Introduction
The aviation industry is one of the most performing sectors of the economy, generating considerable revenues to the respective airline companies across the globe. The business is wide and entails various activities ranging from manufacturing aircraft to transporting passengers and cargo from one destination. There are several corporations operating in the industry with different brands offering both domestic and international flight services. The advancement in technology has impacted the sector in several ways that have improved its performance. Currently, most organizations embrace engineering to promote the efficacy of meeting customer satisfaction and experience during their aeronautical. Digital transformation has proven effective in the sector by lowering the costs of operating the planes and improving the overall safety of travelers and crew members. Despite the opportunities, the aviation industry experienced due to technological progression, some drawbacks the sector encountered hindered their productivity in the market.
The airline industry has been at the forefront of modifying the existing business practices and creating unique services to meet the ever-changing market demand in the aviation sector. The emergence of new and advanced technologies plays a vital role in facilitating the ability of corporations to improve their services delivery to achieve the business requirements (Molchanova, Trushkina, and Katerna, 2020). Most organizations have adopted different strategies to enhance digital transformation in the entire firm’s segments. Key focus areas include operation processes, customers’ experience, and business models (Tikhonov, Sazonov, and Novikov, 2019). The transformation to digital technology in the sector has resulted in many opportunities.
First, organizations’ revenue has increased because the quality of services offered is standard, thus requiring customers to pay more cash for the travel tickets. Most airlines provide arrays of facilities to keep clients engaged throughout long-distance travel. For instance, the inflight internet allows passengers to constantly entertain themselves during the journey. Having online access onboard makes consumers engaged, thus relieving them from travel fatigue. For example, Lufthansa Airlines uses the platform to provide travelers with music, videos, and games that keep them occupied while traveling. Such services make the companies attract customers, especially those going far places (Brochado et al., 2019). Therefore, they make more ticket sales increasing profit for the business organization since passengers will remain committed to the company offering the best facilities.
Second, digital transformation improved customer experience in the sector in several ways. The adoption and use of face recognition technology during check-in have reduced clients’ congestion, making the services quick, reliable, and convenient for travellers (Jeon, Ali, and Lee, 2019). Similarly, introducing a meal ordering device is essential for clients by making them place orders at their comfort. Moreover, using the internet of things such as trackers has allowed easy tracking of baggage during flight, thus reducing the chances of customers misplacing their belonging.
Third, advancement in technology has made it easier for the aviation industry to minimize plane crushes, thus improving the safety of passengers and crew members aboard. The current digital engineering can enable pilots to observe adverse weather changes in prior that might affect the flight path, therefore, allowing the aviators to change routes (Thobois, Cariou, and Gultepe, 2019). Modern technologies such as Doppler radar are significant in determining the intensity of air motion and precipitation in the atmosphere. The indicators are essential because they inform aviators before the situation worsens, making them take a safe direction. Similarly, smoke sensors have also been vital in enhancing the well-being of travelers. The systems notify crew members of possible fire on board; thus, proactive measures are taken immediately to curb the possibility of an accident.
Fourth, the companies have been able to reduce the burden of human labor, which enables them to reduce operating expenditure. The implementation of new technologies in the industry has rendered some duties to the Robotic Process Automation (RPA); for example, tracking aircraft is a challenge and requires employees to facilitate (Chung et al., 2019). The adoption of RPA has made it easier to follow the patterns making the firms reduce the number of workers previously stationed to perform such technical duties (Eschen et al., 2018). Similarly, the organizations do not require human security check-ins to control and offer services. The installation of face recognition technologies has replaced and undertook responsibilities of staff members. The transformation allows the industry to incur reduced wage bills, thus remaining profitable.
Lastly, digital transformation in the sector has allowed organizations to operate effectively and conveniently using workflow instruments. Record keeping is a challenge to many companies, and most businesses collapse following poor managing and utilization of fundamental data (Zaki, 2019). The aviation industry has increased the ability to exploit the available information with technology to understand the current trend in the market. For instance, Enterprise Content Management technology is significant in facilitating effective data storage and handling. It also enables the easy transfer of details to the right personnel within the organization. Therefore, they allow business organizations to have the ability to improve data integrity and validation, which is important for better performance.
