JetBlue will begin flying out of Boston’s Logan Airport-and American Airlines was feeling the heat. JetBlue was growing eight times faster than Southwest Airlines, the longtime leader among low-cost carriers, and the rapidly expanding low-cost segment of the industry-30% of all U.S. flights, projected to rise to 40% by 2006-presented an increasing challenge to the “major” airlines. For American, JetBlue’s entrance into Boston via Logan signaled a...

In early 2012, an equity analyst, was examining the jet fuel hedging strategy of JetBlue Airways for the coming year. Because airlines cross-hedged their jet fuel price risk using derivatives contracts on other oil products such as WTI and Brent crude oil, they were exposed to basis risk. In 2011, dislocations in the oil market led to a Brent-WTI premium wherein jet fuel started to move with Brent instead of WTI, as it traditionally did. Faced wi...

In spring 2014, XiamenAir is the most profitable of the five largest airlines in China. With bases in Xiamen, Fuzhou and Hangzhou, its flight network covers major cities in China with international service to Macao, Taiwan, Hong Kong and other Southeast Asian countries. The company prides itself on its differentiation strategy: customer service, building a brand and reputation that its customers trust and providing a service for which its custome...

On March 31, 2014, the vice-president of Sales & Marketing at Xiamen Airlines Co. Ltd. (XiamenAir) was reviewing the minutes of the month-end meeting with his team. The meeting had focused mainly on the rapid spread of high-speed rail in China, especially along the popular and profitable routes served by his company. The new train service might become an indirect, albeit potent source of competition, redirecting existing passenger volume from air...

In 2013, the chief executive officer of Porter Airlines, a Toronto-based regional airline, announced an expansion project to expand the airline?s destinations. The project required that Porter Airlines expand its fleet of jets to accommodate longer distances, and that its transport hub, the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, be renovated. The airport was governed by a tripartite agreement between the federal government, the City of Toronto, and P...

In January of 2016, Singapore International Airlines Group (SIA) announced that it had secured more than 90 per cent stake in Tiger Airways Holdings Limited (Tigerair), and would take Tigerair private. Once the buyout offer closed on February 19, trading in Tigerair?s shares would be suspended because the free float had fallen below the minimum 10 per cent threshold. Tigerair had been suffering losses amounting to more than SG$600 million from 20...

Founded in 1997, Allegiant Airlines (Allegiant) was one of the most profitable ultra-low-cost airlines in the United States. Allegiant maintained high profit margins by targeting the uncaptured market segment for leisure travel and using a unique way of managing cost and revenue drivers. Allegiant avoided direct competition with traditional airlines and captured the new market of price-sensitive leisure travelers. After employing extreme cost-red...

Go (or Wei-ch’i, as it is known in China) is a centuries-old board game popular across Asia. Many have drawn parallels between military successes and the game’s complex methods, in which a player encircles, isolates, and captures enemy pieces and geography, but Go also offers lessons for business. This technical note offers a basic description of Go, followed by a collection of business-strategy anecdotes punctuated by comparisons to Go strategie...

This three-part case series considers Icelandair at a couple of key inflection points in its recent history. Case A, set in early 2017 on the airline's 80th anniversary, the airline is faced to question its strategy after its impressive seven-year run of dynamic growth and solid returns comes to a somewhat abrupt end due to extreme pricing competition and upward cost pressure. The case delves into the development of the airline and its "hybrid" b...

This three-part case series considers Icelandair at a couple of key inflection points in its recent history. Case A, set in early 2017 on the airline's 80th anniversary, the airline is faced to question its strategy after its impressive seven-year run of dynamic growth and solid returns comes to a somewhat abrupt end due to extreme pricing competition and upward cost pressure. The case delves into the development of the airline and its "hybrid" b...