"IntroductionQantas is the national airlines of Australia, which has a number of subsidiaries working under it.These other airlines that work as sister concerns of Qantas cater to different markets. Theseinclude the low-cost carriers as well as the cargo shippers. The company has done differentiationof these companies in such a ways so as to prevent the brand dilution of Qantas Airways overall.This strategy has served the company very well. So even through the market catered to by theseairlines differs, all of them work under the umbrella of Qantas Airways thus by leveraging thestrength of the parent brand.The company also gets a great deal of support from the Australiangovernment, since it is looked upon as a very strategic airline for the entire industry by theAustralian government (Albers, Buhne, Peters, 2009, pp. 409-456).Generic StrategiesCost leadershipThe economic crisis and the terrorist attacks of 9/11 have caused a tremendous impact on theaviation industry overall. The general public have kind of moved away from aviation and startedexploring other modes of transport. So it has had a huge impact on the financial situation of theaviation industry. The situation has become unsustainable for the smaller and the financiallyunstable player. So the industry has gone in for a consolidation phase wherein a lot of mergersand acquisitions have been seen. Also the rising fuel and infrastructure which have become veryvolatile also put a hell lot of strain on the aviation companies. So the global outlook on thefinancial situation of the aviation companies has been low. So for any player to have a costleadership in the market, they would have to streamline their processes to a great deal andbecome very efficient. They would have to increase their efficiencies and give great service totheir customers, in order to show their value in the market. Qantas on its part has combined withother aviation companies and also has acquired the smaller and more efficient players to makeuse of the operations which can help the company in fighting against this downturn in the sector.But still having a cost leadership in the current market scenario looks very difficult for the1 company. The company can look to provide value to its customers and give a more cost basedvalue solution to its customers (Bonn, Rundle-Thiele, 2007,pp. 678-609).DifferentiationAs pointed out earlier, the company would have to create a differentiation amongst the minds ofits customers. This would not only include the competitors of the company in the aviationindustry but also the other modes of transport that provide an option to the customers. Thisincludes the other modes of transport like the roadways, railways and the ship cruises. So thecompany would have to show the differentiation as an industry overall to build up a brand valuefor the company in the current scenario. This is what would help the company in the long run.The company needn’t have the best cost, but I the offerings of the company are such that theycan provide value to the customers. It can look at providing the low cost option under itsdifferent subsidiaries as well. So what is important for the company is to have separate brandrecognition of its different brands and more importantly, help the consumers realize that. Alsothe fact that aviation supports the other major industries of Australia in a big way. So it servesthe economy of the country in a big way. So the company can look at having a variety of optionsin terms of its costs and benefits and encourage the industries to look at aviation as a very viableand cost effective option in terms of their businesses (Dulebohn et. al, 2008). Also one moredifferentiating factor that the company needs to look at is the safety factor. The company can sellitself on the safety parameter by making its operations very secure and free from any kind ofepidemics or safety issues. This would instill a belief in the customers that they are safe whenthey travel on air and that it is like and as safe as any other mode of travel for them and theydon’t have to worry about the safety for themselves or loved ones while making that journeythrough the aircraft. This can be done through proper safetycheck-in measures that encourage thepassengers to travel in the airlines. So giving them the confidence of travelling through theairlines, would go a long way in serving the financial benefits for the airline industry (Egri, &Ralston, 2008).2 "