New Study analyses state of “Permanent Failure” at Airlines

A new study entitled: Here we go again…the Permanently Failing Organization: An application to the airline industry in Eastern Europe by myself and two colleagues, Dr. Adel Nemeth and Prof. Dr. Hans-Martin Niemeier will be published in the leading research journal – Journal of Air Transport Management in 2014. We examine why privately owned airlines perform so […]

Nefarious Airline Industry Practices Update

So who defines an adult as being 12 years or older? Who believes that if you start your paid return journey after the original origin (thus freeing up space for others) that you shouldn’t be allowed to even start your journey (after you’ve paid in full)? Who believes that the main cost of production should […]

The Mysterious Story of Solyom Airways

You couldn’t make this stuff up if you tried. With the collapse of the state airline, Malév Hungarian Airlines in February 2012, there was much optimism that Solyom Hungarian Airways would replace it as a full-service carrier instead of the dramatic LCC takeover of Budapest airport by RyanAir and Wizz Air. With much fanfare, the […]

The Ever Shrinking Airline Seat in Long-Haul

This past week several large intercontinental operators including American Airlines, Air France-KLM and surprisingly Dubai based carrier Emirates all announced that in their Boeing 777-ER jets, that they were going to move from a 9-seat (3x3x3) to a 10-seat (3x4x3) configuration, making the seat width an average of 17″ or 42cm. Air France-KLM claimed that […]

The End of “Low Cost” – convergence in LCC and “Full Service” models

The ongoing fight between passenger airlines that describe themselves as “full service” or “network” carriers (FSC) and those self-described as “low cost” (LCC) is taking an interesting turn. First, recent evidence suggests that ticket prices of LCCs may even be higher than some FSCs. Fly Dubai and Air Arabia, two self-styled LCCs were charging higher […]

IATA – Past, Present and Future

You will no doubt have seen at a travel agency or on board a plane the ubiquitous IATA logo. The International Air Transport Association (commonly known as IATA) has played a pivotal role in passenger aviation and air transport more broadly since its inception in April 1945. Both its supporters and detractors will agree […]

Different Airline Species

In previous posts, I have argued that one of the single biggest weaknesses of passenger airline executives is that they tend to pursue competitive parity rather than seek out differentiated positioning. I have also suggested that the dominance of LCCs such as Ryanair have a tendency to drive a race to the bottom. By snatching […]

The Low-Cost disease spreads further: Lufthansa to operate Germanwings flights within Europe

In an effort to cut losses at Lufthansa Group’s passenger airlines division, the company announced that it will utilize its LCC subsidiary Germanwings to operate flights out of its secondary German airports (i.e not Frankurt or Munich). As with other LCCs, Germanwings has shaved cost to the bone in an effort to remain competitive. […]

Mixed Messages from CSA Czech Airlines

A brief update on the ongoing changes at CSA Czech Airlines. After being cleared by the EU Commission after an investigation into State Aid from the Czech government in 2012 and following on from Korean Air’s decision to acquire a 44% stake CSA Czech Airlines earlier this year, management at CSA have announced two […]

Extending Strategies for Low-Cost Carriers: South West Airlines and Air Asia.

Imagine you are the owner/CEO of a low-cost carrier (LCC) and you have grown your business extensively where you have achieved a level of market saturation where options for growth based on your existing business model are limited. This was the challenge facing the world’s biggest LCC, SouthWest Airlines in the US. A similar problem […]