Publications

November 2023 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Norse Atlantic Airways

By: Willy Shih

Bjørn Tore Larsen, Norse Atlantic Airways' founder and CEO, hadn't planned to get into the airline business. But when the COVID-19 pandemic depressed the global demand for air travel and the lease rates for jetliners, he realized if ever he was going to get into the... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Market Entry and Exit; Leasing; Business Strategy; Segmentation; Interest Rates; Air Transportation Industry; Europe; North America; Norway; United Kingdom; United States

Teaching Interest

Business Opportunties in Climate Adaptation

By: John D. Macomber

This is a Short Intensive Program or SIP at Harvard Business School. It’s an optional student offering prior to the formal start of the Spring semester the following week. SIPs tend to cover new material on current topics, to be less formal than the HBS Case Study... View Details

Keywords: Resilience; Climate Risk; Climate Impact; Fire Protection; Insurance Risk Exposure; Hedge Fund; Public Health; Public Health Measures; Climate Change; Adaptation; Infrastructure; Transportation Industry; Transportation Industry; Transportation Industry; United States; Africa; Latin America

05 Jul 2022
What Do You Think?

Have We Seen the Peak of Just-in-Time Inventory Management?

those days, there was fascination with air freight and the trade-off of inventory and transportation costs—as in spending more for air transport... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Transportation; Transportation; Transportation

2002
Case

Southwest Airlines

By: Vijay Govindarajan and Julie Lang

Southwest used its short-haul and point-to-point strategy to achieve the lowest operating cost structure in the domestic airline industry. Flexible contracts and a rigorous peer recruiting process aligned its 35,000 employees with this strategy. View Details

Keywords: Cost; Air Transportation; Business Strategy; Air Transportation Industry

January 2014
Case

Emirates Airline: Connecting the Unconnected

By: Juan Alcacer and John Clayton

Narrates the story of Emirates, an airline founded in 1985 in Dubai that by 2013 was among the three largest commercial airlines in the world. The case emphasizes how Emirates capitalized on its location—a small city–state strategically located to reach ¾ of the world... View Details

Keywords: Sustainable Competitive Advantage; Airlines; Multinational; Location Strategies; Geographic Location; Multinational Firms and Management; Air Transportation; Competitive Advantage; Business Strategy; Air Transportation Industry; Middle East; Dubai

May 2017 (Revised March 2018)
Case

David Dao on United Airlines

By: Benjamin Edelman and Jenny Sanford

In widely circulated videos, United staff and Chicago security forcibly remove a passenger from his paid seat on an aircraft, injuring him severely. United leadership must decide how to respond to public outcry. View Details

Keywords: Crisis Management; Service Operations; Air Transportation; Contracts; Reputation; Air Transportation Industry; Chicago

June 1991 (Revised September 1996)
Case

Human Resource Management at American Airlines

American Airlines' strategy calls for continued growth, improvements in customer service, and cost reduction. This case examines the Human Resource Management system at American Airlines and its role in the airline's past and continued success. May be used with... View Details

Keywords: Air Transportation; Management Systems; Human Resources; Business Strategy; Air Transportation Industry; United States

March 2021 (Revised August 2024)
Case

Hotwire.com: Navigating Through Turbulence

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Manny de Zarraga and Eric Levine

On September 10, 2001, after speaking at an industry conference at New York’s World Trade Center, Hotwire co-founder Spencer Rascoff boarded a flight from Newark to San Francisco. After returning home, Rascoff awoke the next morning to a phone call informing him that... View Details

Keywords: September 11; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Growth and Maturation; Disruption; Decisions; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Growth Management; Digital Platforms; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Expansion; Internet and the Web; Leading Change; Leadership Style; Air Transportation Industry; Air Transportation Industry; San Francisco

April 1996 (Revised November 1996)
Case

BAE Automated Systems (A): Denver International Airport Baggage-Handling System

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Ramiro Montealegre, Carin-Isabel Knoop and H. James Nelson

Describes the events surrounding the construction of the BAE baggage-handling system at the Denver International Airport. It looks specifically at project management, including decisions regarding budget, scheduling, and the overall management structure. Also examines... View Details

Keywords: Management; Decisions; Contracts; Time Management; Problems and Challenges; Projects; Budgets and Budgeting; Air Transportation Industry; Air Transportation Industry; Colorado

September 2001 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Rapid Rewards at Southwest Airlines

By: Frances X. Frei and Corey B. Hajim

Southwest Airlines is well known as the low-fare airline that has achieved ongoing financial success in one of the most financially troubled industries in the United States. Told from the perspectives of two Southwest customers--a frequent flier and a more typical... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Air Transportation; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Air Transportation Industry

August 2014 (Revised September 2016)
Case

ANA (A)

By: Doug J. Chung and Mayuka Yamazaki

All Nippon Airways (ANA) became the largest airline in Japan in 2013. Having been designated as a domestic carrier by the Japanese government till the mid-1980s and Japan being the sixth largest domestic airline market, two-thirds of ANA’s passenger revenue came from... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Analysis; Economics; Price; Marketing Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Product; Policy; Air Transportation Industry; Japan

September 2016 (Revised July 2018)
Case

United Airlines: More Out-and-Back Flying?

By: Ryan W. Buell, Willy Shih and Mike Toffel

This case looks at United Airlines when it is facing a decision on whether to shift its aircraft routing to more "out-and-back" routing in order to try to improve its on-time performance. As one of the world's largest airlines, United had a very large fleet and... View Details

April 1983 (Revised October 2000)
Case

People Express (A)

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Debra Whitestone

Describes the start up, strategy, organizational design, and operations over the first eighteen months of the airline. Focuses on the creative use of human resources as an integral part of the business strategy. View Details

Keywords: Human Capital; Air Transportation; Organizational Design; Operations; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Air Transportation Industry; United States

March 2024 (Revised February 2025)
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; Air Transportation Industry; Argentina; Latin America; Buenos Aires

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; Business Model; Air Transportation Industry; Europe; United States