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The aviation sector, essential for global trade, tourism, and cultural interaction, has evolved from a luxury to a vital economic component, generating billions annually. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has drastically reduced air travel demand and revenue, leading many airlines into financial distress, insolvency, and potential bankruptcy. This study examines the legal and policy frameworks addressing aviation insolvency, historical and contemporary causes of financial distress, and the impact on airline employees, clients, and suppliers. It evaluates government bailout programs and the role of aviation leasing companies and financiers in the bankruptcy process. Additionally, the study analyzes cross-border bankruptcy issues and their effects on global coordination. Besides discussing alternative funding and investment models for the industry’s recovery, the paper offers insights and recommendations for policymakers, to ensure the aviation sector’s long-term viability and resilience postpandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Airline efficiency growth is considered one of the key factors for aviation sustainability in Africa and for creating a successful relationship between aviation activities and economic development in the continent. This paper proposes estimating the efficiency of African airlines in the period 2010–2019 using a state-of-the-art stochastic frontier model disentangling persistent efficiency, transient efficiency, and unobserved heterogeneity. We also examine the impact on both persistent and transient efficiency of (i) ownership structure, (ii) political stability, (iii) airline geographical location, (iv) airline domicile country's economic freedom, and (v) airline participation in a global alliance. We find evidence of relatively low efficiency and decreasing returns to scale, implying that it is important to achieve better utilization of inputs. Our findings also suggest that protectionism seems still an important driver of efficiency in a context characterized by a lack of liberalization. However, enhanced economic freedom is found to be more relevant in improving the efficiencies of African airlines, suggesting that policy interventions aimed at speeding up the liberalization process may help to remove the conditions that make air carriers operate inefficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on Article 17(1) of the 1999 Montreal Convention (MC99) regarding the liability of international air carriers for death or bodily injury to passengers. The interpretational principles and methods applied by the CJEU are examined, accounting also for the particularities of the EU legal order. Furthermore, the results reached by the CJEU are compared with the case law of other jurisdictions, mainly the US, and doctrinal writings. Nonetheless, this paper does not explore the pertinent issues from a de lege ferenda perspective. The paper concludes that the judgments of the CJEU on Art. 17(1) MC99 have interpreted the notions of “passenger,” “accident,” and “bodily injury” broadly, in a passenger-friendly way. Although the interpretation of ‘passenger’ does not differ from the established case law in other jurisdictions, some aspects of the interpretation of “accident” and the interpretation of “bodily injury” significantly depart from the view currently prevailing among courts internationally. The CJEU has yet to rule on the scope of the exclusivity of the MC99, under Art. 29 thereof, regarding personal injury of passengers. However, the expansive interpretations of “accident” and “bodily injury” by the CJEU limit the practical effect of Article 29 compared to other jurisdictions. Given the regulatory influence that the EU exercises worldwide, the CJEU judgments might guide courts also outside the EU. Although this would bolster passenger protection, it would exacerbate the already fragmented application of the MC99 internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the varying opinions on the legal groundwork and impact of aviation obligations, this paper review analyses the airline's responsibility and its part in ensuring the security of the passengers when they board the aircraft. In nations without any aviation regulations, the issue gets worse. In these situations, the obligation for instances of air terrorism is established with relevance to principles of general obligation. This is inconsistent, given the nature of air travel and the accidents that occur in this context. Why, if at all, is the air carrier responsible for the harm that terrorist attacks bring to the passengers? The article is to urge global legislators to relieve the airline of its responsibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-industry clusters are essential for the economic prosperity of a region. However, studies do not address competitive clusters among the airline and tourism industries. Thus, this paper considers the case of both industries in terms of the clusters and synergies formed. This research aim is to provide an understanding of both industries' protagonists' involvement in contributing to insights into the establishment of synergies or clusters among the two industries. Cyprus is highly dependent on tourism and airlines because they facilitate connectivity. The research comprises semi-structured interviews with the leading players and organizations of the airline and tourism industries (government bodies, airports, airlines, tour operators and hotels). The results indicate that in a small geographical context, the notion of clusters involves a synergetic relationship among tourism stakeholders. The airlines' role is essential and affects all stakeholders involved in tourism. Additionally, the research provides new insights into the role of Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) in providing applicable tourism policies that can positively impact effective cooperation among industry partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vertical navigation is crucial for safe aircraft separation and has been traditionally based on the pressure altitude provided by barometric altimeters. New aviation operations require robust determination of geodetic altitude and are expected to primarily rely on a global navigation satellite system (GNSS). Because deviations between pressure and geodetic altitudes can reach hundreds of meters, an altitude harmonization is needed to use barometers in combination with GNSS. In this paper, we first present a methodology to compute an accurate geodetic altitude from barometer and external weather data. Secondly, we derive error and threat models of this geodetic altitude. Finally, we employ these models within a GNSS integrity monitoring algorithm augmented with the derived altitude. We assess our methodologies against flight test measurements and availability simulations of localizer performance with vertical guidance operations. These analyses illustrate the potential benefits of employing barometers as augmentation or stand-alone systems for geodetic altitude navigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of