IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/aicuec/v59y2012i1p231-238n16.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Development of the Low-Cost Carriers’ Business Models. Southwest Airlines Case Study

Author

Listed:
  • Diaconu Maxim Laura

    (Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Iasi, Romania)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze the development of the low-cost airline model, underlying the factors that have encouraged and/or inhibited the spatial and temporal spread of these operators. The study shows that there are significant differences in the business practices of the ‘low cost carriers’, depending on the particularities of the strategies that they have adopted, on how, when and where they were implemented, reason for which we refer to ‘business models’. In the end of the paper, we have conducted a detailed research, based on a questionnaire, on the company that has implemented for the first time the low-cost carrier model: Southwest Airlines.

Suggested Citation

  • Diaconu Maxim Laura, 2012. "The Development of the Low-Cost Carriers’ Business Models. Southwest Airlines Case Study," Scientific Annals of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 59(1), pages 231-238, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:aicuec:v:59:y:2012:i:1:p:231-238:n:16
    DOI: 10.2478/v10316-012-0016-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2478/v10316-012-0016-7
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2478/v10316-012-0016-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Frédéric Dobruszkes, 2006. "An analysis of European low-cost airlines and their networks," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/95835, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    2. Tretheway, Michael W, 2004. "Distortions of airline revenues: why the network airline business model is broken," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 3-14.
    3. Gillen, David & Morrison, William, 2003. "Bundling, integration and the delivered price of air travel: are low cost carriers full service competitors?," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 15-23.
    4. Morrell, Peter, 2005. "Airlines within airlines: An analysis of US network airline responses to Low Cost Carriers," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 11(5), pages 303-312.
    5. Pitfield, D.E., 2008. "Some insights into competition between low-cost airlines," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 5-14.
    6. Morrison, William G., 2004. "Dimensions of predatory pricing in air travel markets," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 87-95.
    7. Franke, Markus, 2004. "Competition between network carriers and low-cost carriers—retreat battle or breakthrough to a new level of efficiency?," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 15-21.
    8. Gillen, David & Gados, Alicja, 2008. "Airlines within airlines: Assessing the vulnerabilities of mixing business models," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 25-35.
    9. Gorin, Thomas & Belobaba, Peter, 2008. "Assessing predation in airline markets with low-fare competition," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 42(5), pages 784-798, June.
    10. Pels, Eric, 2008. "Airline network competition: Full-service airlines, low-cost airlines and long-haul markets," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 68-74.
    11. Hunter, Laurie, 2006. "Low Cost Airlines:: Business Model and Employment Relations," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 315-321, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Valido, Jorge & Socorro, M. Pilar & Medda, Francesca, 2020. "Airport capacity and entry deterrence: Low cost versus full service airlines," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 22(C).
    2. Jorge Valido & M. Pilar Socorro & Francesca Medda, 2013. "DYPES: Vertical differentiation, schedule delay and entry deterrence: Low cost vs. full service airlines," Working Papers 2013-05, FEDEA.
    3. Piotr Niewiadomski, 2013. "International airline groups in Africa," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series ctg-2013-36, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    4. Castillo-Manzano, José I. & López-Valpuesta, Lourdes & Pedregal, Diego J., 2012. "What role will hubs play in the LCC point-to-point connections era? The Spanish experience," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 262-270.
    5. Khan, Nokhaiz Tariq & Jung, Gisun & Kim, Jaebum & Kim, Yun Bae, 2019. "Evolving competition between low-cost carriers and full-service carriers: The case of South Korea," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 1-9.
    6. Graham, Mark, 2009. "Different models in different spaces or liberalized optimizations? Competitive strategies among low-cost carriers," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 306-316.
    7. Kuljanin, Jovana & Kalić, Milica, 2015. "Exploring characteristics of passengers using traditional and low-cost airlines: A case study of Belgrade Airport," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 12-18.
    8. Renan P. de Oliveira & Alessandro V. M. Oliveira & Gui Lohmann, 2021. "A Network-Design Analysis of Airline Business Model Adaptation in the Face of Competition and Consolidation," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(2), pages 532-548, March.
    9. Dennis, Nigel, 2007. "End of the free lunch? The responses of traditional European airlines to the low-cost carrier threat," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 311-321.
    10. Soyk, Christian & Ringbeck, Jürgen & Spinler, Stefan, 2017. "Long-haul low cost airlines: Characteristics of the business model and sustainability of its cost advantages," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 215-234.
    11. 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.
    12. Stephen Pratt & Markus Schuckert, 2019. "Economic impact of low-cost carrier in a saturated transport market: Net benefits or zero-sum game?," Tourism Economics, , vol. 25(2), pages 149-170, March.
    13. Ng, Kam To & Fu, Xiaowen & Hanaoka, Shinya & Oum, Tae Hoon, 2022. "Japanese aviation market performance during the COVID-19 pandemic - Analyzing airline yield and competition in the domestic market," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 237-247.
    14. Klophaus, Richard & Yu, Chunyan, 2023. "Short-haul airline services in Europe and North America - A cross-business model and cross-continental analysis," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    15. Homsombat, Winai & Lei, Zheng & Fu, Xiaowen, 2014. "Competitive effects of the airlines-within-airlines strategy – Pricing and route entry patterns," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 1-16.
    16. Daft, Jost & Albers, Sascha, 2012. "A profitability analysis of low-cost long-haul flight operations," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 49-54.
    17. Tavalaei, M. Mahdi & Santalo, Juan, 2019. "Pure versus hybrid competitive strategies in the airport industry," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 444-455.
    18. Zuidberg, Joost, 2019. "Network geographies and financial performances in low-cost carrier versus network carrier competition: The case of Norwegian versus SAS," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1-1.
    19. Dudás, Gábor & Boros, Lajos & Pál, Viktor & Pernyész, Péter, 2016. "Analysis of the lowest airfares considering the different business models of airlines, the case of Budapest," MPRA Paper 74502, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Nokhaiz Tariq Khan & Javed Aslam & Ateeq Abdul Rauf & Yun Bae Kim, 2022. "The Case of South Korean Airlines-Within-Airlines Model: Helping Full-Service Carriers Challenge Low-Cost Carriers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-19, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:vrs:aicuec:v:59:y:2012:i:1:p:231-238:n:16. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.