He is probably the most "picky" boss in the aviation industry.
Other people's flights focus on a tall one, not only free in-flight meals, but also a variety of free drinks.
And his flight has nothing, no free meals, no free check-in, and even the kitchen is dismantled, and the vacated seats are installed, and there are 6 people in one trip.
Other flights have luxurious and spacious business class, and passengers can enjoy better service as long as they are willing to spend money.
However, he felt that it was unnecessary, and in line with the principle of "just sit on the line", he also withdrew the business class, and the original 150-seat plane was squeezed into more than 180 seats.
The seat pitch is small, the seat material is hard, and the backrest angle cannot be adjusted, so it is nicknamed the "green train in the sky".
He even planned to launch a standing ticket on the plane, and even thought of a plan, but unfortunately it didn't pass in the end.
● Schematic diagram of the air station ticket
But it is such a slamming boss who has brought out the most profitable airline in China, with a profit of more than 2 billion yuan in 2023, ranking first among more than 50 domestic passenger airlines.
His name is Wang Zhenghua, and his airline is called "Spring Airlines", which is known as "China's No. 1 low-cost airline" and can be called "Pinduoduo in the aviation industry".
● Wang Zhenghua
In today's downturn in the aviation industry, the three major domestic airlines (Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines) generally lost money, China Eastern Airlines lost 8.1 billion yuan last year, China Southern Airlines lost 4.2 billion yuan, and Air China lost 1 billion yuan.
So, why has Spring Airlines been able to rise against the trend, and what did Wang Zhenghua do right?
1. "Let everyone get on the plane"
Some people have marveled at the size of China's aviation industry, saying that more than 300 million people in China have flown in flights, almost the size of the entire population of the United States.
Wang Zhenghua is concerned that there are still more than 1 billion people in China who have never flown on a plane, and this huge group should not be ignored.
Therefore, at the beginning of the establishment of Spring Airlines, Wang Zhenghua had a very clear positioning, that is, to run a "low-cost airline" and bring down the price of air tickets.
"Aviation shouldn't be rich or expensive, and it should make flying affordable for more families," he said. ”
● Spring Airlines
For the same route, his family's ticket price is generally more than 30% lower than that of his peers, that is, others sell 500 yuan tickets, and he only sells them for less than 350 yuan.
Special tickets will also be launched in the off-season, 99 yuan, 199 yuan, 299 yuan, etc., and even special tickets that have been sold for 1 yuan at one time, as long as you can earn back the fuel surcharge.
Because the ticket price was too cheap, he was fined 150,000 yuan for "disrupting the market", and the 1 yuan ticket was also urgently stopped after 400 tickets were sold.
But he didn't care, and still tried to carry out the low-cost airline to the end.
● Spring Airlines' special ticket from Shanghai to Jinan is 1 yuan
You may ask, can Wang Zhenghua make money by selling air tickets so cheaply?
It's really profitable.
Due to the low fares, his family's flight occupancy rate is unusually high, about 90%, almost full and much higher than the average of 75% of his peers.
In addition, Wang Zhenghua can save money and reduce operating costs to the extreme.
The company's 124 aircraft, all of which use narrow-body A320, A321 and neo versions, have a single model, and the maintenance and maintenance follow the same process, which is simple and efficient.
Taking the first half of 2023 as an example, Spring Airlines' expenditure on aircraft and engine maintenance is 296 million yuan.
As a comparison, China Southern Airlines, one of China's three major airlines, spent 4.85 billion yuan, a 16-fold difference.
This kind of provincial method, it is difficult for Spring Airlines to make money.
● Spring Airlines A320 aircraft
Another major component of aviation costs is jet fuel, which typically accounts for more than 30% of the total cost.
In order to save fuel, Wang Zhenghua tried his best.
He asked the pilot to let the plane fly higher under the premise of ensuring safety, because the air at high altitude is thin and the flight resistance is small, and the amount of fuel consumed will naturally be reduced accordingly.
There are also strict restrictions on the weight that can be carried on airplanes, and even magazines have to be replaced with thin ones in an effort to reduce the weight in the air.
In addition, Wang Zhenghua also cut all unnecessary services.
TravelSky system, which is generally accessed by other airlines, is not accessed by Spring Airlines, saving hundreds of millions of yuan every year;
Remove the business class, kitchen and dining car, add more than 30 seats to the cabin, and distribute it to everyone, and the cost has been reduced by 14%~15%;
"Super Fly" does not provide free meals and free baggage check-in, which further reduces costs and reduces expenses for passengers. After all, the wool comes from the sheep, and the so-called free in-flight meals of other airlines have long been implied in the high-priced air tickets.
