David Feldt Proud father. Entrepreneur. Builder. Catalyst. Accelerator. Guide.

Kulula Airlines : Break-through branding and corporate culture with a sense of humor

Kulula is a low-cost South-African airline that doesn't take itself too seriously.

It's name says it all. Kulula is a Zulu word that means:

Some great lessons for the majority of boring, unfriendly and darn-right nasty airlines across North America ...

Kulula airline attendants make an effort to make the in-flight "safety lecture" and announcements a bit more entertaining. Here are some real examples that have been heard or reported:
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On a Kulula flight, (there is no assigned seating, you sit where you want) passengers were apparently having a hard time choosing, when a flight attendant announced,

"People, people we're not picking out furniture here, find a seat and get in it!"

---o0o---

On another flight with a very "senior" flight attendant crew, the pilot said,

"Ladies and gentlemen, we've reached cruising altitude and will be turning down the cabin lights. This is for your comfort and to enhance the appearance of your flight attendants."

----o0o---

On landing, the stewardess said,

"Please be sure to take all of your belongings. If you're going to leave anything, please make sure it's something we'd like to have."

----o0o---

"There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are only 4 ways out of this airplane."

---o0o---

"Thank you for flying Kulula. We hope you enjoyed giving us the business as much as we enjoyed taking you for a ride."

---o0o---

As the plane landed and was coming to a stop at Durban Airport, a lone voice came over the loudspeaker:

"Whoa, big fella. WHOA!"

---o0o---

After a particularly rough landing during thunderstorms in the Karoo, a flight attendant on a flight announced,

"Please take care when opening the overhead compartments because, after a landing like that, sure as hell everything has shifted."

---o0o---

From a Kulula employee:

"Welcome aboard Kulula 271 to Port Elizabeth. To operate your seat belt, insert the metal tab into the buckle, and pull tight. It works just like every other seat belt; and, if you don't know how to operate one, you probably shouldn't be out in public unsupervised."

---o0o---

"In the event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, masks will descend from the ceiling. Stop screaming, grab the mask, and pull it over your face. If you have a small child travelling with you, secure your mask before assisting with theirs. If you are travelling with more than one small child, pick your favourite."

---o0o---

"Weather at our destination is 50 degrees with some broken clouds, but we'll try to have them fixed before we arrive.  Thank you, and remember, nobody loves you, or your money, more than Kulula Airlines."

----o0o---

"Your seats cushions can be used for flotation; and in the event of an emergency water landing, please paddle to shore and take them with our compliments."

---o0o---

"As you exit the plane, make sure to gather all of your belongings. Anything left behind will be distributed evenly among the flight attendants. Please do not leave children or spouses."

---o0o---

And from the pilot during his welcome message:

"Kulula Airlines is pleased to announce that we have some of the best flight attendants in the industry. Unfortunately, none of them are on this flight!"

---o0o---

On Kulula flight 255 just after a very hard landing in Cape Town, the flight attendant came on the intercom and said,

"That was quite a bump and I know what y'all are thinking. I'm here to tell you it wasn't the airline's fault, it wasn't the pilot's fault, it wasn't the flight attendant's fault.  It was the asphalt."

---o0o---

On a Kulula flight into Cape Town on a particularly windy and bumpy day, during the final approach the Captain really had to fight it. After an extremely hard landing, the Flight Attendant said,

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to The Mother City.  Please remain in your seats with your seat belts fastened while the Captain taxis what's left of our airplane to the gate!"

---o0o---

Another flight attendant's comment on a less than perfect landing:

"We ask you to please remain seated as Captain Kangaroo bounces us to the terminal."

---o0o---

An airline pilot wrote that on this particular flight he had hammered his ship into the runway really hard. The airline had a policy which required the first officer to stand at the door while the passengers exited, smile, and give them a "Thanks for flying our airline." He said that, in light of his bad landing, he had a hard time looking the passengers in the eye, thinking that someone would have a smart comment.

Finally everyone had gotten off except for a little old lady walking with a cane. She said,

"Sir, do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Why, no Ma'am," said the pilot. "What is it?"

The little old lady said,

"Did we land, or were we shot down?"

---o0o---

After a real crusher of a landing in Johannesburg , the attendant came on with,

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain in your seats until Captain Crash and the Crew have brought the aircraft to a screeching halt against the gate. And, once the tire smoke has cleared and the warning bells are silenced, we will open the door and you can pick your way through the wreckage to the terminal.."

---o0o---

Part of a flight attendant's arrival announcement:

"We'd like to thank you folks for flying with us today. And, the next time you get the insane urge to go blasting through the skies in a pressurized metal tube, we hope you'll think of Kulula Airways."

---o0o---

Heard on a Kulula flight:

"Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to smoke, the smoking section on this airplane is on the wing. If you can light 'em, you can smoke 'em."

---o0o---

The Trader Mentality vs. the Builder Paradigm

When people ask me to describe myself I often say that I am a reformed trader who has become a builder. That may sound somewhat trite but for me it explains a fundamental paradigm shift / change that I've made in my life:

In my trading days, I bought and sold things (stocks, bonds, derivatives, information).

Trading was fun, entertaining, electrifying and exciting.

It was the ultimate thrill ride.

It allowed me to connect to many people, many markets and many events in the World.  It offered me the opportunity to profit from insights, knowledge and intuition. It offered me the opportunity to travel the World and sample the good life across four continents. It cut through all the bullshit and politics.  Each day was a new day with it's own P&L and with the joys of mark-to-market, my bank balance changed on a daily basis. There was no politics, no meetings, no drudgery, no BS.

So much for the upside! The life of a trader has a dark side too. My mood swings were legendary and my friends, family and colleagues began to read the state of the markets based on my mood.  Things lost their value. Everything in the World became a commodity that had a price. If I wanted a new car, a new house, a new ___, I thought of it in terms of how many points I needed to make on a trade.

I had lost my humanity to the market. It was time to step away and redefine my life.

It has been 16 years since my life as a derivatives trader.  Since then I have built companies, brands and teams.

In the past 8 months, I've been focused on building a new product / service that will be the first creation / "incubatee" of JazLabs and I've learned so much.  I've reawakened dormant skills and attributes within myself and discovered and developed new ones:

• Building takes time. It takes a lot of time and effort to create something of value - something that is exceptional and new.  Way, way more time than you may initially think.
• Building requires a team. I am lucky to have a business partner who is smart, hard-working and diligent.  We have complementary skills and interests and push each other to reach higher every day.
• Building takes patience. I'm probably the most impatient person you have ever met and I have really struggled to learn this one.  You need to prototype, test and rebuild if you want to get to that exceptional customer experience that is required for success and patience is a major key to success.
• Building takes focus. No more time for Twitter. No more time for continuous partial attention.  Only time to focus on the task at hand and completing it in the best way possible. (Dear David letter)
• Building requires getting into the details.  This is an obvious one and one where I initially struggled the most.  No room for the quick-fix. You have to get dirty and dig into the details but always within the context of the overall plan / 10,000 foot view of there you're going.
• Building needs to be done fast. Deadlines (self-imposed or external-imposed) are a vital constraint to bring out creativity and ingenuity. We're building a business and we can't afford to ignore market pressures / competitive pressures.
• Building takes you on a journey into yourself.  I've discovered untapped resources and abilities that I never knew I had.

Now it's time to take the best parts of the trader mentality and the best parts of the building paradigm and merge them together to take me to the next level of my journey of discovery!