RUNNING HEAD: AMERICAN AIRLINES American Airlines and US Airway’s Merger By Aveon Sims Strayer University BUS 508 Contemporary Business Professor Jean Fonkoua August 24, 2014 Abstract American Airlines has suffered tremendous profit losses over the last few years. The losses have been so great that the company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The news for the Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection was a shock to many, considering the fact that they had enough money to operate and cover their losses through the following year. The merger indeed was a great decision on behalf of American Airlines. The merger itself was questionable.
In implementing these key ideas, WestJet has been one of the most profitable airlines in North America. WestJet receives over 155,000 resumes a year from people in the airline industry and others with no airline industry qualifications at all. Surprisingly, they tend not to hire the ones with experience. WestJet is not your typical bureaucratic organization like most of the other airlines. It is assumed WestJet does not want to hire competitor employees because their work ethic is so off from what WestJet has portrayed in their work force.
Last year, because the price of oil had raised to $150 a barrel many CUPE members lost monthly flying time. To cut its losses, the airline has already cancelled many flights to US and European cities. It look this is not going to be easy year for our domestic air line. Beside, surviving harsh economy, Air Canada has to also co-operate with the union. Disagreement with workers can make things much
The pay was low and when willing to work for less entered the job market, the pay went lower. Sometimes pilots were required to fly more than 120 hours a month, in bad weather and against their better judgment. But company management made it clear that if a pilot didn’t want to fly, there was always one who would. The first pilot union was formed in 1930, by a small group of pilots who set up the Airline Line Pilots Association (A.L.P.A. ), an organization that would go on American Airlines pilots.
Presently, gas prices have dropped. However, the airlines continue to pass along the fees to its passengers to increase revenue. Clearly, the fees that began originally in response to fuel prices continue to be part of the revenue generating strategies of airlines. (2) Shortage of Pilots: As baby boomers retire by the thousands, the airline industry is experiencing a shortage of pilots. Before becoming captains, pilots must earn sufficient fly hours.
After two straight years of financial losses in 1994, CEO Ron Allen rolled out a new strategy called “Leadership 7.5.” Allen targeted to reduce Delta’s cost per each available seat mile from more than 10 cents to 7.5 cents, which would match that of major competitor Southwest Airlines (Bryant, 1997). Along with a new company strategy a change followed with Delta’s human resource strategy. This changing policy devastated employee morale and resulted in a decline of customer service, efforts to unionize, and dissatisfaction among personnel. Delta couldn’t keep the past primary policy about human resources so there were several significant changes in Delta’s organization and corporate culture. There are many programs that Delta has built after passing through the cost-cutting reformation in 1997 for getting back its capabilities on customer relationships like rewards and recognition program above and beyond and more.
I. KEY ISSUE In 2007, the CEO of JetBlue Airways, David Barger, faced an immediate survival issue as the company struggled to overcome a major operational failure during a difficult time in the airline industry when fuel prices were increasing tremendously and the profitability levels were low. Barger knew he should move quickly to maintain the confidence of customers, employees, and shareholders. He considered the option of reducing either E190 or A320 deliveries in order to maintain low costs as the company was not ready to continue growth in the E190 regional market segment. II.
It has also deferred the delivery of the last eight A380 super jumbos it has on order, as well as the last three of 14 new 787 Dreamliners due for Jetstar. It will also shelve growth plans for Singaporean budget offshoot Jetstar Asia amid intense competition with other budget airlines in the region. Qantas shares fell sharply Thursday, down about 6.5 per cent at $1.1875. Qantas declared a statutory loss of $235 million for the six months to December, compared with a $109 million profit in the same period a year earlier. Revenue fell 4 per cent to $7.9 billion.
Due to rebound of travel budgets, airlines are now competing for premium customers. Business Class customers are now the main source of income to airlines, and its even difficult for passengers to find business-class seats available. As Eric Shaver, a managing director for a consulting and training firm called Kensei Partners, says, " It has been harder to get up-graded to first class these days because so many frequent fliers are crowding the air." So he had seen evidence of this trend this year. He continues, "On flight back from London last year, there were five rows of empty seats.
Before deciding if United Airlines should discontinue flights between San Francisco and Washington D.C, it is important to understand what type of market structure in which the airline industry operates. This industry follows an oligopolistic structure. In an oligopolistic market, “few firms produce most of the outputs (Brickley, Smith & Zimmerman, 2009)”. An oligopoly exists when four firms have more than 50% of the market (“Airline Competition”, 2013). In 2009, these four airlines included, Delta & Northwest, American Airlines, United Airlines, and Continental.