Industry Analysis: Bargaining Power of Buyers

The airline industry is a hyper-competitive marketplace as many airlines have gone out of business

Suppliers generally have a moderate to high bargaining power within the industry due to the limited number of suppliers which forces aviation companies to choose from the number available and accordingly to accept their prices. In fact, fuel is the second highest cost for aviation companies. There are highly depended on supplier’s prices and the availability which indicates on a relatively high bargaining power of suppliers. In addition, there are high switching costs which are strongly in favor of the suppliers and means that the company experiences an increase in operating costs when switching to another supplier as flying another type of aircraft leads to additional costs (maintenance, training etc.).Aircrafts are vulnerable to delays due to the location of gate locations which leads to a decrease in utilization and therefore to an increase in costs.

Overall, the five forces model suggests that the overall intensity of competition in the airline industry is likely to be severe. Back in the early 1980 's competition was very intense. During the late 1980 's the monopolization of major routes by a few major carriers, the limited availability of free landing spots at major hubs and the emergence of limited brand loyalty and tacit price agreements have all helped reduce the intensity of competition. However, as already mentioned, slumping demand in the early 1990 's plunged the industry once more into a severe price war. Airline travel is a commodity-type product, with limited potential for differentiation.

The last part of industry analysis is about rivalry. In aviation industry, the rivalry is very drastic. This industry develops slowly or even stagnant and it is mature in recent period. There is no new company established in developed areas and also there is no major firm going broken. Most of survivals are big companies. All of them have abundant capital and ample operating experience and hold a relatively fixed percentage of market. In long run, the number of airline companies does not change. In another word, the cake is divided up. However, people define business with a ward, for profit. If airline companies want to share more percentage of market, they must seize other companies’ part.

Power rests with the suppliers in the form of price and quality of supplies. Suppliers can increase the price or lower the quality of their goods and services. The power of supplier in the Indian airline industry is immense because of the three major inputs from the supplier are all affected by the external environment. These 3 factors and the power of supplier for each component is explained below.

The risk of entry into the airline industry by potential competitors is low due to the “liberalization of market access, a result of globalization. According to the IATA (International Air Transport Association), about 1,300 new airlines were established in the last 40 years,” (Cederholm, 2016). The cost structure of businesses in an industry is a determinant of rivalry. In the Airlines Industry, fixed costs are high, because before the organization can make any sales, they must invest in air crafts, fuel and service employees. These items come attached with hefty price tags. Industries that require such enormous amounts of start-up capital as predicted by many analysts

Competitive rivalry: Airline industry can be characterized as imperfect oligopoly. There are several big airlines that dominate in long-distance flights and several smaller airlines compete for short-distance flights. The competition and price sensitive buyers lower the returns airlines receive. This market situation is favorable for a company like JetBlue, which differentiated itself by comfort at low price, but this can be easily duplicated by other companies.

Hard to compete against the large airlines not only for customers but space at the airports for their airplanes.

Market structure can be defined as patterns of behaviour by enterprises in an effort to adjust to the markets in which they operate (buy or sell). Pricing strategies and collusive behaviour mergers are a few dimensions of market conduct. It is the industry norm for a legacy carrier to offer service to most popular destinations; Delta reducing routes to a similar schedule as the low-cost airlines is not an option in the multi-billion dollar industry. In order to gain market share from low-cost airlines, Delta must create a value proposition that differentiates itself from its competitors. Many customers will pay a premium if the level of service provided is higher than the low-cost, no-frills

The airline industry has always been a fiercely competitive sector. Since the invention of low-cost carriers, also known as no-frills or

The supplier power in airlines is dominated by the world’s two largest aircraft manufacturers are Airbus and Boeing. The competition between the two manufacturers is neck to neck but that would prove to be a boon for Emirates as the prices would not rocket through the ceiling. A study shows that Emirates holds 93 Boeing aircrafts and 83 Airbus units (Planespotters, 2009). In 2007, Emirates purchased 81 Airbus flights, to extend it services- however, they chose Airbus over Boeing as the latter failed to deliver its latest aircrafts on time and moreover, Airbus had quoted a good price (Barryl, 2007). The changing oil prices also have an adverse effect on the aviation industry. In a nutshell, the bargaining power of suppliers is high.

Aircraft industry has only small suppliers while the customers are all over the world. As above mentioned the industry requires large complex cooperate alliances in its hierarchy, only few countries having high tech industry basis are able to

The Airline Industry is in an interesting situation. Simply adding a low cost alternative is not enough in the industry. The Internet has made the power of buyers grow with the transparency of ticket prices. This is not something that will change any time soon. Because of this profitability is predominately reserved for low-cost yet distinctive carriers. No consumer wants to ride what they consider a “lesser” airline. Airlines need a way to distinguish themselves from one another while also acknowledging the increased power of buyers.

The probability of power of suppliers would be low-medium risk. The bargaining powers of suppliers are low due to the limited numbers in the industry. This gives Boeing a high degree of control over the suppliers. Since Boeing started as an engineering company, they provide suppliers with unique features to decorate the crafts and supply parts. But if Boeing needed certain parts from their suppliers, their bargaining power can decrease. Boeing can also lose more bargaining power if government created new laws on making planes more eco-friendly. This would cause Boeing to purchase new parts just to follow the new rules and regulation.

For example, Boeing and Airbus supply most commercial aircraft. The concentration within the suppliers segment of the industry makes it very difficult for competitors to exercise leverage over another supplier and obtain lower prices. The power of the supplier is one key in prohibiting the ability of competitors to earn higher profits.