.
Formation
In February 2003, the Delta executives gave the green light for Song Airlines to be established. By April 15 2003, the airline had been established and had commenced operations.
Prior to the formation, but after the initial due diligence, Delta had formed partnerships and sponsorship deals with brands to give Song the trendy and professional reputation that Delta was going for.
Delta established a deal with former airline owner (Trump Shuttle), Donald Trump to have Song Airlines appear on his TV show The Apprentice. They also established a store in SoHo, New York called “Song in the City”.
These initial partnerships and sponsorship deals worked, with many women booking flights on Song 757s to destinations all over North America. These partnerships also caused several men (of their own accord) to fly on Song too!
Fitting with the name, the pre-flight safety instructions were often sung or otherwise “artistically performed” in line with their main objective to appeal to women.
Delta also decided to allow free beverages throughout the flight- quite uncommon for low-cost carriers. However, meals and alcohol did have a charge, which is common on most low-cost carriers.
The Problem
Song was actually fairly profitable- at least as far as low-cost carriers go. However, the issue was actually with Delta Air Lines itself, not its subsidiary Song Airlines.
As with many airlines after 9/11, Delta had suffered immensely. Many of these airlines, including Delta had continued to struggle several years after 9/11 both financially and with their reputation.
This, combined with the success of Southwest, drove Delta’s already slim profit margins into the red. This is what created Song in the first place. However, Song hadn’t dealt a big enough blow to Southwest to fix Delta.
In 2005, the price of aviation fuel (kerosene) also went up dramatically, which didn’t help the already bad situation for Delta.
By September 2005, Delta was forced to enter bankruptcy protection as it could no longer afford to pay its creditors what it owed to them. For much of 2005, it looked as though Delta, one of the oldest airlines, might go under.
Several major news outlets reported that Delta might be bought out by a competitor, most notably the now-defunct US Airways. However, none of these ever came to fruition.
The Fall
By early October 2005, Delta faced mounting pressure from Song’s unions. They claimed that Delta’s mainline pilots, flight attendants and ground crews were being favored over those of Song, rather than being equal.
October 2005, with the bankruptcy protection newly put in place, Delta was forced to make a decision: bet everything on Song or shut down Song for good.
Realizing that a fully functioning Delta as a legacy carrier would be more profitable than Song ever could, Delta chose for Song Airlines to cease operations.
On October 28 2005, Delta executives gave a press conference formally announcing that Song would cease all operations by May 2006. By February 2006, all references to Song on Delta marketing material was scrubbed.
The final Song Airlines flight flew on April 30 2006, flying between Las Vegas McCarran International Airport and Orlando International Airport on Song Flight 2056. Departure from the ATC was emotional rather than the classic stoic nature.
On May 2 2006, Song officially ceased being its own separate subsidiary, having most of its aircraft repainted and added back to Delta’s mainline fleet. Song’s union was folded back into the main Delta union.
The issues that Song’s union raised before were put to rest once all of Song’s employees became Delta employees once again. Almost all remnants of Song have been forgotten about by the general public too.
What Was it Like to Fly on Song?
Personally, I never flew on Song Airlines, I never needed to fly on a route that Song offered. However, one of our writers, Gareth Seagull, did fly on Song, and several times at that.
The first time he flew on Song was shortly after it was launched, flying with them in July 2003. He then flew on them roughly 15 times between July 2003 an April 2006 (with Song going out of business in May 2006).
When I asked him about the Song Airlines flights he flew on, he had the following to say:
When I flew on Song, you didn’t really know that you weren’t on an actual Delta flight. The seats used by Song were very similar to their contemporary Delta ones.
Unlike many other low-cost carriers, especially the most famous LCC- Ryanair (at least for me as a European), Song actually had built-in in flight entertainment systems, which stood out to me.
In terms of service, it was fairly similar to what you’d expect from Delta. This is fairly self-explanatory given the fact that the flight attendants were Delta 757 flight attendants operating their subsidiary.
Legacy
Song Airlines impacted both Southwest and Delta in several different ways.
Southwest
The demise of Song in May 2006 cemented Southwest’s position as the largest and most successful low-cost carrier in the United States. It also cemented the fact that no legacy carrier would ever try to fight Southwest again.
For Southwest, this has allowed them to continue to innovate and become more successful, and thus, lower their prices, which makes them more successful and so on.
The demise of Song Airlines has also led to Southwest being able to relax. Southwest may be one of the largest airlines in the world, but one mild quarter could spell disaster for their profit margins, even more so than Delta’s.
Delta
The demise of Song was also instrumental to Delta too. Whilst it is often seen as one of Delta’s worst business mistakes, you could argue that it was actually quite beneficial in the long term.
Thanks to the demise of Song, Delta was forced to put their focus elsewhere. This led to Delta focusing on their other brands, namely, Comair, soon to be re-branded as Delta Connection, making it more profitable in the mean time.
Song’s demise also led to the reintroduction of several former Delta and newly former Song 757s. These 757s would be repainted and reintroduced into Delta’s main fleet. Many of these 757s are still flying today!
Did you ever fly on Song Airlines? What were your thoughts on it? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of BriYYZ via Flickr.