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US feeder airlines: Industry structure, networks and performance

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  • Reynolds-Feighan, Aisling

Abstract

This paper examines the US airline industry in terms of the relationships between the three largest full service carriers, American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines, and the set of regional carriers that are contracted to provide feeder services to them. The evolution of the regional carriers and the full service carriers are compared and recorded and the current industry structure and size is described. The paper uses the full set of Official Airline Guide (OAG) schedules for 2017 to analyse the industry structure and scale, overlap and seasonality in service provision among the groups of carriers and to understand the network organisation and capacity deployment strategy of the largest network carriers in the US market. The analysis provides evidence to explain how the large airlines are improving their cost and financial performance as well as significantly improving their operational efficiency through the achievement of high overall load factors. The sophistication in each airline’s schedule design and service delivery is highlighted.

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  • Reynolds-Feighan, Aisling, 2018. "US feeder airlines: Industry structure, networks and performance," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 142-157.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:117:y:2018:i:c:p:142-157
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2018.08.009
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    1. Aisling Reynolds-Feighan, 2017. "Small community impacts of liberalization and the provision of social air services," Chapters, in: Matthias Finger & Kenneth Button (ed.), Air Transport Liberalization, chapter 12, pages 220-243, Edward Elgar Publishing.
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    6. Matthias Finger & Kenneth Button (ed.), 2017. "Air Transport Liberalization," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 17375.
    7. Silke J. Forbes & Mara Lederman, 2010. "Does vertical integration affect firm performance? Evidence from the airline industry," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 41(4), pages 765-790, December.
    8. Bitzan, John & Peoples, James, 2016. "A comparative analysis of cost change for low-cost, full-service, and other carriers in the US airline industry," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 25-41.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Lonzius, Christopher & Lange, Anne, 2024. "Aircraft routing clusters and their impact on airline delays," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    3. Frédéric Dobruszkes & Christian Vandermotten, 2022. "Do scale and the type of markets matter? Revisiting the determinants of passenger air services worldwide," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/336304, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    4. Chen, Yilin & Hou, Meng & Wang, Kun & Yang, Hangjun, 2023. "Government interventions in regional airline markets based on aircraft size—Welfare and environmental implications," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    5. Zou, Li & Reynolds-Feighan, Aisling & Yu, Chunyan, 2022. "Airline seasonality: An explorative analysis of major low-cost carriers in Europe and the United States," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    6. Frédéric Dobruszkes & Jean-Michel Decroly & Pere Suau-Sanchez, 2022. "The monthly rhythms of aviation: A global analysis of passenger air service seasonality," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/341140, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    7. Klophaus, Richard & Merkert, Rico & Lordan, Oriol, 2021. "Mesh network as a competitive advantage for European LCCs: An alternative topology to hub-and-spoke for selling online connections," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 196-204.

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