aviation market in Southeast Asia after the Covid-19 pandemic is promising. More aircraft are delivered to the Asia-Pacific region, including the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Member States. The introduction of ASEAN Open Skies (also known as ASEAN Single Aviation Market) a decade earlier together with ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint 2025 goals for an integrated and cohesive regional economy highlight the importance of a seamless air connectivity. Liberalisation of the airline industry in ASEAN Member States is crucial to restart the airline industry prepandemic and to grasp the so-called Asian century momentum. However, ASEAN Member States are reluctant towards liberalisation efforts, maintaining protectionism on both freedoms of the air (traffic rights) as well as foreign direct investment (ownership and control). Existing legal framework at regional level, namely ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) and ASEAN Trade in Services Agreement (ATISA), only received lukewarm attention from ASEAN Member States. This article discusses the urgency to recall the commitment of a gradual liberalisation based on AFAS and ATISA among the ASEAN Member States, the implementation of which will lead to the establishment of a regional community carrier which benefits ASEAN citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policies to reduce air travel demand, including in the tourism sector, are urgently required as air travel's climate impact keeps growing while low-carbon aviation remains a distant perspective. Policy options include flat rate taxes per flight, taxes on flight miles or emissions, or frequent flyer levies, yet little is known about how their distributional impacts compare. This paper examines the distributional effects of various air travel tax options for the UK, informed by an analysis of the distribution of (frequent) flights and associated emissions over income and other social characteristics. We find that 'frequent flights' are even more unequally distributed than all flights and that all taxes on air travel are distributionally neutral or progressive. The most progressive option is a 'frequent air miles tax' based on both the number of flights and emissions. At the same time, some social groups like recent migrants are relatively likely to be 'frequent flyers' even on lower incomes. Overall however, our results show that taxing air travel is far less regressive than taxing home energy or motor fuels. Taxes on air travel, while often portrayed as unfair in public discourses, therefore raise fewer fairness concerns than other types of carbon taxes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION: In 1996, a Delta Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-88 commercial aircraft sheared off its main landing gear while attempting to land visually at LaGuardia Airport in New York City. BACKGROUND: After making physical contact with the approach lights and runway seawall, the aircraft impacted the ground, rotated 180 degrees, and slid nearly 3,000 feet down the active runway before stopping perilously short of Flushing Bay. Miraculously, all passengers safely evacuated the aircraft with only a handful of minor injuries. Although there were several environmental and technical factors that potentially impacted this event, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that the probable cause of the mishap was the pilot's unapproved use of monovision contact lenses (CLs) that prevented him from overcoming the visual illusions and correctly interpreting the normal references associated with the landing. DISCUSSION: This paper will analyze the post-mishap ophthalmological findings of the mishap pilot and discuss the perceptual visual factors involved in this accident, particularly the likely role that an acute degradation of stereopsis from monovision CLs played in this event. Learning Objectives 1. Attendees will learn about the visual factors and illusions associated with this particular commercial airline mishap. 2. Attendees will learn about the impact of monovision on stereopsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent literature has documented consumers' imperfect optimization when facing taxes. Despite the rich literature in this area, little research has been conducted in the airline industry context. I exploit the variation of tax changes in the airline industry to analyze how US passengers react to tax and price changes. I show that passengers react more strongly to taxes than to price changes through the use of semi-elasticities. Baseline estimates suggest that the tax elasticity of demand is approximately 1.5 times as strong as the price elasticity of demand. This paper extends the literature by allowing for heterogeneous price and tax responses, and by providing a series of possible rationales that explain how overoptimization can arise in the airline industry. Tax aversion, media coverage, persistent tax increases, psychological factors, and non-standard preferences suggested in the literature could all contribute to explaining passengers' overoptimization in the airline industry. The findings in this paper have profound contributions both to the economic literature, to the airline industry, and practitioners at both the local and federal levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Artificial intelligence is developing at a rapid pace, with examples of machine learning already being used in aviation to improve efficiency. In the coming decade, it is likely that intelligent assistants (IAs) will be deployed to assist aviation personnel in the cockpit, the air traffic control center, and in airports. This will be a game-changer and may herald the way forward for single-pilot operations and AI-based air traffic management. Yet in aviation there is a core underlying tenet that 'people create safety' and keep the skies and passengers safe, based on a robust industry-wide safety culture. Introducing IAs into aviation might therefore undermine aviation's hard-won track record in this area. Three experts in safety culture and human-AI teaming used a validated safety culture tool to explore the potential impacts of introducing IAs into aviation. The results suggest that there are indeed potential negative outcomes, but also possible safety affordances wherein AI could strengthen safety culture. Safeguards and mitigations are suggested for the key risk owners in aviation organizations, from CEOs to middle managers, to safety departments and frontline staff. Such safeguards will help ensure safety remains a priority across the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides evidence on US airlines' responses to the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) mandated disclosure of non-financial performance. We find that while all three DOT measures are associated with customer complaints, airlines are more likely to improve on-time performance rather than mishandled bags and ticket over-sales following poor prior period performance. We also find that on-time performance is the only DOT measure that is associated with future accounting