Sales-centric revenue management

This practice paper discusses the experience of Emirates in developing processes to integrate sales, revenue management and schedule planning to achieve revenue objectives. The focus of Emirates has been in ensuring that the sales force is armed with revenue management acumen while pursuing revenue opportunities. The paper highlights the difficulties faced by the various stakeholders in aligning their objectives towards the airline's revenue objectives and the potential conflicts and hurdles they face in their day–to–day implementation. The solutions evolved in Emirates from 1997 have significantly sharpened its competitive skills, improved its internal synergies and enhanced its corporate IQ for better decision–making. It has enabled Emirates to practise revenue management philosophy as an enterprise–wide competency instead of being a specialised proficiency.