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This study aims to address the need to empirically investigate the luxury customer service experiences of the ultra-high-net-worth individual (UHNWI) segment by conducting and analyzing interviews with 20 clients flying private jets. The results lead to a conceptualization of the UHNW private aviation customer experience.

This study applied a three-step method to explore the meaning and domain of the UHNWI luxury service experience. First, the perception and corresponding attributes of customers’ experiences using private aviation services were examined through 20 in-depth interviews and by using the soft laddering technique. Second, this study coded and, subsequently, purified the data by means of a systematic comparison approach and hierarchical coding. Third, a panel of judges, using the emerging consensus technique, scrutinized and validated the emerging dimensions.

The analysis reveals the customer experience (CX) and motivations differ significantly between business and leisure use, moving from a functional toward an experiential value focus. The findings emphasize the lack of social value for the UHNWI CX and introduce time as a new value dimension.

This study provides multiple contributions to the customer experience, luxury and luxury services literature. This study enhances scholarly understandings of the holistic UHNWI CX in the context of an absolute luxury offering, thus providing a needed conceptualization of an underresearched customer segment, namely, the UHNWI. It delivers insights on the different motivations and experience UHNWI are seeking for according to the context. This study proposes a new luxury value dimension: time.

This study highlights multiple opportunities for UHNWI customer experience improvement. The findings reveal that different clients are looking for different experiences in terms of business versus leisure use. The key drivers and expectations shift from functional (price/availability/flexibility) to experiential factors (comfort/onboard experience/relationship with crew and pilot). Communication, marketing and CX management strategies and tactics need to emphasize this important distinction regarding what drives client behavior in the private aviation setting.

The contribution of this paper is threefold. First, it defines UHNWI characteristics and overall experiences using the unique über-service of private aviation, thus advancing scholarly understanding of both the luxury customer and the luxury customer service experience beyond the proposed traditional drivers of luxury consumption. Second, this study expands the conceptual foundation for the UHNWI “über-luxury” service experience, which, given the importance of the UHNWI segment, is important. Third, this study contributes to theoretical knowledge by extending customer value perception in the luxury context by introducing the luxury value dimension of time. This study concludes with a discussion of its findings’ implications for luxury research and practice, providing a future research agenda with regard to UHNW.

In the past four decades, substantial air traffic growth has triggered enthusiasm in the aviation sector. At the same time, this growth has posed challenges to its financial and environmental sustainability commitments. A buzz has been centered on introducing and supporting aviation sustainability initiatives. These challenges have led to acknowledging the need to reduce aviation fuel consumption, a function of multiple factors. The different stakeholders having a diverse type of interplay govern the effective implementation of the factors at different decision levels (strategic, tactical and operational). Thus, the present study aims to critically examine various decision levels involved to understand opportunities and requirements related to aviation sustainability.

In this study, the best–worst method is used to quantify different decision levels’ role on various factors affecting aviation fuel consumption.

The results of this study signify that tactical-level decisions are most influential in reducing aviation fuel consumption with the highest impact (0.41) followed by operational-level decisions (0.30) and strategic-level decisions (0.29), respectively.

The results point toward the critical role of middle-level hierarchy, i.e. aircraft manufacturers, airlines and others in the aviation industry’s sustainable growth. Thus, middle-level stakeholders must be inspired and empowered to act, being at the center they link the other two levels.

This study has added to the body of knowledge by exploring the decision-making competencies needed by different aviation sector stakeholders. It also presents the possible options available in the sector and the role of stakeholders at different levels in exploiting and implementing the sustainable aviation sector changes.

This case describes the vulnerability of the Indian aviation sector by highlighting the fall of Jet Airways from one of the biggest airlines in India to bankruptcy. The present case discusses the role of Jet Airways' leadership in managing the external threats that affect aviation business in India.

The present case is built on data collected from secondary sources, including publicly available information about the company, journals, websites, newspapers and reports.

The case reports findings of how hubris-driven strategic decisions and insecurity of the leader in losing control of the company, led to the grounding of one of the major airline companies in the Indian aviation industry.