● Spring Airlines' checked baggage policy. Image source: Spring Airlines' official website
After a series of "door-picking" operations, Spring Airlines' operating costs are much lower than the industry average:
The main business cost is 62% lower, the marketing cost is 78% lower, the management cost is 50% lower, and the financial cost is 60% lower.
These savings are enough to hedge the 30% cheaper fare, and also firmly establish Spring Airlines' position as "China's No. 1 low-cost airline".
While other airlines are focusing on the rich and middle class, Wang Zhenghua strives to serve the general public and reap the largest market.
Because he is a child who has really come out of a poor family, he knows very well what the people at the bottom need.
2. The rise of the "Spring and Autumn International Travel".
Wang Zhenghua is a native of Shanghai, born in 1944 in a poor family, with 7 brothers and sisters, Wang Zhenghua is the eldest.
Both parents are ordinary workers, barely supporting a family of 9 on a meager salary.
In order to reduce the burden on his parents, Wang Zhenghua gets up at 5 o'clock every day, and when his younger siblings are asleep, he has lightly prepared a large family's breakfast.
Because his family was poor and could not afford more children's tuition, Wang Zhenghua, as the eldest son, was given the only chance to go to school.
He felt indebted to his younger siblings, so he became a little teacher every day after school and lectured his younger siblings.
If you want to explain the course clearly, you must thoroughly understand every knowledge point in the book, Wang Zhenghua studied hard, and his grades have always been among the best.
● Wang Zhenghua when he was young
After graduating from high school, Wang Zhenghua joined the local neighborhood office and became a grassroots employee.
He worked steadfastly, was willing to endure hardships, and was quite appreciated by the leaders, and after working diligently for several years, he was promoted step by step to deputy director of the neighborhood office.
At the end of the 70s of the last century, a large number of educated youths returned to the city and returned to Shanghai.
This can make it difficult for the leaders: what should we do if so many intellectuals pour in at once, all waiting to arrange work?
The burden of thousands of pounds, pushed back and forth, finally fell on Wang Zhenghua's body.
The requirements of the higher authorities are very clear: we must not discourage the enthusiasm of the educated youth, we must not neglect them, and we must let them have jobs and be able to support themselves.
In order to solve the employment problem of the educated youth, Wang Zhenghua went to various enterprises and units, but he failed to negotiate a single position.
He was angry and simply thought of an idea: since there is no ready-made position, then I will create it myself.
Taking advantage of the wave of reform and opening up, Wang Zhenghua has founded six enterprises, including automobile repair shops, freight companies, long-distance passenger transport companies, taxi companies, etc.
According to the policy at that time, a loan of 500 yuan could be obtained for each educated youth employment.
These enterprises are all run by loans.
Thanks to the rise of Shanghai's economy, most of these enterprises have developed very well, which not only solves the employment of educated youth, but also creates very good economic benefits.
His passenger transport company has 40 buses that shuttle between Shanghai and Yangzhou;
Freight companies can receive at least 70 waybills per day;
There is also a lot of work in the repair shop, and it is too busy to be busy.
Wang Zhenghua runs between organs and enterprises every day, and he can't take a bite of food, and he often gets busy until midnight.
But he never tires of it. He found that his enthusiasm for running a business was very high, and his straightforward personality was not suitable for officialdom, but he was like a fish in water in the enterprise.
His mentality slowly changed, and finally in 1982, 38-year-old Wang Zhenghua quit his iron job.
The leader tried his best to keep him, and his colleagues around him didn't understand his approach, but Wang Zhenghua had already made up his mind.
6 companies can't take all of them away, so to put it mildly, I finally agreed with him to take one away, that is, the most sluggish travel agency.
The name of the travel agency is "Spring and Autumn Travel Agency", which is located in a 2-square-meter tin business hall on the side of the street, which is a little shabby.
● The earliest spring and autumn travel agency
At that time, the largest source of tourists in the tourism market was group tours, which were firmly controlled by several state-owned travel agencies, and the Spring and Autumn Travel Agency was not competitive.
After Wang Zhenghua's research, he learned from the experience of tourism development in developed countries in Europe and the United States, and began to specialize in individual tourists.
In his view, with the development of the domestic economy and the improvement of people's living standards, individual tourism will definitely surpass group travel and become the mainstream of the market.
So, he almost desperately took out 6,000 yuan to rent a 100-square-meter shop in the city center, and used 5,000 yuan to renovate luxuriously.
