Strategic airline alliances are an important topic in airline management today, stimulated by poor access of international airlines to large domestic markets such as the USA and EU and the increasing importance of network scope. Outright mergers of international airlines have proved to be difficult for political, cultural and legal reasons, making alliances the best available form to strengthen strategic positions and streamline networks. However, there are a number of difficulties associated with an alliance such as long-term stability, political climate, cultural conflict and how much capital alliance partners should sink into the integration. The main purpose of the book is to convey in an accessible form to a wide audience, the results of recent academic research on strategic airline alliances. The authors systematically cover: policy, regulation and consumer issues; management, marketing and strategic issues; the mechanics of airline alliances; the airline alliance group as an organisation in its own right; different forms of alliances and clusters; success and failure factors of airline alliances. The book successfully: - provides an analytical framework for understanding the dynamics of airline alliance groups - examines both the level of the individual airline and the alliance group itself - applies recent insights from organisation theory. The readership includes airline managers, policy-makers, academic researchers and others interested in evolving multilateral alliances. It can also be used as a course book both in aviation management training and in more general modules on alliances for advanced students in air transport management.

Presenting the history and status of airline alliances, this book looks at reasons why alliances are being formed. It also analyzes the questions such as: Why are alliances likely to remain a key fixture of the airline industry in the foreseeable future? And what implications do alliances have on carrier management and public policy makers?

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2008 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,9, European Business School - International University Schloß Reichartshausen Oestrich-Winkel (Chair of Strategic Aviation Management), course: Bacheloarbeit, language: English, abstract: "Companies are just beginning to learn what nations have always known: in a complex, uncertain world filled with dangerous opponents, it is best not to go it alone" (Ohmae, 1989, p. 143). This statement emphasises the significant developments in firms' corporate strategy in the 1980s. As a response to the rise of globalisation, and thus, increased competition, companies throughout the world started collaborating with partners with interfirm cooperation. Their cooperative practices, though, were not equally relevant in all branches, but concentrated mainly on industries that were affected most by the in-creasing environmental dynamic and complexity. Therefore, firms in various industries, such as the automotive or telecommunication industry, established alliances with their competitors in order to stay competitive and to jointly expand into world markets. However, the aviation industry, in particular, has experienced downright alliance frenzy since that time. With the gradual liberalisation of international air transport, collabora-tions between carriers have steadily gained importance. Therefore, airline alliances have developed from purely horizontal links into more complex and integrated strategic alliances. These strategic alliances have been established mainly to bypass existing regula-tory restrictions and to adapt to customers' altered preferences by extending the airlines' networks. However, with the incidents that occurred during the first years of the 21st century, such as the terrorist acts of 9/11, partner airlines were forced to react to the changed external conditions. This development highlights the high dependence of air-lines and their strateg

Airline Choices for the Future: From Alliances to Mergers offers an up-to-date assessment of the industry as it stands today, delivering a comprehensive insight into how the world of airline alliances is changing, and how the merger phenomenon is likely to fit into the new scenario. The purpose of this book is twofold. Firstly, it outlines the evolution and the reasons behind alliances between international air carriers, the alliances' track records and the way they have affected airlines and the air transport industry. Secondly, drawing on past and more recent developments in the industry, it examines the experiences airlines involved in cross-border mergers have gone through and the advantages and difficulties they have come across. Alliances and mergers are presented from both the airline and the consumer perspective. The book provides a balanced account of where mergers and alliances have taken the industry to date, bridging the gap between merger theory and implemented practices and strategies. It also identifies the challenges alliances and cross-border mergers have faced and highlights the key forces affecting airline development. Theoretical evidence is supplemented by data collected via surveys and interviews with airline executives, aviation experts, consultants and regulatory bodies.

This book considers the current legal issues affecting the air transport sector incorporating recent developments in the air transport sector, 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.

This book aims to provide comprehensive coverage of the field of air transportation, giving attention to all major aspects, such as aviation regulation, economics, management and strategy. The book approaches aviation as an interrelated economic system and in so doing presents the “big picture” of aviation in the market economy. It explains the linkages between domains such as politics, society, technology, economy, ecology, regulation and how these influence each other. Examples of airports and airlines, and case studies in each chapter support the application-oriented approach. Students and researchers in business administration with a focus on the aviation industry, as well as professionals in the industry looking to refresh or broaden their knowledge of the field will benefit from this book.

An efficient air transport system is critical to countries attaining and sustaining healthy economies in an increasingly interconnected world economy. This volume 5 of Advances in Airline Economics includes literature surveys and original empirical research examining airline efficiency in the twenty first century.