performance and is significantly associated with CEO compensation after controlling for financial performance and load factor. We also provide preliminary results to show that airlines incorporate the more informative component of the on-time measure in CEO compensation. Overall, we provide new understanding of how organizations react to the disclosure of non-financial performance and use incentives to improve these measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flight data monitoring (FDM) began in the flight test community in 1939 and entered the airline industry in 1974. In the 48 years since, however, very few operators have chosen to adopt this practice, which has shown clear safety benefits where it has found acceptance. While technical issues have created some obstacles, cultural issues have proven the greatest hindrance to wider FDM adoption. These cultural issues originated in the traits associated with pilots' personalities, especially distrust of the regulators and operators who would administer flight data analysis programs (FDAP) that used FDM information. U.S. regulators have relied on voluntary adoption, rather than regulatory mandates, to increase FDM participation, emphasizing the collective benefits of FDAP outputs in increasing the safety of flight for operators using that information. Leadership by both experienced and new employees, as well as regulators and other industry stakeholders, will best serve to increase FDM participation until it becomes ubiquitous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This empirical qualitative study explores the role of gaming simulations in catalyzing changes to organization-wide management's perspectives on a novel strategy for aircraft orders and retirements. A large US airline developed the new strategy to tackle the pervasive problem of profit cyclicality, driving poor average profit performance across the cycle. Based on the dynamic model used to develop the strategy with senior management, a gaming simulation workshop was designed and delivered in groups of 20 to over 200 organization-wide managers. They tested various strategies for aircraft orders and retirements, under scenarios for market demand and conduct for competitors and regulators. A qualitative methodology was used to capture the workshop participants' perspectives on the efficacy of various capacity strategies, before, during and after the workshop. The findings are that managers experiment risk-free with innovations in strategies for capacity orders and retirements and they do indeed discover for themselves that there are counterintuitive alternatives that can achieve large and stable profitable growth. These strategies depend on competitors (role-played by workshops participants in the simulation) cooperating to create a win-win equilibrium. Performance far exceeds the industry benchmark profit cycle. The contribution is the empirical evidence of the effectiveness of gaming simulations to catalyze managers' shared beliefs and buy-in to a new strategy or business model. There are implications for practitioners in airlines and other sectors on the use of a gaming simulation workshop toolset, to help create such buy-in for an emerging strategy or business model. Protocols for best practice gaming simulation workshop design are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to perform a bibliometric analysis of corporate social responsibility (CSR) research in the airline industry, underscoring current developments and future trends. Utilizing open-source R software (version 4.2.3), including the Bibliometrix R library (version 4.1.4) and VOSviewer (version 1.6.20), this study notes a significant rise in CSR research. It highlights influential studies, leading scholars, and key journals in the field. The co-word analysis shows CSR's impact on efficiency, value, employee perceptions, and customer loyalty. Post-COVID trends indicate an expanded focus on health, safety, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors. The research suggests a shift towards integrated CSR strategies in the airline industry, emphasizing sustainability, stakeholder inclusion, and transparent reporting. This shift marks a movement towards more comprehensive and effective CSR approaches in stakeholder communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With sustainability becoming one of the core topics in politics, public discussion and, consequently, in various industries, the airline industry, as one of the major greenhouse gas emitters in the transport sector, has also come under scrutiny. Despite many advanced models for airline planning and scheduling, most models do not explicitly consider sustainability issues. Our paper extends existing research by including the five most strategic stages of the airline planning and scheduling process along with explicitly emphasizing sustainability considerations. We use the resulting mixed-integer quadratically constrained problem in a computational study to show that airlines in our setting can reduce the number of flights (and thereby the level of emissions) without the need to make a substantial sacrifice in profitability. Due to the complexity of the problem, the results also indicate the need for a solver specialized in efficiently solving mixed-integer convex problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Driven by the fierce competition in the airline industry, carriers strive to increase their customer satisfaction by understanding their expectations and tailoring their service offerings. Due to the explosive growth of social media usage, airlines have the opportunity to capitalize on the abundantly available online customer reviews (OCR) to extract key insights about their services and competitors. However, the analysis of such unstructured textual data is complex and time-consuming. This research aims to automatically and efficiently extract airline-specific intelligence (i.e., passenger-perceived strengths and weaknesses) from OCR. Topic modeling algorithms are employed to discover the prominent service quality aspects discussed in the OCR. Likewise, sentiment analysis methods and collocation analysis are used to classify review sentence sentiment and ascertain the major reasons for passenger satisfaction/dissatisfaction, respectively. Subsequently, an ensemble-assisted topic model (EA-TM) and sentiment analyzer (E-SA) is proposed to classify each review sentence to the most representative aspect and sentiment. A case study involving 398,571 airline review sentences of a US-based target carrier and four of its competitors is used to validate the proposed framework. The proposed EA-TM and E-SA achieved 17–23% and 9–20% higher classification accuracy over individual benchmark models, respectively. The results reveal 11 different aspects of airline service quality from the OCR, airline-specific sentiment summary towards each aspect, and root causes for passenger satisfaction/dissatisfaction for each identified topic. Finally, several theoretical and managerial implications for improving airline services are derived based on the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]