Air Transportation: A Management Perspective (8th edition) by John G. Wensveen is a comprehensive introduction to air transportation management, with a focus on airlines.
Part 1 is an introduction to air transportation, divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 presents the main characteristics of the airline industry, and reveals its major phases of development and the current trends of the business. The regional specificities are analysed. Chapter 2 describes the main segments of the aerospace industry without forgetting general aviation, the economic profile in the USA and the main factors influencing the sales volume.
Chapter 3 is an historical perspective on air transportation in the USA from its early beginning. The chapter also explains the roles of the federal government in the development of air services, and the evolution of the regulatory policy. Further on, a specific section is developed on general and business aviation.
Chapter 4 describes the main bodies involved in the regulation of air transportation, including those that defend the industry's interests. The chapter elaborates on the detailed structure of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) – the readers can, if they wish, skip the long description of the non-aviation divisions, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The main associations representing the industry in the USA and at the international level are listed. Part 1 ends with Chapter 5, which gives an overview of the general aviation industry, and presents the different segments of this market, the business of the fixed-based operators (FBOs) and the role of the FAA in the USA.
Part 2 includes two chapters on airlines. Chapter 6 defines the structure of the airline industry with its different types of air carriers. It explains the steps of the FAA airline certification and data collection by the U.S. DOT. It returns to the historical perspective with a focus on the recent period from the year 1960 to 2013 in terms of traffic and financial trends. Chapter 7 highlights the economic characteristics of the airline industry.
Part 3 is dedicated to the management of airlines. Chapter 8 discusses the organisational issues. Chapter 9 is an introduction to forecasting in aviation. Chapters 10 and 11, respectively, talk about passenger marketing and the role of social media. The latter chapter develops an interesting review of case studies.
Chapter 12 includes elements of econometrics and demand analysis for airline pricing. It explicates the mechanisms driving the demand and the effects of a change in the offer. Chapter 13 continues with the specificities of air cargo. Chapters 14 and 15 provide principles on airline scheduling, and on the fleet planning process and modelling. However, the air route planning and management issues are underdeveloped. Also, the significant impacts of the ongoing air traffic flow and capacity management (ATFCM) and air navigation modernisation programmes (NextGen, Single European Sky ATM Research – SESAR, and so on) are not discussed.
Chapter 16 is a detailed introduction to the labour relations in the airline business, and especially in the USA. It analyses the Railway Labor Act of 1926 and its consequences for the American airlines. Chapter 17 presents elements of financial planning for airlines and a historical perspective of airline financing.
Part 4 is a single chapter on international aviation. It explains the international dimension of air transportation, Open Skies, globalisation and the USA–UK Bermuda agreement. Following this, an appendix on careers in aviation contains advice to students in their research of a first job.
This book remains a helpful manual for students who are following a programme in aviation management, as professionals looking for personal development, even if non-US readers should look for complements on the historical and political perspectives of air transportation in their own regions. It has a student-friendly structure and is written in an accessible style. Each chapter has clear learning objectives, review questions and a selection of further reading. Its interest lies also in the illustration of each section, as far as possible, with statistics and case examples. It provides an extensive theoretical and practical overview of air transportation management.
