Duopoly.

The headline read, "Joyce takes aim at copycat Virgin" and now that the ACCC has given Virgin the green light to bring Tiger Air and Skywest into the family, Australia once again sees a duopoly of kind, harking back to the Ansett, TAA days of the two airline policy ruling the skies. Competing head to head was never seen as a reality as Virgin was always considered the low cost cousin and Qantas had the market share to back up its claims as the leader, especially in corporate travel.

The mirror image Virgin is building, now includes all things never envisioned when Richard Branson launched the airline from the aviation disaster that was 911 and the ashes of the Ansett collapse. Lounges, frequent flyer membership, target marketing to corporate Australia, "Virgin has copied everything Qantas has done over the last 10 years, the only thing they haven’t added is a kangaroo to their aircraft tail" added Joyce in a recent talk to travel executives.

So now comes the real test of how much the old guard is prepared to hold onto its lead and how much the new guard is prepared to engage in a new landscape to prove itself a worthy alternative for the corporate dollar. Price sensitivity will continue and the Friday bargains and the spot specials will prolong the retail market that is Mum, Dad and the kids to the Gold Coast. Where the real hostilities will occur is the corporate field of play as both sides vie for the attention of road warriors and procurement managers alike.

Admittedly the bottom line will absorb the attention of the finance department constantly looking for a better deal from the airlines and the travel management companies but more and more should now be aimed squarely at customer service as a differentiator. If all things are equal and the price spiral brings both airlines head to head why choose one over the other? That question leaves both marketing departments in a quandary if they can't articulate the individuality of their airline.

The one area the old two airline policy highlighted was the need to treat the customer so well that thoughts of leaving and flying with the other guy were unheard of. Flyers became advocates for one aviation partner and the airlines worked tirelessly to service their flyers by way of recognition, not just a Woolies frequent flyer card, by way of guaranteeing service delivery on the ground and in the air, not by buying allegiance through pricing tactics and building a culture of affinity and family.

I'm looking forward to seeing what the airlines will bring to the table, how they they will engineer shifts in service because the price argument will eventually commoditise their product to such an extent that the opportunity will arise for a third competitor to shake up the market place, Compass Mark 111 anyone? For the travellers and the corporate travel management companies, I look forward to the first airline contract with service level agreements around on time departures and arrivals, in cabin service superiority, fabulous food, greater seat pitch, peerless ground handling and a return to when the only thing that separated competitors was premium service. It's now up to the airlines to see who has the biggest engines to make such decisions.