Publications

Find at Harvard

02 Aug 2016
First Look

August 2, 2016

https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/315046-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 116-047 RegionFly: Cutting Costs in the Airline Industry RegionFly is a small, private airline specializing in... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

30 Dec 2014
News

The Future Of Air Travel Is 'Hell On Wings'

2020
Working Paper

Performance Hacking: The Contagious Business Practice that Corrodes Corporate Culture, Undermines Core Values, and Damages Great Companies

By: Robert D. Austin and Richard L. Nolan

August 7, 1955 is an important date in commercial aviation history. You could say it began the jet airliner age, though other dates might also qualify. Jet engines had proven successful in military aircraft. But no one knew then whether members of the general public... View Details

Keywords: Performance; Organizational Culture; Values and Beliefs

SSRN

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19 Feb 2013
News

Big Deal: Reflections on the American and US Airways Megamerger

04 May 2010
First Look

First Look: May 4

PublicationsAnnual Review of Financial Economics Editors:Andrew W. Lo and Robert C. Merton Publication:Vol. 1. Palo Alto: Annual Reviews, 2009 An abstract is unavailable at this time. Publisher's Book Abstract: http://www.annualreviews.org/catalog/2009/fe01.aspx... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

November 1978 (Revised June 1982)
Case

Federal Express (B)

Federal Express is a small-package airline operating throughout the United States. After initial heavy losses, it is now profitable. Management is examining the services offered by the firm and believes that there is great potential for "Courier Pak," an overnight... View Details

Keywords: Product; Product Marketing; Air Transportation Industry; Service Industry; United States

Article

Can You Cut 'Turn Times' Without Adding Staff?

By: Ethan Bernstein and Ryan W. Buell

The president of RSA Ground, the subsidiary of Rising Sun Airlines responsible for servicing its planes at airports across Japan, goes undercover as a service crew member to discover how and whether his employees can speed up cleaning, checking, restocking, and... View Details

Keywords: Employee Empowerment; Employee Motivation; Turnaround; Service Operations; Employees; Motivation and Incentives; Leadership; Air Transportation Industry; Japan

Read Now

20 May 2014
News

Mastering the Intermediaries

July 1996 (Revised January 1997)
Case

Northwest Airlines: Brush with Bankruptcy (A)--November 1992

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Davis Dyer

Deals with Northwest's financial crisis between the fall of 1992 and the following spring. Northwest's leaders face the problem of how to meet an impending $600 million payment on the 1989 LBO loan when the airline had run out of cash. Concludes by outlining options... View Details

Keywords: Air Transportation; Restructuring; Leveraged Buyouts; Crisis Management; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Strategy; Financial Crisis; Air Transportation Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

June 2020 (Revised October 2020)
Case

What Went Wrong with Boeing's 737 Max?

By: William W. George and Amram Migdal

This case describes the development of the Boeing 737 Max airplane model and the events leading up to two tragic plane crashes, in which a total of 346 people died: the crash of Lion Air flight 610 on October 29, 2018, in Indonesia, and the crash of Ethiopian Airlines... View Details

Keywords: Communication; Communication Intention and Meaning; Communication Strategy; Forms of Communication; Announcements; Decision Making; Decision Choices and Conditions; Judgments; Ethics; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Globalization; Global Strategy; Governance; Corporate Accountability; Governance Controls; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Leadership; Leadership Style; Management; Business or Company Management; Crisis Management; Management Practices and Processes; Management Skills; Management Style; Management Systems; Risk Management; Time Management; Markets; Demand and Consumers; Digital Platforms; Supply and Industry; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Industry Structures; Operations; Product Development; Organizations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Outcome or Result; Failure; Success; Planning; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Relationships; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Risk and Uncertainty; Safety; Strategy; Transportation; Air Transportation; Aerospace Industry; Air Transportation Industry; Africa; Ethiopia; Asia; Indonesia; North and Central America; United States; Seattle; Chicago

March 1995 (Revised April 1995)
Case

UAL Corporation

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Jeremy Cott

In the largest attempted employee-buyout in history, a large U.S. commercial airline seeks substantial wage concessions from its employees in return for 53% stake in the airline's commmon stock and guaranteed seats on the board of directors. Management must convince... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Corporate Governance; Labor; Wages; Management Teams; Employee Ownership; Business and Shareholder Relations; Strategy; Value; United States

June 1994 (Revised March 1995)
Case

Swissair's Alliances (A)

By: David B. Yoffie

Swissair established two alliance networks in 1989 in order to improve its competitiveness. In order to evaluate the benefits of the alliances, Swissair's history, products, and cost structure are described, as is the international airline industry and the major... View Details

Keywords: Alliances; Competitive Strategy; Globalization; Air Transportation Industry

November 1995 (Revised January 1998)
Case

Transformation of Pratt & Whitney North Haven (A)

By: H. Kent Bowen, Linda A. Hill, Andrew P. Burtis, Sylvie Ryckebusch and John Schiavone

Pratt & Whitney is a leader in the development and manufacturing of gas turbine engines for commercial and military aircraft. Economic conditions for the airline and defense industries are forcing the airplane engine builders to restructure. Ed Northern, a new general... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Restructuring; Production; Opportunities; Economy; Aerospace Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Connecticut

2012
Article

Demand and Capacity Management in Air Transportation

This paper summarizes research trends and opportunities in the area of managing air transportation demand and capacity. Capacity constraints and resulting congestion and low schedule reliability currently impose large costs on airlines and their passengers. Significant... View Details

Keywords: Demand Management; Capacity Management; Mathematical Modeling; Congestion And Delays; Trends And Opportunities; Demand and Consumers; Air Transportation; Mathematical Methods; Performance Capacity; Air Transportation Industry

March 2024
Case

Doing Business in Buenos Aires, Argentina

By: Alan D. MacCormack, Nori Gerardo Lietz, Leonard A. Schlesinger, Karina Souza and Zeke Gillman

This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Argentina. It highlights Argentina's economic and political transformation in the decades leading up to 2024. The case gives an overview of some of the main obstacles faced by businesses operating... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Business and Government Relations; Corporate Strategy; Transformation; Economy; Air Transportation; Air Transportation Industry; Transportation Industry; Argentina; Latin America; Buenos Aires

December 2013 (Revised August 2015)
Case

Viva Macau (A)

By: Dante Roscini and G. A. Donovan

A fast-growing Macau-based airline backed by private US investors faces a dramatic expropriation in the wake of the first change of head of government since the former Portuguese colony became a Special Administrative Region of China. The case allows students to... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Air Transportation; Ownership; Foreign Direct Investment; Government and Politics; Emerging Markets; Venture Capital; China; Macau

October 2019
Supplement

Airbus vs. Boeing (L): Discontinuing the A380 (February 2019)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

This case describes Airbus’ February 2019 announcement that it was ending production of the A380, with the last delivery scheduled for 2021. The announcement followed an order cancellation by Emirates, a major customer of the A380. The A380 had faced significant... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Air Transportation; Projects; Competition; Air Transportation Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States; Europe