Strategic Discussion on U.S Airline Industry

According to MBASkool (2015), a SWOT analysis has been completed to show some of the opportunities and threats that American Airlines faces. They are listed as follows:

This document will be using Porter’s Five Forces Model and a Political, Economic, Social, and Technological (PEST) analysis to conduct an external analysis on Southwest Airlines.

In recent years the Airline Industry in Europe has experienced good levels of growth. Despite instances of deceleration the market is forecasted to remain stable producing moderate growth through to the end of the forecast period in 2018. According to a report issued by MarketLine in 2014 the European Airlines industry had total revenues of $180,945.8m in 2013, which represented a compound annual growth rate

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

P. Airlines are subject to extensive regulatory and legal requirements issued by The Department of Transportation and The Federal Aviation Administration. The industry has to comply with laws and regulations not only domestically but also internationally which requires significant spending. After 9/11, many new security measures have been put into practice, resulting in expenditures for equipment, training the personnel, federal and airport charges, security taxes and etc.

American airline industry is steadily growing at an extremely strong rate. This growth comes with a number economic and social advantage. This contributes a great deal to the international inventory. The US airline industry is a major economic aspect in both the outcome on other related industries like tourism and manufacturing of aircraft and its own terms of operation. The airline industry is receiving massive media attention unlike other industries through participating and making of government policies. As Hoffman and Bateson (2011) show the major competitors include Southwest Airlines, Delta Airline, and United Airline.

1. There are a few trends in the US airline industry. One is consolidation, wherein existing players merge in an attempt to lower their costs and generate operating synergies. The most recent major merger was the United Continental merger, which is still an ongoing affair, but has created the largest airline in the United States by market share (Martin, 2012). Another trend is towards low-cost carriers. In the US, Southwest has been a long-running success and JetBlue a strong new competitor, but in other countries this business model has proven exceptionally successful. The third major trend is the upward trend in jet fuel prices, and the increasing importance that this puts on hedging fuel prices and capacity management (Hinton, 2011).

The domestic airline industry transports 711 million souls a year. That translates into a staggering $709 billion a year revenue flow (statista.com). One firm, named Southwest Airlines, accounts for 18.3 percent of that market. That 18.3 percent market share places Southwest at the number two spot, behind American Airlines. How does Southwest Airlines successfully compete and thrive in this environment? How do they differentiate themselves from the hoards of legacy carriers? Southwest Airlines encapsulates its strategy in a simple statement: “Meet customers’ short-haul travel needs at fares competitive with the cost of automobile travel (Grant, p.23). As a pioneer in low cost air travel, Southwest has successfully brought down airfares through its short route point-to-point business model, “no-frills” service, single flight strategy, and highly productive employees (Cederholm, 2014). In the following analysis we will investigate Southwest Airlines standing within the industry as a whole and their differentiation models driving success. We will also identify the firm’s competitive advantages as they relate to similar firms in the industry.

The industry has taken somewhat of a beating economically following the disaster of September 11. That is, people have not been anxious to fly, regardless of price cuts across the boards. This is slowly changing, yet in the meantime, select airlines have been forced to seek government aid, even having to go as far as filing for chapter 11.

When thinking about airline companies, most people naturally gravitate to the big name carriers of current times. Delta, American, United, and Southwest usually top the list of companies that come to mind when discussing airline companies. Throughout history, however, a multitude of airlines have operated in the United States and abroad. Some of these merged or were bought by other companies forming the mega airlines we see today. Others were not so fortunate. The airline industry is a complicated business with high costs and narrow profit margins. Many airlines have simply succumbed to these challenges unable to turn a profit. One of these companies, most people have

Based on the case study, and on online and offline research into Southwest Airline’s current state, complete the following Tasks:

There have been few inventions to change how people live and experience the world considerably as the creation of the airplane. Today, traveling by air has become the norm and it would be difficult to imagine life without it. Air travel has improved the way people are able to conduct business by shortening travel time and changing their thought of distance. The companies within the airline industry exist in a very competitive market. One of those companies, Southwest Airlines, features low-fare, no-frills air service with frequent flights of mostly short routes. Costs are kept down by the exclusive use of Boeing 737 aircraft, which allows for low maintenance costs and quicker turnaround times for flights, and by an emphasis on ticketless travel (Encyclopedia Britannica). This paper will address two segments of the general environment and how they affect Southwest and the airline industry; evaluate how Southwest has addressed two forces of competition; predict what Southwest might do to improve its ability to addresses these forces; assess the external threats affecting Southwest; discuss Southwest’s greatest strengths and most significant weaknesses; determine Southwest’s resources, capabilities, and core competencies; and analyze their value chain.

The airline industry is interpreted as being very unstable due to the immediate reaction to tragedies. The airline industry was affected following the September 11th tragedy and it affected other industries indirectly. The airline industry plays a key role in

The U.S. airline industry has been in a chaotic state for a number of years. In 1993, a U.S. government report indicated that the industry had “Lost huge amounts of money in the past three years, and it has never made a sustained, substantial return on investment…” According to the Air Transport Association, the airline industry trade association, the loss from 1990 through 1994 was about $13 billion, while from 1995 through 2000, the airlines earned about $23 billion and then lost about $35 billion from 2001 through 2005. Early in 2006 the association expected about a $10 billion loss in 2005.

It may be lower risk in in the aviation markets because of entry regulations that a high level of governmental barriers to open the freedom of flights, also the industry needs high fixed costs and assets of airline operation, but based on the increasing demand of travelers by air, it's given the high intensity of rivalry.