Table of Contents
List of Figures ix
Note on Chapter Titles xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Preface xv
1 ?I Should Have Known Better': A History of Crisis and Prediction 1
Global Economic Meltdown - The 'Winter of Discontent' 5
Global Economic Meltdown - Flight of the Black Swan 7
Global Economic Meltdown - The Recession We Almost Never Had 10
Whither the Tiger Economies? 12
Two Financial Hotspots 14
The China Enigma 15
The Spectre of SARS 16
The Grandaddy of Them All 17
In Conclusion 19
References 20
2 'Tomorrow Never Knows': Forecasting Aircraft Capacity 23
The Art of the Crystal Ball 23
Big is Beautiful, I Think 25
Crisis, What Crisis? 26
Timing is Everything 29
The Leapfrog Game 30
The Engine is the Key 33
Who Will Blink First? 35
The New Pretenders 37
In Conclusion 39
References 40
3 'Love Me Do': The Changing Nature of Traveller Expectations 43
The Complexities of Passenger Expectations 44
The Legacy of Low Cost 46
The Touchy-Feely Stuff 49
Oh Brand, Wherefore Art Thou? 50
Hero Worship 52
Whither the Golden Age? 55
Taming the Market 57
One Size Fits All 58
Clouded Judgement 60
In Conclusion 61
References 62
4 ?I Want To Hold Your Hand': Airline Consolidation 63
The Urge to Merge 63
Succumbing to Temptation 67
The Success of Alliances 68
Mega Mania Takes Hold 71
Acquisition Fever Accelerates 73
The Mother of All Mergers 74
Elephants in the Room? 77
In Conclusion 78
References 79
5 'You Never Give Me Your Money': Pricing and Revenue Management 81
Scam or Saviour? 83
And Now, the Dark Side 86
Fares Fair 88
I'm Looking Through You 93
The Future of Revenue Management and Pricing 94
In Conclusion 96
References 96
6 'With a Little Help From My Friends': Social Media 99
Welcome to the Social Media Juggernaut 99
The Sting in the Tail 105
'United Breaks Guitars' 107
In Conclusion 110
References 111
7 'Strawberry Fields Forever': The Environment 113
In the Red Corner 116
And in the Blue Corner 117
Is the End of the World Nigh? 119
God is Green 121
Binge Flying 122
Guilty of the Charge of Destroying the Planet 123
The Top Polluting Nations 124
Where Does Aviation Fit into the Picture? 127
Aircraft Design and Air Traffic Management Measures 131
Designing for the Environment is Not so Easy 132
Alternative Fuels - The Holy Grail 134
The Greening of the Fleets 137
The Market Mechanism Minefield 140
In Conclusion 142
References 144
8 'Here Comes the Sun': 20-20 Vision 149
Tony Tyler 151
Tim Jeans 151
Nico Buchholz 152
Patrick Bianquis 152
Randy Tinseth 152
Christian Scherer 153
Paul Griffiths 153
And Finally… 154
Index 157
