ABSTRACT
At the beginning, this chapter explains features of the air transport demand and the supply as well as the factors that affect them. It emphasizes the importance for airlines to identify market segments. In addition, key performance areas with indicators that can be used by airline management, are selected and presented. Nowadays, many airlines have frequent-flyer programs designed to retain customers and obtain repeat business, so their importance and operational aspects are explored and discussed in the chapter. Moreover, cooperation among airlines is described through the varied airline alliances. The principal characteristics of network and fleet planning are, also, introduced, along with a brief overview of the network structure used by airlines and strategic decisions involving aircraft acquisition. Airline scheduling is presented starting from the planning to the operations phase and disruption management. Additionally, this chapter provides the introduction to the source of airline cost including the breakdown of total airline cost by category. Due to the central role of pricing and revenue management in airline planning activities, their fundamental concept and principles are explained together with the application to different market segments.
