International Airline Industry Research Articles

World Civil Aviation in Chaos

This short note is intended as a measure of thanks to Alec Young for his encouragement and supervision of the author's PhD studies.International air transport is a vital industry, integral to world trade, commerce and tourism. This industry has contributed substantially not only to worldwide economic growth, but also to political and sociological progress. However, in recent years the industry has fallen into chaos, to the point that many airlines find themselves either subject to unstable situations, or threatened by bankruptcies, or, in the case of state-owned airlines, in need of financial support from their governments. Competitive behaviour sometimes occurs on an under-the-table basis, interline co-operation has been deteriorating, and a clear international policy whose guidelines are accepted by everyone in the industry is absent. If the international airline industry is to continue to play a vital and dynamic role in contributing to the progress and prosperity of so many nations, then it is essential to adopt and implement policies aimed at eliminating the chaos in the industry, facilitating its healthy growth and stability, and developing international collaboration for the common good.

The changing economics of international air transport

The airline industry is currently undergoing the worst financial crisis of its history, and many features of this pose new kinds of challenge for both airlines and governments. The author examines, first, the basic changes which have taken place recently in the international airline industry; second, considers the implications of these changes; and third, specifies the actions that need to be taken to surmount the present crisis.

Operations research in the management of the airlines

This paper is intended to present an introduction to the use of operations research in the international airline industry, and to demonstrate the scope and significance of the airline OR activities. First, the special reasons for the viability and spread of airline OR are discussed. Then a functional framework for an airline is outlined, to be used in analyzing the problems of an airline and relating the OR work to it. Four major applications are described, corresponding to four major components of the framework. These applications are: schedule development, overbooking control, crew scheduling and engine management, respectively. In each case we describe the problem and its significance, indicate the types of solution techniques which have been developed, and assess the implemented solutions. The paper concludes with comments on the current state-of-the-art and the future of airline OR. A detailed bibliography is given. Both of the authors have been operations research directors in major airlines and more recently have focused their attention upon the industry as academic researchers. This background has provided us with an unusual opportunity to analyze the role of OR in the airlines, and our paper seeks to share with the reader some of the insights we have gained thereby.

International airlines in a changing world

It is a great honour and pleasure to be invited to deliver this Lawrence Hargrave Memorial Lecture in my home town—particularly as it gives me a chance to pay tribute to a man whose contributions to the development of the science of flight are commonly overlooked and usually under-rated.I can remember vividly Professor Stephens delivering the first of these Memorial Lectures in 1956. With his whimsical sense of humour he started in a rather unconventional way. Without any of the usual introductory words he flashed a portrait of Lawrence Hargrave on the screen and said “Well, there he is—a handsome fellow—what you can see of him.” In a sense these words sum up the theme of my lecture. I want to discuss some of the outstanding problems of the international airline industry—an industry whose handsome features are at present somewhat obscured by adversity.