During our research on the top ten airlines in the civil aviation industry, we get to know that “most national airlines depend for their livelihood on international traffic.” (O’Hanlon 2007). The brightest examples of such airlines are Delta Air Lines, Japan Airline, Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, and UAL Airlines International Airline. This teamwork provided me with an opportunity to analyze the problems and benefits of the airlines, demonstrate my analytical and researching skills, work in groups, and discuss interesting ideas from different perspectives. The civil airline industry faces too many problems today: money-losing, impact of global alliances, online selling, and financial crisis. “The developing countries represent the area of most rapid projected growth in air transport, but they also experience the most difficulty in arranging to finance.” (Seitz 1985) The variety of national airlines and the quality of services they offer considerably influence the process of examining these airlines; it is not that easy to identify which airline company is the best one and which services are worth attention and use. I have an excellent opportunity to examine the airline industry and its development and get the necessary support from my group mates.
From the very beginning, I was deeply involved in the process of working in groups. It provides me with an opportunity not only to cooperate with my fellows but also to lead some activities. One of the problems we faced at the beginning is a lack of experience in organizing and planning actions. One of my roles as a researcher. I tried to use as many sources as possible in order to present valid and exciting information. “The airline business will become no different from any other multinational industry.” (Doganis 2001) Each airline tries to attract the attention of passengers by high-quality services, a variety of aircraft, and the availability of tickets. Each season, different airlines create more and more beneficial conditions “to compete more effectively with their transatlantic competitors.” (Doganis 2006)
On the one hand, there were too many positive aspects of this activity. I was the first who found out catchy material and present it to the rest of my work; I could learn the information from the primary sources and enlarge my knowledge about the services different airlines offered. For example, UAL Airlines International Airline services to more than 200 destinations in more than 80 countries. It has the third-largest passenger airline fleet in the world, when combined with UAL Airline Company City Line, Air Dolomiti, Euro wings, German wings, Augsburg Airways, Contact Air, and SWISS, operating 531 aircraft. (Norwood 2002)
On the other hand, I could not avoid specific difficulties: lack of time, a huge variety of sources, and the inability to explain all the material to my team. However, after my investigation, I had a clear idea of which airline companies are worth my attention and which ones are not. It is necessary to admit that “Air France-KLM which was shown as the most effective carrier in Europe in 1994 was established in 1919 and officially established as AIR FRANCE KLM Group in 2004 which contributed the cost savings as well as increased KLM’s market share.” (Michaels 2006)
Nevertheless, the results of my investigations were right, indeed. The necessary material was successfully gathered, analyzed from different perspectives, and described in the group report. With the help of this group report, I have learned a lot about the airlines, their services, and other necessary details. The group report also helped to see and analyze the mistakes made by my fellows and me during the investigations. The purposes, such as evaluation of the work of different airlines, the examination of their advantages and disadvantages, and analysis of their development have been achieved. The support of my team, its organization, and our unity helped me to not only enlarge my knowledge but also discover excellent researching skills. I have learned a lot about careers in airports and airplanes (Collins 2002) and got to know that deregulations that took place at all air companies considerably influenced productivity (Bailey 1989). To my mind, this project may be continued and investigated more deeply. To achieve this purpose, it is better to interview professionals, airline experts, and pay more attention to public opinion.
Reference List
Anselmo J.C. (2008) Commentary. “Aviation Week & Space Technology.”
Bailey E. E., Graham D. R., Kaplan D. P. (1989) “Deregulating the Airlines,” MIT Press.
Collins, V. R. (2002) “Careers in Airlines and Airports,” Kogan Page Publisher.
Davies, R.E.G (1983) “A History of the World’s Airlines,” Ams Pr Inc.
Davies, R.E.G., Machat, M. (1991) “Lufthansa: An Airline and Its Aircraft.” Paladar Press.
Delta Airlines. (2002) Web.
Doganis, R (2001) “The Airline Business in the Twenty-first Century,” Routledge, United Kingdom.
Doganis, R (2006) “The Airline Business,” Routledge, United Kingdom.
Itō T., Krueger, A.O. (2000) “Deregulation and Interdependence in the Asia-Pacific Region,” Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Jones, G. (2003) “Delta Air Lines: 75 Years of Airline Excellence”, Arcadia Publishing.
Michaels, D. (2006) “Behind Easing of Airline Rules, KLM’s 20-Year Urge to Merge; Dutch Carrier’s Various Links Pushed Legal Boundaries; Inventing Code Sharing: Mr. Van Wijk’s cigar-box Plan”, Wall Street Journal Europe.
Norwood, Tom; Wegg, John (2002), “North American Airlines Handbook” (3rd Ed), Sandpoint, ID: Airways International.
O’Hanlon, A. (2007) “Global Airlines,” Elsevier.
Seitz F. (1985) “The Competitive Status of the U. S. Civil Aviation Manufacturing Industry: A Study of the Influence of Technology in Determining International Industrial Competitive Advantage,” National Academic Press.
Szurovy G., Berinstein, M. (2003) “Classic American Airlines,” St. Paul, MN: Zenith Imprint.