Despite the opportunities encountered due to digital transformation in the aviation industry, the sector faced some significant challenges that affected its overall performance. First, the new technologies require expertise that can and skills to operate and manage them (Zaharia and Pietreanu, 2018). The companies are forced to perform training and education to the human resource. Most of the required competencies do not align with the basic aviation training, thus demanding extreme knowledge of information communication technology. To attain such professional qualifications, business organizations are prompted to incur significant expenditures to train the individuals.
Second, the overwhelming digitization cost is also a challenge to aviation. Most of the emerging technologies require sophisticated software to run effectively. The systems and relevant infrastructures are expensive, thus making the companies spend huge sums of money to procure and install them within the planes and airports. For instance, a company may use a massive budget (Halpern et al., 2021). Therefore, installing such systems is expensive and requires good capital from the respective firm. Similarly, cyber security threats are common and require effective protection from possible attacks that can interfere with the airports’ operating programs (Lykou, Moustakas, and Gritzalis, 2020). For example, unidentified drones may cause planes to lose control leading to catastrophic crushes.
Lastly, the continuous change of customers’ needs is another significant change facing the technological transformation in the aviation sector. Most of the system becomes obsolete thus becomes irrelevant based on the demands of customers’ needs (Kuisma, 2018). For example, passengers currently use Apps to book their flights, making it unnecessary to go through check-in. This makes the technology installed at the check-point less useful and inappropriate. Rapid shifts in consumers’ wants make the industry incur increased spending to accommodate and adapt to the new environments.
Traditional Leadership Models
The aviation industry is an active sector that encompasses people from different professions. It is a complex setting that requires a more organized guidance strategy to drive the workers towards achieving the goals of respective organizations. The term leadership can be defined as the art of influencing individuals in a manner that effectively wins their respect, build trust, increase confidence and improve their cooperation (Sovgira et al., 2019). It is a vital aspect of the airline industry that plays a big role in determining the overall success of a corporation in the competitive and ever-changing market (Salihu, 2019). The assessment will evaluate the key traditional leadership models and theories used in the airline industry and how they differ from the contemporary digital leadership concepts.
Traditional leadership models and theories have taken a central part in influencing the success of airline companies in the sector. Different theories describe the type of governance in the industry (Bag et al., 2019). They include the trait approach concept, contingency theory, role approach, and behavioral notion. These studies are focused on how leaders and their positions are defined within the operating systems of the aviation industry.
The Trait Model
This theory entails determining how an individual can become a leader by examining a recognized manager’s corresponding characteristics and techniques. Despite some arguments that traits have little impact on leadership, many studies have concluded that personal features do matter in discovering a supervisor of an organization (Bhattacharyya and Jha, 2018). Being an ever-busy sector, the airline industry needs a person who bears the following unique qualities such as drive; this trait allows a leader to motivate and encourage the team to reflect towards achieving the set company’s objectives. The model also suggests leaders have a desire for achievement, which makes them effective in ensuring firms are able to meet their goals. Similarly, managers are expected to be ambitious and energetic to inspire and influence the group on crucial matters (Safonov, Maslennikov, and Lenska, 2018). The approach is significant because it focuses on the leader and the personality that make an individual an effective manager. Furthermore, it allows supervisors to evaluate and examine themselves to determine their own characters and comprehend their abilities and weaknesses in the business organization.
Even though the theory proves to be effective in understanding leadership, some drawbacks limit its significance in the aviation industry. For instance, the model does not indicate how to establish the existence between individual personalities (Benmira and Agboola, 2021). Similarly, it also fails to foretell the behaviors of people, which make it difficult to entrust a random person with leadership roles. Irrespective of the weaknesses, the theory is still accepted based on the key observable traits necessary for being a good leader.
Contingency Theory
The contingency model, also known as the situation approach, is a traditional leadership concept that maintains that effective management behavior depends majorly on situational conditions that are highly likely to change over a given period of time. According to the model, headship does not have a universal approach (Eva et al., 2018). The idea takes into consideration three main variables that are the manager, the led and the situation. The leadership technique is significant in the airline sector, where various situations arise from a different perspectives. For example, pilots sometimes encounter tough weather conditions that require them to lead their co-aviators according to maneuver such situations without facing safety threats. They are required to make quality and quick decisions to ensure the plane lands successfully on the ground to avoid possible crush (Linden, 2021). The approach is significant for the aviation industry because it provides a realistic perception of overall management. Even with the importance to an organization, the approach is insignificant to some extent because it lacks literature to spell the relevant actions to be taken in different situations. Irrespective of its drawbacks, the approach is considered influential in aviation management.