He formulated tourist routes suitable for individual tourists, such as "Shanghai Tour" and "Hainan Island Seven-day Tour", etc., made promotional posters and distributed them to the streets and alleys of Shanghai.
The novel tourism mode and luxurious decoration style quickly attracted people's attention, and many people came with posters to sign up for the group.
In just one year, the annual revenue of Spring and Autumn Tourism Agency soared from 10,000 yuan to 640,000 yuan, and then to 1.2 million yuan the following year, becoming a dark horse in the tourism industry.
Wang Zhenghua upgraded the "Spring and Autumn Travel Agency" to "Shanghai Spring and Autumn International Travel Service", referred to as "Spring and Autumn International Travel Service", and introduced the agent model very avant-garde, shouting the slogan of "I only take 10% of the profit, and the remaining 90% is returned to the agent" nationwide.
By 1994, Spring and Autumn International Travel Service had 31 branches and more than 3,000 agents across the country, and was appointed as "the first in the country" by the National Tourism Administration.
● In 1989, Spring & Autumn Travel Agency was awarded the title of Shanghai Civilized Unit for the first time
When several state-owned tourism giants finally reacted, Wang Zhenghua has planted the banner of Spring and Autumn all over the country.
3. "China's first low-cost airline"
While operating the Spring and Autumn International Travel Service, Wang Zhenghua found a problem, that is, in long-distance tourism, transportation costs account for 50%~70% of the total cost of tourism.
In other words, more than half of the money spent by tourists is spent on airfares.
Wang Zhenghua thought, why not set up a low-cost airline? Aviation should not only be for the wealthy, but should allow more ordinary people to afford to fly on airplanes.
At that time, the aviation industry was not yet open to private enterprises, and in order to apply for private aviation qualifications, Wang Zhenghua began to write regular briefings to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, explaining the importance of private aviation.
One letter per quarter, for several years.
Some people say that he is doing meaningless things, but Wang Zhenghua said that once the state opens up to private enterprises, the first thing that comes to mind must be me.
While writing regular briefings, Wang Zhenghua also began to lay out in the aviation field, and in order to learn more about the aviation market, he began to try his hand at charter business.
He researched major domestic airlines and learned that a 380-seat flight from Beijing to Shanghai often vacated more than 200 seats at night when returning.
He consulted with the airline to see if they could sell him the empty seats at a low price.
For the airline, these empty seats are a waste of resources, so they happily agreed to Wang Zhenghua and sold him 200 seats on the plane at 1/3 of the market price, on the condition that he must guarantee to sell 5,000 tickets every month.
This is an unprecedented attempt, thanks to the nationwide layout of the Spring and Autumn International Travel Service, these night special tickets are selling extremely hot.
In just one month, Wang Zhenghua sold 15,000 copies.
This is undoubtedly a "win-win-win":
Airlines have made profits, passengers have enjoyed benefits, and Spring and Autumn International Travel Service has also won a good reputation, and "get on the plane to travel" has become the loudest slogan of Spring and Autumn International Travel Service, which has spread all over the country.
The popularity of night special tickets made Wang Zhenghua sure that low-cost airlines have a very broad market, and he began to charter the whole plane.
From 1997 to 2004, in the past seven years, Spring and Autumn International Travel Service has chartered a total of 30,000 flights, covering more than 30 cities across the country, with a passenger load factor of 99.07%.
As the saying goes, opportunities are often reserved for those who are prepared.
In 2004, when the Civil Aviation Administration finally agreed to allow private companies to operate airlines, the first thing that came to their minds was Wang Zhenghua, who often writes briefings.
A total of three private airlines were approved across the country that year, and Wang Zhenghua's Spring Airlines was one of them.
In July 2005, Spring Airlines' first plane took off smoothly, it focused on "low-cost airlines" and "grassroots airlines", cutting all unnecessary services on board, and the ticket price was a full 30% lower than that of its peers.
The huge advantage in price made Spring Airlines' tickets quickly sold out, and people realized that in the face of low prices, problems such as hard seats, narrow space, and no meals were no longer a problem.
Netizens ridiculed, "As long as he doesn't think I'm poor, I don't think it's crowded." ”
● In July 2005, Spring Airlines' first A320 aircraft made its maiden flight to Yantai
With an ultra-high occupancy rate and strict cost control, Spring Airlines made a profit in the first year of its establishment, with only 3 aircraft, and made a profit of 10 million yuan in the first eight months of its operation.
After that, he made great progress all the way, making a profit of 30 million yuan in the second year and 80 million yuan in the third year.
