Flight Centre might be a multi-billion-dollar global powerhouse with shopfronts on nearly every continent (though “Flight Centre Antarctica” sounds like a future headline), a catalogue that could fill a large library (200,000+ tours, 100,000+ flights, and 40,000+ stays), award-winning campaigns and pricing it believes is still competitive – despite the proliferation of OTAs and direct bookings. But ask those steering the ship, and they’ll credit something more grassroots.
“Our people are our superpower,” Flight Centre Global Managing Director Andrew Stark tells guests at the recent Flight Centre Global Leaders Conference in Sydney, borrowing an observation from his marketing team.
“I absolutely love that phrase… our people, you, and our people back in the stores that can support businesses, our suppliers, our partners. We are a people-driven business, and we will never move away from that. You are our superpower.”
Flight Centre’s people are even at the heart of its current marketing campaign, “Trusted by Travellers”.
“The number one reason why customers come back to us is, what do you think?” Stark asked those at the conference.
“Our people. Over and over and over again, they come back to us via our people.”
People are also inextricably linked to the brand’s purpose, “to be the trusted travel experts who bring the joy of travel to every traveller”.
“We’re trusted, and more importantly, trusted by our travellers,” Andrew said.
Promoter power
Its people’s performance is also reflected in Flight Centre’s Net Promoter Score (NPS), which measures customer loyalty and satisfaction – and is largely linked to customer service.
Stark lauded the business’s score of 56, just shy of its ambitious goal of 61, which would make it the “Apple of travel”. The tech conglomerate’s current NPS is also 61.
But analogies aside, the score has in fact never been higher.
“We’re at an all-time high of 56 on our NPS,” Flight Centre’s Global Customer Engagement Leader Brian Luckins told conference attendees.
“For those of you who were here in Brisbane two years ago, our NPS was 43, which is still a really good NPS. And if you put that into perspective and some other global brands, we were somewhere around Samsung.
“Today, we’re near Google. If you think about what Google represents – they represent amazing knowledge, easy to access, and they’re there to help us solve problems.”
Internally, the group is also winning, with a retention rate of three out of four employees.
“We have a [retention] target of 75% and I think we have 73%, so just under the target. So there’s a real opportunity, and we have to retain our people,” Stark said.
In an interview with Karryon, Flight Centre Travel Group Leisure CEO James Kavanagh said one of the company’s objectives is to see its people succeed.
“You want to see people’s careers advance, and you want to see them create a personal journey whereby they can have a great life… and I think at the heart of it, that’s what Flight Centre does,” he said.
“There are a whole number of different businesses that we run that look after people’s financial well-being, personal well-being, health well-being – and these are things that they’ve been doing for years.
“So I think at the core of it, the family model is key, and that’s the team-based structure that we have.”
Culture is queen/king
Underpinning Flight Centre’s greatest strength – its people – is a culture that’s been part of its DNA since its inception more than 40 years ago. And despite the company’s vast global footprint today, that original spirit hasn’t faded one bit.
“Our fun and savvy culture, you cannot take away from us. That’s the 43-year history; that’s the next 43 years. We create the culture. This is the leadership team for the iconic brand of Flight Centre,” Stark told delegates.
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast. If we have a great culture, our strategy will automatically flow.”
During the conference, Flight Centre revealed the winners of its annual awards, which recognise the stores and regions that have topped performance over the past 12 months. And given the sheer volume of competition, that’s no easy feat.
Here are all the award winners:
Top 3 Shops: Productivity (team leader)
- Flight Centre Southgate (Lisa)
- Flight Centre Miranda (Peter)
- Flight Centre North Brighton (Mel)
Top 3 Stores: Profit
- Flight Centre Carindale (Evan)
- Flight Centre Bundaberg City (Melanie)
- Flight Centre Launceston (Matt)
Top 5 Areas
- FCBT All Stars (Candice)
- FCBT Special Forces (Whippy)
- FCBT Mavericks (Steve)
- FCB Helix (Viv)
- FCB Qld (Tarryn)
Most Profitable Nations
- Collections (Askin)
- Heartland (Nashy)
Most Improved Team – FCNZ Eastbridge (Profit)
Top Profitable Store – FCNZ Direct
Top Profitable Collection Business – FCBT Darling Downs
To learn more about the Flight Centre 2025 Global Leaders conference, read our wrap here.
Karryon was the only media in attendance at the conference.
For more information on the Flight Centre brand, click here.
