Prior to liberalization, there was little scope for predatory behaviour in the aviation market. However, following deregulation, new entrants sought to compete with entrenched incumbents. Low-cost carriers (LCCs) gained significant market share, which in turn provoked many different kinds of defensive response. Having put pressure on established carriers, low-cost airlines are themselves feeling the pressure of competition from new operators. While it is normal and natural for airlines to react to competition - modifying their services, the ways in which they offer them and their prices - when does aggressive commercial behaviour go too far and become predation? This book considers what exactly is meant by 'predation' in the aviation environment, and explores the strategies LCCs adopt in order to gain market share, as well as the strategies of the established airlines in response to competition from new entrants to the market. It also addresses the key question of what competition policy should do to ensure intensive competition. Competition versus Predation in Aviation Markets brings together contributions from around the world, from airlines, government agencies, leading academics and consultants, providing a wealth of perspectives on a business practice crucial to airline survival.

This volume is a collection of 17 papers selected from David Starkie's extensive writings over the last 25 years. Previously published material has been extensively edited and adapted and combined with new material, published here for the first time. The book is divided into five sections, each featuring an original overview chapter, to better establish the background and also explain the papers' wider significance including, wherever appropriate, their relevance to current policy issues. These papers have been selected to illustrate a significant theme that has been relatively neglected thus far in both aviation and industrial economics: the role of the market and its interplay with the development of economic policy in the context of a dynamic but partly price regulated industry. The result provides a strong flavour of how market mechanisms, and particularly competition, can operate to successfully resolve policy issues.

The Routledge Handbook of Public Aviation Law is the first book to incorporate a comprehensive analysis of Public Aviation Law – principally international, but also domestic law in a comparative context – in a single volume. International Law is pervasive in Aviation Law, and is incorporated into a number of major multilateral treaties (e.g., the Chicago Convention of 1944, for Public International Air Law). This is supplemented by various Annexes (promulgated by the International Civil Aviation Organization) and Conventions and Protocols (promulgated by States in diplomatic conferences). States then implement these international obligations in domestic laws that create aviation regulatory administrations that, in turn, promulgate regulations. Bringing together leading scholars in the field, this prestigious reference work provides a comprehensive and comparative overview of Public Aviation Law. It surveys the state of the discipline including contemporary and emerging areas of law, regulation, and public policy in air transportation. Each chapter begins with an overview of the international law applicable to the subject matter, followed, where appropriate, by a comparative examination of domestic statutes, regulations, and jurisprudence. The objective of the book is to identify and summarize existing areas within the context of international research, and to identify and highlight emerging areas. Both practical and theoretical in scope, the Routledge Handbook of Public Aviation Law will be of great relevance to scholars, researchers, lawyers, and policy makers with an interest in aviation law.

An examination of the relationship between competition and the deregulation and liberalisation of the US and European air transport sectors reveals that the structure of the air transport sector has undergone a number of significant changes. A growing number of airlines are entering into horizontal and vertical cooperative arrangements and integration including franchising, codeshare agreements, alliances, ‘virtual mergers’ and in some cases, mergers with other airlines, groups of airlines or other complementary lines of business such as airports. This book considers the current legal issues affecting the air transport sector incorporating recent developments in the industry, including the end of certain exemptions from EU competition rules, the effect of the EU-US Open Skies Agreement, the accession of new EU Member States and the Lisbon Treaty. The book explores the differing European and US regulatory approaches to the changes in the industry and examines how airlines have remained economically efficient in what is perceived as a complex and confused regulatory environment. Competition and Regulation in the Airline Industry will be of particular interest to academics and students of competition law as well as EU law.

This third edition of Straight and Level thoroughly updates the previous edition with extensive comments on recent industry developments and emerging business models. The discussion is illustrated by current examples drawn from all sectors of the industry and every region of the world. The fundamental structure of earlier editions, now widely used as a framework for air transport management courses, nonetheless remains unchanged. Part 1 of the book provides a strategic context within which to consider the industry's economics. Part 2 is built around a simple yet powerful model that relates operating revenue to operating cost; it examines the most important elements in demand and traffic, price and yield, output and unit cost. Part 3 probes more deeply into three critical aspects of capacity management: network management; fleet management; and revenue management. Part 4 concludes the book by exploring relationships between unit revenue, unit cost, yield, and load factor. Straight and Level has been written primarily for masters-level students on aviation management courses. The book should also be useful to final year undergraduates wanting to prepare for more advanced study. Amongst practitioners, it will appeal to established managers moving from functional posts into general management. More broadly, anyone with knowledge of the airline industry who wants to gain a deeper understanding of its economics at a practical level and an insight into the reasons for its financial volatility should find the book of interest.

Global Airlines: Competition in a Transnational Industry presents an overview of the changing scene in air transport covering current issues such as security, no frills airlines, ‘open skies’ agreements, the outcome of the recent downturn in economic activity and the emergence of transnational airlines, and takes a forward looking view of these challenges for the industry. Since the publication of the second edition in 1999 major changes have occurred in the industry. The ‘rules of the game’ in air transport are now beginning to change; and it is time to take the story forward. This third edition contains nine new chapters and tackles the following issues amongst others: * Security: The tragic events of 11 September 2001, followed by the war in Iraq, and the resultant heightened tensions over security and passenger safety. * Financial instability: the cyclical downturn in economic activity has led some airlines to the verge of bankruptcy. Even some large well-established carriers are not immune from this. How can the industry look to survive? * Attaining global reach: implications of transborder mergers, open skies agreements and the transatlantic Common Aviation area. Can full globalisation ever be reached? * Low-cost carriers and e-commerce: as both increase, how much the industry re-structure and deal with issues associated with increased passenger traffic and decreased labour requirements? * Airport capacity: Air traffic is estimated to grow at a long-term average annual rate of 5 per cent per annum. But many airports in many parts of the world are already reaching their capacity limits. How can this be overcome and are the environmental implications? Using up to date data and case studies from major international airlines such as United Airlines, British Airways, and Qantas amongst many others, Global Airlines provides a comprehensive insight into today’s global airline industry.