Case Summary and Important facts Despite the fact the airline industry had 87 new-airline failures in the US over the past 20 years. David Neeleman convinced a group of investors and quickly raised $130 million from venture-capital community. With its strong capital base, JetBlue acquired a fleet of new Airbus A320 aircraft and focused on innovation, providing the most valuable and the most excellent travel experience, low-cost, point-to-point service to large metropolitan areas with high average fares or highly traveled markets that were underserved, mainly on central and Western routes in the US. During 2001 and 2006, the airline industry was facing a number of external stress, such as the 911 terrorist attacks, Iraq War, SARS, high price of petroleum, ect. The airline industry in US has been challenged and many of firms were bankrupt.
[5] Developed in consultation with eight major airlines, the 777 was designed to replace older wide-body airliners and bridge the capacity difference between the 767 and 747. As Boeing's first fly-by-wire airliner, it has computer mediated controls; it is also the first entirely computer-designed commercial aircraft. The 777 is produced in two fuselage lengths. The original 777-200 model first entered service in 1995, followed by the extended-range 777-200ER in 1997; the stretched 777-300, which is 33.3 ft (10.1 m) longer, began service in 1998. The longer-range 777-300ER and 777-200LR variants entered service in 2004 and 2006, respectively, while a freighter version, the 777F, debuted in 2009.
The Corporation and its Nature of operations: With revenues from sales amounting to 42 billion dollars, Lockheed Martin Corp. is by far the largest defense contractor in the world. Among many claims to fame is the fact that Lockheed Martin (LMT) is the largest military aircrafts manufacturer as well as being the prime contractor of the biggest defense contract ever, the $200 billion joint strike fighter program (JSF) which was signed in 2001. Lockheed Martin operates in a lot of countries and employs 145000 employees around the world, however its main offices are located in the US and UK. Lockheed Martin has acquired a lot of small competitors working in the same industry such as Loral Corporation. It further diversified its product line by acquiring the assembly lines from other competitors such as buying the F-16 Fighting Falcon manufacturing division from General Dynamics in 1993 which proved to be the most successful product in the history of arms sales.
JetBlue has a professional and experienced leadership team who dare to implement the innovations during the worst period in airline history. * David Neeleman, the owner of the company, invited David Barger who was the vice president of Continental Airlines as the president and COO of JetBlue. John Owen became JetBlue’s CFO after he had been the executive vice president and treasurer of Southwest Airlines. Additional, Neeleman also acquired about $130 million financial support from the venture-capital community. 2.
Boeing has customers in more than 90 countries world-wide and is one of the largest U.S. exporters in terms of sales. The company values innovation and is continually expanding their product line and services to meet emerging customer needs (About Us). Boeing generates $66 billion in revenues from their global aerospace and defense markets and conducts business through three operating segments. Boeing Commercial Aircraft (BCA; 50% of revenues and 49% of operating profits in 2007) and EADS's 80%-owned Airbus division are the world's only makers of 130-plus seat passenger jets. Integrated Defense Systems (IDS; 48%, 48%) is the world's second largest military contractor behind Lockheed Martin Corp. Boeing Capital Corp. (2%, 3%) primarily finances commercial aircraft for airlines (Business).
Positive attitude was the main characteristic managers were looking for when hiring new employees. Employees were often rewarded with bonuses which encouraged the initiative. JetBlue´s positive attitude within its corporation were communicated by its airline policy “never canceling flights” and provided gift vouchers for delays even if those were due to uncontrollable factors. The early growth and expansions of the company led to an unstructured corporation. JetBlue´s fast growing business model escalated with a natural disaster caused by a snowstorm in 2007.
Aerial Refueling: Historical Significance to the US Military BY JEFFREY J. QUICK American Military University May 24, 2009 HIST500 Historical Research Methods Professor Jon Mikolashek Nearly 100 years has passed since Alexander P. de Seversky, a pilot in the Imperial Russian Navy, envisioned the concept of transferring fuel from one aircraft to another while airborne. After immigrating into the United States and receiving the first-ever patent for air-to-air refueling, Seversky was quick to demonstrate his newly found capability. In a manner that looked similar to a stunt you would see at an air show, a man named Wesley May managed to clamber from the wing of a Lincoln Standard to a Curtiss JN-4 airplane. With a fuel canister strapped to his back, May was one of the first men to take fuel from one aircraft and refuel another with in-flight.
PAN AM AIRLINES VS. TRANS WORLD AIRLINES (TWA) I chose to research two American iconic airlines: PAN AM and TWA, which paved the way in the airline industry from the 1920s until their decline in the 90s and at the turn of the century. Pan American Airlines, also known as PAN AM started out as the largest international air carrier in the United States from 1927 until 1991. It was both a scheduled air mail and passenger service operating from Key West Florida and its home base in Havana, Cuba. It shaped the International Airline industry with its fresh innovations which led to it being a major airline company. Some of these innovations included the widespread use of jet aircrafts and computerized reservation systems.
BEST BUY INC. Company Overview: Best Buy is a specialty retailer of consumer electronics, home-office products, entertainment software, appliances and related services. Best Buy Company is the largest retail company, originated in United States. Best Buy is the brainchild of the company's founder and chairman, Richard M. Schulze. It was established in 1966 with the name “Sound of Music” and because of some natural disasters it renamed to “Best Buy Company” in 1983. After a tornado hit one of its stores in Roseville, MN, it held a “tornado sale”, and later reopened in 1983 under a new corporate name, “Best Buy.” (Funding Universe).
Hughes was a lifelong aircraft enthusiast pilot and aircraft engineer. Operating from Hughes Aircraft at the Glendale Airport he built one of the most technological important aircraft of its time, the H-1 racer. The H-1 Racer set an air-speed record of 352mph over a test course near Santa Anna, CA in 1936. Although his record was broken two times that year, a year later in January 19, 1937 he redesigned the H-1 Racer and set a new transcontinental air-speed record. He flew nonstop from Los Angeles to New York in 7 hours 28 minutes and 25 seconds.