ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on explaining the planning and operations phases of the airline. It explains the set of interrelated planning processes, including schedule planning, time banking, fleet assignment, aircraft routing, crew scheduling, airport facility planning, airport staff scheduling, pricing and seat inventory control, and sales and marketing initiatives. The maintenance crew is responsible for servicing and repairing the aircraft to make sure that it is operational. The book highlights the main challenges of airline management that elaborate the complexity of the airline decision-making process. Airline management does not work independently of other players in the air transportation industry. Aviation provides the only transportation network across the globe and it is crucial for global business development and tourism enrichment. The book explains the business process of scheduled airlines, although many of the processes are also applicable to charter airlines.
