A Portfolio Approach to Allocating Airline Seats

What else can airline managers do to reduce the likelihood of financial losses? The US global airline industry is characterized by highly cyclical and inconsistent operating profits, razor-thin profit margins, and unimpressive passenger yields. The objective of this research is to explore a new appr...

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Publié dans:Transportation Journal. - Pennsylvania State University Press, 1961. - 52(2013), 4, Seite 441-462
Format: Article en ligne
Langue:English
Publié: 2013
Accès à la collection:Transportation Journal
Sujets:Airline portfolio theory optimization resource allocation value-at-risk Business Economics Social sciences Applied sciences Mathematics
Description
Résumé:What else can airline managers do to reduce the likelihood of financial losses? The US global airline industry is characterized by highly cyclical and inconsistent operating profits, razor-thin profit margins, and unimpressive passenger yields. The objective of this research is to explore a new approach to airline seat allocation in global markets by employing a risk mitigation model, using portfolio theory to diversity an airline's route network. A portfolio of available seat miles distributed to global regions is determined using the Mean-Variance approach, followed by a second portfolio approach, the Mean-Value-at-Risk (VaR) approach. Last, a comparison is made between the two approaches in terms of actual airline operating profits. Given the financial improvements shown by the employed techniques, there is promise in pursing these methods for airline seat allocation.
ISSN:2157328X
DOI:10.5325/transportationj.52.4.0441