Role Approach Model
Role approach traditional leadership theory states that leaders undertake certain duties to be effective. Based on this philosophy, corporation managers are often called to perform headship responsibility between the organization and the external environment. For instance, a Delta Airlines supervisor may receive instruction from the board of directors to go and liaison the company with another corporation for business purposes (Jano, Satardien, and Mahembe, 2019). In most cases, the duties are dictated by the current situations making the leader have varied roles in relation to the current condition. For example, a leader may shift from being a key decision-maker to a motivator if the followers need some morale to boost their overall performance.
The model is effective in resolving technical situations since the focus is directed to the current condition. This makes it more reliable in managing critical challenges that might face corporations in the industry, such as conflicts and poor management. Despite its efficacy, the theory’s weakness is role ambiguity, where the leader may have difficulty following limited clarity and uncertainty that an individual may encounter regarding behavior during the job (Suryaningtyas et al., 2019). Even though the approach has some limitations, it is accepted and used as one of the leadership techniques in the aviation sector.
Behavioral Theory
Behavioral theory is a traditional leadership model that attempts to evaluate and examine management conducts that promotes employee satisfaction and successful business operation. The report from different researchers indicates that headship effectiveness is dependent on the connection towards employees’ needs with an approach to complete the given task (Kassotaki, 2019). According to the study conducted by Zenger-Miller, various competencies are identified that individuals link with leadership. For example, change management, setting goals, supporting teams, problem-solving, sharing information, focusing on clients, resource management, showing compassion, managing projects, and taking responsibilities. In the aviation sector, the capabilities are core, and leaders are expected to enhance their productivity (Ahmed et al., 2019). The idea bases its argument on the assumptions of McGregor’s theories X and Y that explicitly define human behaviors. The model is essential in promoting the performance of an organization through accommodating the concepts of theory X-Y. The approach suffers setbacks such as personal interests that may affect managers’ decisions since leaders make independent judgments (Coldwell, 2019). The model is significant in enhancing the performance of the business organization through effective communication and balancing stakeholders’ and consumers’ values.
Difference between Traditional and Digital Leadership Theories
Traditional leadership models differ from digital headship theories in several ways. First, it focuses on controlling and managing people within the organization setting towards improving the company’s success (Roman et al., 2019). On the other hand, E-leadership majors on how the firm can utilize its available assets to achieve its objectives. For instance, in the airline industry, managers may use flight data to plan and improve their practices to ensure they serve and meet customers’ expectations.
Similarly, traditional leadership embraces boundaries and regulations, which is contrary to modern management. Generally, digital headship is more focused on facilitating employees’ freedom of expression. The practice increases the productivity and creativity of staff, making them perform effectively in their respective departments (Mahdi and Nassar, 2021). The transformation enhances the welcoming of different opinions, which is necessary to improve the organization’s systems. In traditional leadership studies, the ability to share information and skills between the company’s departments is limited. This lowers the efficiency and cooperation amongst workers, thus reducing effective performance. The rate of passing knowledge is higher in contemporary management, making it more reliable than the old techniques.
Digital Strategy of Delta Airlines
Delta airlines are one of the renowned corporations based in the US that provide transport services to both cargo and passengers. The company operates a large fleet of aircraft, and its main airport is based in Atlanta, Georgia. It offers domestic and international flights across the US and over 50 countries worldwide (Kostelic, 2020). Since the emergence of digital transformation in the aviation industry, the firm has been at the forefront by implementing several technologies to facilitate its business activities. It has improved its customer experiences by introducing new engineering aboard and check-in points. The business organization has formulated several modern techs that transform the journey. Some of its current digital strategies include launching facial recognition, upgrading weather viewer application, a real-time bag tracking system, and inflight wireless entertainment.
Launching Facial Recognition Biometric
The advancement in technology and the wave of digital transformation across the aviation industry prompted Delta airline to introduce new engineering that can enhance customer satisfaction in the organization. Previously, the company used to have a boarding pass for passenger check-in, bag checking, and security check and then board the plane. The procedure was tiresome and inconvenient to most travelers who could queue in line waiting for the service (Tucker, 2020). The firm’s management launched biometric facial recognition for the clients having international travel from Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The system is placed on terminal F, where customers may choose to go through the technology to ease the congestion. Currently, most travelers do not need government-issued identification documents to check-in. The strategy has proven effective and efficient by reducing the service time by a few minutes during boarding time. Following the signing of the transformation, Delta Inc. managed to increase the system and place them in all gates in Detroit. The plan is important in enabling the business corporation to improve its customer services.
