As bidders vie for easyJet, what kind of brand will they be buying?

Budget airline easyJet recently became the subject of a multi-party bidding war, with Castlelake and the U.S. private equity firm Apollo among the suitors. The offers amount to some £5.7bn. So, why might the company be attracting such interest?

YouGov BrandIndex data can help provide an answer. Looking at easyJet’s Index score, a composite measure of brand health, we can see that it outperforms both airlines in general and its competitors in the budget space (easyJet: 9.9; Airlines: 7.3; Budget airlines -2.5).

But the gap for other measures is wider still. The brand’s Recommend scores (13.6) are nearly twice those of airlines in general (6.9), and its cut-price competitors (6.8), suggesting a greater-than-average level of consumer advocacy. The gap widens when it comes to Satisfaction scores among customers (26.7 vs. 7.3 vs. 6.0).

While easyJet does underperform on the Quality metric relative to airlines in general (-8.9 vs. 8.1), this is perhaps unsurprising given that it is not emphasising a premium experience. When we compare it directly to budget airlines (-11.9) it fares better.

Consideration scores, which measure which airlines consumers would consider using in the near future, demonstrate the widest gap. Here, easyJet’s scores are 42.0, while airlines overall score 14.2 and budget airlines score 18.3. It may be that the brand, which celebrated its 30th birthday last year, benefits both from its longevity and the general preference the UK has for lower-cost airlines. Strong brand performance won’t be the only reason easyJet is coveted by the private equity firms who have made offers for it: commentators have highlighted the airline’s network and airport slots as incentives for a takeover. That said, public perceptions certainly matter in commercial air travel, and easyJet’s solid reputation may well be another reason bidders are keen on taking the brand under their wing.

This article originally appeared in City A.M.