The airline business in the 21st century

Background and further information:

Air transport became a hot topic in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in the United States, in September 2001. This book was written before such events, with the focus on issues deemed to be the most important for the airline industry at the start of a new millennium. Curiously, the security dimension of air transport is not covered. However, it does recognise that the long-term profitability is both marginal and very cyclical.

Ch1: Analysis of trends and future prospects and of the concept of 'open skies'.

Ch2: Discussion on the evolution from 'open market' bilateral agreements to 'open skies' bilaterals, with a focus on the development of a single open aviation market in Europe through multilateral agreements.

Ch3: Assessment of the prospect of international liberalisation of air services and specifically, the likelihood of establishing a Transatlantic Common Aviation Area accordingly to a proposal from the European Commission.

Ch4: Discussion on the frenzy for alliances in the second half of the 1990s and generally on inter-airline alliances.

Ch5: Assessment of the significance of labour costs to an airline, including statistics and using the European case to illustrate the issue.

Ch6 and Ch7: Low-cost airlines and the impact of electronic commerce.

Ch8: Discussion on the possibilities of privatisation and analysis of the case of state aid for airlines in the single European market.

The book concludes with suggestions of strategies for the twenty-first century, including the need for long-term cost reduction and developing an alliance strategy.

This book sets out to examine the key factors affecting the airline industry and assesses alternative policies that can be used to respond to a dynamic and changing market place. It also tells of an industry working on low margins and of cut-throat competition resulting from 'open skies'.

• Primary Source