E-Commerce and the Airline Industry

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how, with the advent of the Internet, smart companies have been using the unique advantages that this powerful medium offers with "e-business" emerging as the new paradigm of performing business over the Internet. In particular, it looks at the development of the airline business in e-commerce and compares the the e-strategies of American Airlines and Southwest Airlines.

Outline
Introduction
The First Steps
American Airlines
E-Strategies at AA
Southwest Airlines
E-Strategies at SW
Markets and Pricing Structure of American Airlines (AA) and Southwest Airlines (SW)
Cost Structures of American Airlines and Southwest Airlines
The Airline Offering the Best Value
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"The development of the airline business in e-commerce started in the early 1980s, and this was when the academics and consultants found out that a few managers had developed their strategy around IT applications, though the move may have been inadvertent. The first move was by American Airlines and United Airlines with their reservation systems. In other industries, American Hospital Supply had developed an online ordering system, and Frito-Lay had developed a handheld device for the field staff. During the 90s, the concentration was on re-engineering, and this was a concentration on technology. Towards the end of the 90s, came the predominance of e-commerce or e-strategy. The concentration then shifted on to judgment of how Internet affected the business."

More papers on E-Commerce and the Airline Industry:

• Essay # 64961 : "Airline Industry Web Sites"
• Essay # 65911 : "Going Online: Airline's Lifeline"
• Research Paper # 29218 : "E-business Strategies"

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