European airlines conduct after September 11

Abstract

The paper analyses the reorganisation that European carriers have implemented after September 11 in the transatlantic flights. We model carriers’ conduct as a mixture of short- and long-term goals, where the weights depend on firm-specific variables (adjustment costs, financial situation) and subjective expectations on the crisis duration. Data provide some support to our conjectures that high adjustment costs induce low flexibility and a focus on the long-term; and that a bad financial situation shifts the carries attention to short-term. Finally, the analysis of the composition of short- and long-term reaction provides some insights into the carriers’ perspectives of the crisis duration.