Since the Jet Age, airlines have been entering and existing the airline industry. Some have been in business since the very beginning. For example, United airlines was founded almost twenty-five years before the jet age took off, and due to an incredible amount of money that the airline had by being one of the first airlines predating the Jet Age, was able to buy new jets and assert itself as one of THE giants of air travel by the late 1950’s. But the introduction of new technology paved the way for issues regarding externalities, and production of these new technologies. ("Assessing the external environment - Responding to a changing external business environment - United Airlines | United Airlines case studies and information | The Times 100", n.d., p. 1) The beginning of the Jet Age offered an intense opportunity for new firms to open or expand, producing new products from jet engines to structural parts, from radar technology, to reclining seats. According to research done by the Air Transportation Action Group, “It has been estimated the airline industry supports a grand total of 29 million jobs” (Hanlon, 2007, p. 1). This statistic proves how dependent the world is on the airline industry, for jobs and travel, as well as r...
The U.S. airline industry experienced year-over-year growth in passenger revenues, in 2013, driven by strong demand for air travel.2 Additionally, on average, fuel costs were down in 2013 as compared to 2012.2 The U.S. airline industry is also a very competitive market. Due to government deregulation in 1978 there are few regulatory barriers to new entrants in the market, although there are other barriers to consider. Starting a new airline is very capital intensive. Purchasing a commercial airplane from Boeing can cost anywhere from $76million to over $300million.4 Another barrier to entry is risk in the industry. Airlines tend to experience volatile costs such as fuel prices, which can be difficult to predict in the long run. A regu...
The Airline Industry is a fascinating market. It has been one of the few industries to reach astounding milestones. For example, over 200 airlines have gone out of business since deregulation occurred in 1978. Currently, more than 50% of the airlines in the industry are operating under Chapter 11 regulations. Since 9/11, four of the six large carriers have filed for and are currently under bankruptcy court protection. Since 9/11 the industry has lost over $30 billion dollars, and this loss continues to increase. Despite the fact that the airline industry is in a state of despair, JetBlue has become the golden example, a glimpse of what the industry could be.
...ember 25). Boeing hails ME investments. Times of Oman [Muscat], p. 1. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/1073420766?accountid=27203
To keep American Airlines on top of the industry, one of Crandall's visions was to accelerate the company's efforts into the rich overseas markets. By tapping into voids created by Pan Am, Eastern Air, Braniff Int’l and TWA, Mr. Crandall’s ambition acquired promising overseas routes to Asia and Europe, and Latin America.
The process of doing this cased the company to ask for help from other competitors about the exact price to offer in the market. Investors knew that the price might be among 22 to 24 per share. However, the JetBlue noticed that the IPO demand is anticipated to be more than 5.5 million. Thus, the management requested to increase its price to 25-26, this would make the management concerned to convince the shareholders that the higher price improve the company in the market. Furthermore, the company was scared if this strategy would hurt sales in future. They should decide if the higher price would improve company technique in stock
Delta Airlines was founded by C.E. Woolman, who was an agriculture extension agent. He was not as aggressive,
JetBlue Airways entered the market in 2000 from a position of financial strength, leadership capability and several rare advantage points uncommon to others in the industry: 1) David Neeleman, the founder, had several years of industry experience as a result of having successfully launched and sold an airline (Morris Air), bringing both explicit and tacit knowledge into the his new venture; 2) Neeleman was afforded the opportunity to work directly with his idol, Herb Kelleher, at Southwest Airlines (the king of the low-cost leaders) after Southwest purchased Morris Air from Neeleman; and 3) Substantial financial support from venture capitalists who had funded Neeleman's previous ventures and were more than willing to support and capitalize on his idea for a new low-cost passenger airline.
JetBlue's strategy is developed around its core competencies. The company has benefited by being able to start with a clean slate. It has a last-mover advantage and its information technology infrastructure and use has given JetBlue a sustainable competitive advantage.
In April 1992, American Airlines launched "Value Pricing" -- a radical simplification of the complex pricing structure that had evolved over more than a decade following deregulation of the U.S. domestic airline industry. American expected that the new pricing structure would benefit consumers and restore profitability to both American and the industry as a whole. The critical issue raised is: Would American's bold initiative work?
This was a sad day for everyone in both the immediate and extended “Delta family,” a day perhaps as sad in its own way as the death of Mr. Woolman almost 40 years before. The sadness mixes with fear by employees and retirees, their families, stockholders, customers, vendors, taxpayers, governments and all others among the tens of thousands impacted by the bankruptcy. Leadership decisions by Delta’s Board and CEO’s over a long period of years laid the foundation for Delta to be in a position where the factors would have a large enough impact to result in bankruptcy. By promoting Ron Allen to CEO, primarily because he had moved up the chairs in the company through Beeb’s efforts, the Board showed their lack of awareness of the need for a strategist to deal with the fundamental changes taking place in the airline industry. Then the Board brought in Leo Mullin and gave him free rein for 6 ½ years to turn a cash rich company into one in such poor shape financially that his successor had to turn to expensive sources of money to keep the company
Examine the causes of the problem: The problem is that JetBlue focused on expansion during its’ initial success. Profits realized at this time were used to acquire a larger fleet, expand routes, enlarge staff and increase terminal space. Seemingly, the primary focus was rapid growth, with an assumption that it would be rewarded with future profits. When profits began to decline, JetBlue chose to focus on competition making changes that would allow them to compete more directly with larger airlines. JetBlue became vulnerable to its competition when management made the choice to shift focus from customer service to expansion.
The aviation industry is very difficult to enter, and the threat of new entrants is low. The first and major threat to entry is the initial capital requirements. The development period is over 5 years, with very large initial investment costs, parts costs, and wages are necessary even before the company earn revenues and sell aircrafts. The economies of scale, when the airline company has a substantial order, there are reduction in cost because of discounts on large orders. The new entrant suffers a significant cost, which is a disadvantage compared to established companies. Another risk for the new entrant, the extra supply of products for the substantial order, will decrease prices. The result, the new entrant will
...d these needs. But the customer preference keeps changing and for example the customers might expect to have internet connection during the flight in order to finish their work related tasks. By having a customer study group constantly analyzing the customer needs and modifying the operating procedures to match with the needs, JetBlue can align itself to the external environment effectively. During the initial stages, all the employees were happy and identified themselves with the company culture since it was a nice challenge and fun to start from scratch and build a new airline during tough times. By effectively promoting team work and managing the employees in small teams, JetBlue can instill the small company thinking in the employees and continue to create a positive environment for the employees.
Gittell, J. H. (2003). The Southwest Airlines Way: Using the Power of Relationships to Achieve High Performance. New York: McGraw-Hill.