Competition and Alliance Evaluation

Understanding the ever-changing landscape of codeshares, revenue sharing, alliances and partnerships

The airline industry has been burdened with a less than fully efficient structure for many decades, due mostly to foreign ownership limitations and a proclivity to protect national flag carrier interests.

Global airline alliances emerged as a kind of an interim solution to these constraints and have delivered certain value – some economies of scale and connecting passenger revenues have accrued – but they have been less successful in achieving real gains in costs.

These global alliances are only steps on the path toward a more consolidated global airline structure, which will accelerate as government attitudes move towards liberalisation and protectionism of flag carriers becomes secondary to a new awareness of national interests, in terms of better transport access and ensuing economic growth.

So, the landscape of airline competition, cooperation and alliances is changing every. Airline management teams need to make smart decisions as to the value of codeshares, revenue sharing, alliances, partnership, minority shareholdings and mergers, and choosing the mix that best suits their particular circumstances:

  • unaligned airlines that see no value in alliance membership
  • aligned airlines, some of which have jumped from one alliance to another
  • unaligned airlines that have their own virtual partnerships with little care of existing ties
  • aligned airlines that have forged new ties with non-aligned carriers, superseding their alliances
  • aligned airlines that have forged new ties across alliances

In this ever changing partnership landscape, understanding the real bottom-line value of alliances and partnerships and the threat/opportunity of competitors are vital elements to the airline strategic planning process – as they lead directly into network, pricing and fleet selection decisions.

AviaSolutions can assist your planning team with traffic, capacity and pricing analysis and can help inform decisions towards alignment, separation or mergers. Using in-house data, tools and processes, we have the required analytical resources and experience to ensure your airline is making smart partnership decisions that add shareholder value.