My comment about a loyalty program was not directed exclusively to Strategic and I agree that it's likely that no airline has failed due to the lack of a loyalty program alone. However, if it formed part of my decision not to fly Stategic, then I think it would be fair to say it formed part of other pax decisions not to fly them as well. Any pax airline needs pax to fly, regardless of all the other factors and I stand by my comment that many failed airlines did not understand the dynamics of a loyalty program.
To expand, I'll again cite my own experience. Almost 3 years ago now, I took my wife and youngest daughter on a 3+ week holiday to UAE for a weeks driving excursion, then to the Maldives for a week of snorkelling and relaxation and then a week in a combination of Sri Lanka (for Yala National Park) and Singapore (for a catch up with friends). That holiday for the 3 of us was almost all done on points gained due to loyalty programs of 2 airlines, 2 hire car mobs and 2 accommodation houses and included 6 flight segments (all basically on points except the minimal taxes), accommodation in 6 locations including the Conrad Rangali in villas which would normally be at least AU$1300/night (once more, almost all on points) and a gold 7 series beamer as an upgrade for a week from a fairly low class rental. What that taught me, is that the accumulation of points is not just a game to play to get the occasional over-priced pop up toaster, it can be a lucrative savings plan for the next family holiday, which is worth big money for directing my normal spend to select providers. In fact, I now spend considerably more than I would normally (most of my current flying is in J either bought on sale, or bought with bonus SC offers), which benefits those providers as well as me but it also locks me in somewhat to those providers. I'm not Robinson Crusoe on that score.
The other thing overlooked by many is that of frequency. I asked many years ago on this forum, for opinions on who is the more valuable traveller to an airline ... the once a year, big spending F flyer, or the many times a year whY flyer. I never really got much response so I guess many on here just do not know. I've thought about it and have come to the conclusion that as much as the big spender is great, the reality is that they are few and far between. The bread and butter for an airline are the frequent pax. The predominant thing that stops me (and I'd suggest others as well) from using TT (as an example) is that as a business traveller, I cannot afford for a single plane going tech, to stop me from meeting my commitments. A successful airline needs flight frequency. To get that frequency, they need the pax numbers. To get pax numbers the successful airlines (even JQ to an extent) do one of two things. They either a) offer discount tickets or b) offer the ability to gain FF rewards. A loyalty program is a bigger piece of the puzzle than it would appear at first glance. The all J venture which failed, did so (IMHO) because the most likely candidate to purchase J seats are business people who need flight frequency options with many destinations. A small airline cannot offer that. Also, many people who fly J, do so on point redemptions rather than cash purchases. No loyalty scheme means they rule those pax out and limited frequency + no point redemptions = failure in my book.
As I said, I personally think many new ventures fail to understand the dynamics of a loyalty program.