Wang Zhenghua broke the curse of the industry's airlines that only lost money and did not make money in the first three years of its establishment, and created a miracle for civilians.
In January 2015, the 10th year of its establishment, Spring Airlines was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and was hailed as "the first low-cost airline in China".
On the same day, Wang Zhenghua took 100 employees, dressed in Chinese clothes, and played Tai Chi on the trading floor of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, attracting enthusiastic onlookers from all over the audience.
Most of his life has been running around and working hard, this year, Wang Zhenghua is 71 years old.
● On January 21, 2015, Spring Airlines was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and Wang Zhenghua led its employees to play Tai Chi on the trading floor
4. "Half of the money is earned, and half is saved"
It is often said that people who can spend money will make money, and the more they spend, the more they earn.
But Wang Zhenghua felt that this sentence was purely a shoddy lie made up by businessmen in order to sell goods.
He believed in the words that his mother used to say when he was a child: "Half of the money is earned, and half is saved." He remembered this sentence for a lifetime and practiced it for a lifetime.
Today, Spring Airlines is China's largest private airline, with a fleet of 124 aircraft and a market capitalization of 57 billion yuan.
Wang Zhenghua is the boss, but the office is only 10 square meters, and the most expensive furniture in the office is a sofa that he bought for 100 yuan 20 years ago.
He often stays up late at the office and spends more than 100 days a year sleeping on this couch.
● The sofa used in Wang Zhenghua's office for 20 years
I brought my own instant noodles and mustard on a business trip, and I only lived in a hotel below three stars, and I wore a suit for more than 20 years, and the largest patch was 24 cm × 34 cm.
When asked why he was so rich and still "picky" with himself, Wang Zhenghua said:
"It's not about money, it's about resources. The earth's resources belong to the entire human race, and it doesn't mean that you can squander it if you have money. ”
Although he is thrifty to the bones, Wang Zhenghua is very generous to his employees.
For the Spring and Autumn International Travel Service, which he founded single-handedly, he only took 20% of the shares, and most of the rest was distributed to employees.
He also only took 30% of the shares of Spring Airlines, and the rest was also distributed to employees.
The pilots under him are generally paid 20% higher than their peers, and the average employees are more than 10% higher than their peers.
This is also the key for employees to be conscientious and energetic.
When it comes to security, Wang Zhenghua has never been stingy.
On February 8, 2024, Spring Airlines was awarded the "Three-Star Flight Safety Award" by the Civil Aviation Administration of China for 3 million consecutive hours of safe flight, becoming the only private airline in China to receive this honor.
Wang Zhenghua said, "In the aviation industry, safety is above all else, so I strictly stated that I want the best in the selection of models, hardware, captains, engines, etc., to ensure the absolute safety of the journey." ”
In the 18 years since its establishment, 18 years of safe operation, and a total of more than 200 million passengers have been safely delivered to their destinations, which is something that Wang Zhenghua is extremely proud of and gratified.
Today's Wang Zhenghua is 80 years old and still works on the front line every day.
Spring Airlines' daily operating data will be updated at 4 a.m. the next day, and Wang Zhenghua will wake up on time to check the data and give instructions as soon as possible.
At the same time, he is also gradually handing over the company to his eldest son Wang Yu to take care of.
He said that people will always get old, there will be a day when they are confused, don't wait until you are confused to think about the handover, it will be too late.
● Wang Yu
Influenced by his father, Wang Yu lived a very frugal life, and his speech and demeanor were not at all superior to the general "rich second generation".
Back then, he went to the United States to study with 50,000 yuan, stayed in the United States for 7 years, studied while working, not only never asked his father for money, but also brought back 20,000 US dollars and 2 master's degrees when he returned to China.
He started step by step from the grassroots level of the company and mingled with the employees, and the employees would smile and comment when they mentioned him: "Mr. Wang is not as domineering as Mr. Wang." ”
He and the other two executives of the company share an office with simple office facilities, and three desks together take up most of the space.
His understanding was, "Enough is good."
● Wang Yu in the office
The father and son have always regarded safety and frugality as the foundation of the company.
They know very well that for many people who work hard outside the home, comfortable seats and excellent service on the plane are far less than a cheap ticket home.
Airplanes should not only be reserved for the rich and middle class, because the biggest market has never been the few rich, but the thousands of ordinary people who are fighting in all walks of life.
Serving the general public, navigation is safe, and the ticket price is cheap.
——This is also the trick of Wang Zhenghua to lead Spring Airlines to stand out from many airlines and win by surprise. Text/Mulong idler