Upgrading Weather Viewer Application
Weather changes are a key concern in the aviation industry since most accidents are correlated by fluctuations. Safety measures for passengers and crew members are a priority of Delta airlines. The app allows pilots to observe the invisible forthcoming weather patterns, preparing early to avoid direct encounters (Kim et al., 2021). The technology has made the company experience reduced turbulence even though there are always severe weather events. The transformation enables the aircraft’s system to display visual data of the air space in the flight deck devices. The real-time view is critical and makes the firm limit possible accidents related to precipitation and wind flows.
Using of Bag Tracking App
Delta airlines are known as one of the most innovative companies worldwide. It uses a real-time app to track passenger bags throughout the journey. The strategy makes it easier for customers to identify the location of their baggage at their comfort (Ćliwa et al., 2022). The firm’s technology involves using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) that uses scanners that have radio waves responsible for capturing consistent and accurate data on the RFID chip placed on the luggage tag. The Fly Delta application issues customers with frequent live notifications indicating the journey of their bags (Koenig Found and Kumar, 2019). The approach has increased the transparency in operation, making clients comfortable with the organization’s services.
Inflight Wireless Entertainment
Delta airlines introduced an inflight wireless entertainment platform developed by its company’s startup. The digital strategy encompasses tablet displays that indicate an interactive and vivid user-friendly experience (McKenna, 2018). It allows the firm to minimize the large tons associated with aboard wiring. The business organization has installed more seat-back screens on its aircrafts allowing passengers to have uninterrupted amusement during long-distance flights (Aliev, 2020). The systems are current and can migrate to emerging technologies by requiring customization.
Delta’s Strategic Leadership Style and Approach
Delta airlines have shown the real meaning of an effective and reliable leader in the aviation industry. During 2005, the company faced a downtrend performance making it go bankrupt. Its strong management team, proper decision-making, and favorable company culture made it resume and become solvent. The CEO, by that time, Delta Richard Anderson, took over the organization’s leadership when the firm was at the grim of collapse (Mahdi and Nassar, 2021). He opted to delegate crucial duties to most of the professionals in the company. This allowed the corporation to have increased viewpoints which facilitated effective decision-making. During this time, the management focused on innovation, transparency, promoting labor respect, and developing market knowledge.
Delegation of Duties
Delta airways management has a system where the employees are given the mandate to manage and control some crucial aspects of business operations. The strategy makes workers develop trust and confidence, thus enabling them to contribute effectively to the organization’s development. Delegating responsibilities increases innovation and creativity, thus making the firm has added advantage when dealing with technical issues (Varma, 2021). Furthermore, when staff members are involved in fundamental activities, they become loyal to the organization and more responsive.
Culture of honesty
The company’s management has been straightforward with its workers and other associates in matters concerning the business organization. Speaking truth and notifying employees on current issues makes them feel valued, thus enjoying the firm’s activities (Hilgemann, E., 2019). When the airline went bankrupt, the staff members were informed, and they decided to recover the corporation from collapsing. For example, when pilots were told about the situation, they agreed to take a pay cut to allow the company to reduce the wage bill and regain its operations.
Impacts of Digital Strategy and Strategic Leadership Styles and Approach
The combination of digital plans and strategic leadership styles has played a significant role in the performance of Delta Company. The technological upgrades have made the firm increase customer experience, making the corporation a trusted airline globally (La, Bil, and Heiets, 2021). Similarly, the organization headship is critical in influencing the responsiveness of employees of the organization. The management has improved the workplace culture making the firm a good employer to its staff members. The leadership approaches used a high number of innovations in the corporation, making it successful in the industry.
Conclusion
The advancement in technology has facilitated a digital transformation in the aviation industry. Most airlines have adopted the use of new engineering to enhance their operating practices. The revolution in tech has created several opportunities and challenges for companies in the industry. Traditional leadership theories are fundamental in understanding key aspects of management in the aviation sector. The behavioral model, trait approach, and role theory define a leader with relevant features. Delta airway is a major player offering domestic and international flights in the aviation sector. The corporation has adopted digital strategies such as RFID and weather viewer app to enhance operation efficiency to improve customers’ experience. Leadership and technology have shaped the aviation industry, making firms formulate relevant strategies to stay ahead of the competition.
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