Finding harmony in uncertain times - Ken Donohue

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Canada, unlike a lot of other countries, has yet to open avisa office in that city.Harmony’s effusive owner calls China a “sleepinggiant,” and suggests that with a market of more than abillion people, the demand for air travel in China willcontinue to increase at a staggering pace. “The Chinesewant to see the outside world, and their spending poweris growing,” says Ho. “There will not be enough ’planesto fly people.”Ho notes that once the Chinese government grantedAustralia Approved Destination Status, the number ofChinese tourists visiting Australia has increased tenfold.Continues Ho: “Research has shown that once Canadagets Approved Destination Status [which is forthcoming],two million visitors from China will travel to Canada, inthe first year, and four million the following year. TheChinese like visiting Canada, and there is a long historybetween the two countries.”Harmony serves seven destinations year-roundand a handful of others on a seasonal basis. New York(JFK) and Oakland, California, are Harmony’s newestdestinations, and while some may question the viabilityof OAK, Collins was bullish about the Bay Area route.“The airport [Oakland] is very convenient, with BART(Bay Area Rapid Transit) service and its close proximityto the Napa Valley.”Collins was equally enthusiastic about New York,ED PASCUZZIcalling it a fabulous leisure destination that is underservedfrom western Canada. With a 0900 departure, Harmonyoffers the best schedule for people heading to the ‘BigApple’ from Vancouver. While Cathay Pacific offers agood three-class daily service to New York, it is timedin favor of Hong Kong passengers, so the return flightto Vancouver from JFK arrives at 0200, and Collins wasquick to point out that the schedule can often be delayed,especially during Hong Kong’s monsoon season.Harmony recently negotiated a code-shareagreement with Hawaiian Airlines (HAL), which will offerHarmony’s customers connections on HAL’s extensivenetwork, including flights to the South Pacific andAustralia. ‘Hawaii⎯every island every day’ is Harmony’slatest marketing pitch to position itself ahead of itsCanadian competitors.While Harmony’s owner may have deep pockets, theairline is very much a business and intends to make aprofit. While he wouldn’t release any financial details,Ho did say that the airline is close to breaking even,and suggested that Harmony is not a toy, and if thereis no profit he won’t do it. The airline’s CEO did reveal,however, that the carrier is doing well on most routes,especially to Las Vegas and Palm Springs, but the Torontoservice is still a challenge, even with an increased 17flights a week during the summer months.In 2005, Harmony introduced a premium product,called ‘harmonyone’, which Collins hailed as the bestdomestic business class in North America. The airlineis chasing the high-end leisure traveller with thiscabin, and so far the service has proved very popular.Popular Vancouver chef Rob Feenie, winner of theinternationally acclaimed ‘Iron Chef’ competition on TV,was recently commissioned to create a menu for the newclass of service.The airline is keen on developing the large Chineseand South Asian market that resides in British Columbiaand Alberta. To that end, the airline has a Mandarinspeakingcall center. And, in a marketing stunt thatfew people could pull off, famous martial arts moviestar Jackie Chan became an honorary captain ofHarmony Airways.“I’ve known Jackie for more than twenty years,” saysHo, “and we wanted people to recognize Harmony earlyon, so we created a marketing campaign around him.”Ho called Chan in Berlin, where the actor was filming amovie, and asked what he was doing on Sunday. “It’s myday off,” replied Chan. From the other side of the world,Ho told Chan there would be no rest, and that he wantedto take some pictures of him for a marketing campaign.“Now, you’re going to ask me how much I’m going to payyou,” Ho told Chan. “Nothing,” was Chan’s answer. So Hodispatched some of his crew to Berlin for the photo shootwith Chan. “Jackie was really good about it,” remembersHo. “He even took everyone out for dinner afterward.”Having Jackie Chan as an honorary captain mayA i r w a y s17
photo to come maybefrom Garry at HarmonyHarmony Airways is a small airline with big dreams. Itis quietly making a name for itself in an industry thatcan be fickle and unkind. ‘A Better Flying Experience’ ismore than a mere slogan for an airline that has stakedits reputation and future on providing exceptional valueand service to its passengers. If Harmony continues to flyby that motto, success will surely follow.Footnote:Shortly after being interviewed by Airways, Gary Collins,Harmony’s CEO, resigned. In leaving, Collins reportedlysaid that his departure should not be seen as trouble forthe fledgling airline. And while he publicly stated thathis departure from Harmony allows him to explore newjob opportunities, his move leaves some doubt aboutthe airline’s future. Nevertheless, Collins will maintaina connection to Harmony by sitting on its board. KirkHenderson, former vice chairman of the Pattison Group,has been named interim president. ✈have been a good marketing ploy, but it was probablyalso a subtle way of telling the competition not to messwith Harmony.Collins told Airways that the airline is always lookingat creative ways of developing new markets. Hawai‘i isa large leisure market for western Canadians, but therearen’t a lot of Hawaiians who visit western Canada.“We went on a fact-finding mission and discovered thatthere are a group of Hawaiians that love to downhillski,” said Collins, “so we partnered with Big White SkiResort, in Kelowna, to package ski vacations, and lastwinter we flew a thousand Hawaiians to the slopes ofBritish Columbia.”Harmony’s commitment to service doesn’t begin andend when passengers board one of its aircraft. Accordingto Collins it is the overall experience that the airline isstriving for. “When people think about taking a vacation,we want them to think about Harmony,” he said. “Wewant to be part of their vacation experience.” He addedthat little extras like the bottle of water each passengerreceives at check-in, or the leis (floral garlands) for thosetravelling to Hawai‘i, cost pennies.The airline’s mantra seems to be that it is uniqueand does things differently than other carriers. So far itseems to be doing the right things. When David Ho wasdelayed in Hawai‘i he, along with fellow passengers, wasincensed that there was little communication from theairline and they were forced to while away the hours atthe airport. But Harmony doesn’t only talk about doingthings differently. “When one of our flights was delayedfor a number of hours in Hawai‘i, because of mechanicalproblems, we bused the passengers to a shopping malland movie theatre, so they could spend time in amore comfortable environment,” Ho says with a senseof pride.–––––––––––––––––––––––Fast FactsHarmony AirwaysIATA: HQ ICAO: HMY IATA/ARC: 668 Radio: HarmonyP O Box 32436 Tel: +1 604 270 2088Vancouver International Airport Fax: +1 604 270 2082Terminal BuildingRichmond, BCCanada V7B 1W2Website: www.harmonyairways.comFounded: 2002Start date: November 22, 2002CEO: Dr David T K HoOwnership: Dr David T K Ho (100%)Cities served: Calgary, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Maui, NewYork (JFK), Toronto, Vancouver(Seasonal): Kelowna, Palm Springs, San Francisco (Oakland),Victoria(Vancouver–Calgary service operated by Voyageur Airwayswith Bombardier CRJ100LR in Y50 configuration.)FleetType No Seats EnginesBoeing 757-200 4 C16Y155 RR RB211-535E418A p r i l 2 0 0 7
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