Publications

December 2024
Supplement

Norse Atlantic Airways

By: Willy C. Shih

Charles Duncan discusses the jobs that customers hire Norse Atlantic Airways to do, and the challenges associated with its low-cost long-haul business model View Details

Keywords: Air Transportation; Air Transportation Industry; Europe; United States

McLean revolutionized the centuries-old shipping industry by developing the first safe, reliable, and cost-effective approach to transporting containerized cargo. By pioneering containerized shipping, McLean soon dominated the shipping... View Details

Keywords: Transportation

01 Jun 2014
News

Ready for Takeoff

previous World Cup and Olympic hosts. But the country's lack of transportation alternatives—particularly a useful rail system—has also put an extraordinarily heavy burden on the airlines to move fans to disparate match sites. "I don't... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell; Air Transportation; Air Transportation

2017
Government Testimony

Passenger Right to Record—Petition for Rulemaking

By: Benjamin Edelman and Mike Borsetti

We ask DOT to affirm that passengers have the right to record what they lawfully see and hear on and around aircraft. We explain why such recordings are in the public interest, and we present the troubling experiences of passengers who have tried to record but have... View Details

Keywords: Aviation; Consumer Protection; Recording; Video; Audio; Privacy; Social Media; Air Transportation; Rights; Contracts; Air Transportation Industry

Read Now

2002
Other Unpublished Work

Make versus Buy in Trucking: Asset Ownership, Job Design and Information

By: George P. Baker and Thomas N. Hubbard

Keywords: Truck Transportation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Ownership; Transportation Industry

Read Now

March 2024 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Doing Business in Buenos Aires, Argentina

By: Joseph B. Fuller, 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

July 1984 (Revised April 1997)
Case

British Airways

By: John A. Quelch

British Airways (BA) has recently introduced a global advertising campaign. The development of the campaign and its implementation are discussed. BA and advertising agency executives must renew the campaign and resolve issues pertaining to its future direction. View Details

Keywords: Air Transportation; Globalization; Advertising Campaigns; Air Transportation Industry; England

Praised by his employees at American, Smith led the passenger transport revolution in the airline industry. Under Smith’s guidance, American became the first airline to use the popular DC-3 planes in 1936, allowing the carrier to turn its... View Details

Keywords: Transportation

2000
Other Unpublished Work

Fettered Flight: Globalization and the Airline Industry

By: Richard H. K. Vietor, Daniel Yergin and Peter C. Evans

Keywords: Air Transportation; Globalized Markets and Industries; Air Transportation Industry

December 1974 (Revised February 1985)
Case

Southwest Airlines (A)

Southwest Airlines, a small intrastate carrier serving Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, begins service in 1971 in the face of competition by two larger, entrenched airlines. Improved quality service, lower prices, and innovative advertising and promotional strategy... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Marketing Strategy; Air Transportation; Air Transportation Industry; Texas

June 1975
Case

Marsh & McLennan (B)

Presents the results of a computer simulation of aircraft hull insurance. Discussion will focus on the interpretation of the results described. Designed to be handed out in class. Rewrite of an earlier supplement by P. Vatter. View Details

Keywords: Air Transportation; Insurance; Air Transportation Industry; Air Transportation Industry

02 May 2016
News

Can Brian Shortsleeve Fix the MBTA’s Budget Woes?

The Boston Globe has a long feature on Brian Shortsleeve (MBA 2001), the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s (MBTA) new chief administrator. The piece notes Shortsleeve’s challenge: $5.5 billion in debt and a $7 billion... View Details

June 2002
Case

Tale of Two Airlines in the Network Age: Or Why the Spirit of King George III Is Alive and Well!

By: F. Warren McFarlan

Describes an airline service incident that ought not to have happened in the network age. Inadequate use of available technology creates service problems. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Air Transportation; Information Management; Information Technology; Service Delivery; Problems and Challenges; Air Transportation Industry

February 1999 (Revised November 2000)
Case

FlightSafety International (A)

Describes the flight training industry and its premier competitor, FlightSafety International. Traces the rise and subsequent slowdown in the growth of this firm. View Details

Keywords: Safety; Strategy; Value Creation; Air Transportation; Business Growth and Maturation; Air Transportation Industry

Find at Harvard

1983
Other Unpublished Work

Orbiting Space Observatory - HBS Analysis and Decision Case

By: J. Ronald Fox

Keywords: Decision Making; Air Transportation; Science; Air Transportation Industry; Air Transportation Industry

October 2019 (Revised June 2020)
Supplement

Airbus vs. Boeing (G): New Planes and Upgrades (2011)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

This case describes the first commercial flight of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner in 2011, three years after originally planned, as well as the first commercial flight of Airbus' superjumbo, the A380, in 2007. It also describes the companies' current endeavors in 2011,... View Details

Keywords: Airbus; Boeing; Product Development; Air Transportation; Projects; Competition; Air Transportation Industry; Air Transportation Industry

September 2016 (Revised August 2018)
Supplement

United Airlines: More Out-and-Back Flying?: Case Supplement #1

By: Ryan W. Buell, Willy C. Shih and Michael W. Toffel

This spreadsheet supplement accompanies 617-010 United Airlines: More Out-and-Back Flying? and is intended to provide students with an opportunity to apply analysis concepts with real operational data. View Details

Keywords: Service; Service Excellence; Service Management; Operating Systems; Operational Complexity; Operational Disruptions; Operational Efficiency; Operational Focus; Air Transportation; Operations; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Air Transportation Industry; United States