The present case study provides valuable insights into the aviation industry in India, focusing on the threats to the aviation business. The case is useful to other airline companies and the aviation business community in dealing with external threats to business and issues of leadership dysfunction.

This study aims to (1) examine the mediating effect of strategic orientation on the effect of environmental uncertainties on business performance, and (2) examine the mediating effect of innovations on the effect of environmental uncertainties on performance of the business in the aviation industry in Indonesia.

The research design was conducted through a survey, and the testing form was carried out using “Relationship Causal Studies” or a study to analyze the causality among environmental uncertainties, strategic orientation, innovations and performance of branches/stations of airlines in the Indonesian aviation industry. The sample was selected by determining the number of branches/stations of the Indonesian airlines to be selected into the sample, then more than one unit managers were selected as respondents representing their respective branches/stations. The number of the target sample in this study was 250 branches. Techniques used to address the hypotheses of the present study were Descriptive Analysis and Structural Model Analysis. The inferential statistical analysis focuses on the subject of the analysis and data interpretation to draw conclusions.

These research findings provide a contextual overview of the aviation industry in Indonesia that activities to make innovations in airline branches play a vital role in encouraging business performance. Moreover, the analysis shows that the more innovative a branch the better its business performance. This corroborates the finding (Spacapan and Bastic, 2007; Talke, 2007) that being highly innovative can ensure sustainable and long-term business performance.

The findings of this research suggest that innovations mediate the effect of environmental uncertainties on business performance. These findings corroborate the results of previous studies that suitability between strategic orientation and innovations of a company in response to environmental uncertainties will affect performance of the company (Li and Gima, 2001; Manu, 1992). These findings also strengthen the view that companies with a higher level of innovations (innovative) have better business performance and competitive advantages (Kessler and Chakrabarty, 1996; Salavou et al., 2004; Spacapan and Bastic, 2007). Furthermore, based on findings, it can be interpreted that management that is able to overcome barriers to innovations, maximize innovation resources and achieve the target of innovations in the form of creation of better products/services will have better performance. The ability of the management to identify and overcome barriers to innovations and maximize the sources of innovation will generate products or services that can be accepted by the customers and eventually these products and services will be able to compete with better business performance (Blumentritt and Danis, 2006).

Findings of this research indicate the positive and significant mediating effect between environmental uncertainties on business performance, through the mediation of innovations, competitive conditions of the industrial environment which can encourage organizations to evolutionarily be more innovative in managing business to compete in the long term (Franke, 2007). This is also consistent with the theory of evolutionary economics (Nelson and Winter, 2000) that the old strategy may not suit the changes in the environment, and therefore companies should continue to seek new breakthroughs with persistent improvement and innovations.

Dynamic and competitive conditions of the industrial environment require organizations to more intensively explore sources (capabilities) of innovations and accelerate generation of the innovations (Franke, 2007; Berry et al., 2006; Dobni, 2006; Davila et al., 2006; Spacapan and Bastic, 2007). Contextually, it appears that the competitive conditions of the aviation industry in either the short term or in the long term require business actors to be more innovative and to survive (Franke, 2007).

Innovations in business models as a new effort in improvisation specific to the business stage of the basic model (not very valuable) become more advanced business processes to produce products that are more valuable for consumers, at a more efficient cost with better profitability (Chesbrough, 2007b). So far, research on the role of innovations in response to environmental uncertainties and implementation of strategies to improve the performance of the environment-strategy-performance (ESP) model is still done partially so that there is no comprehensive model to describe the role of innovations in this ESP model, or let us say that a gap between theories and opportunities to do further research on the role of innovations in the ESP model exists.

The sharing economy (SE) has transformed the tourism industry and continues to disrupt multiple sectors in the global business landscape. This paper aims to investigate the potential of the SE entering the aviation sector and examines travelers’ willingness to pay (WTP) a premium for shared private air travel.

The context for the empirical study was the platform JetSmarter, one of the emerging SE platforms in the private aviation sector. A quantitative survey with a random sampling method was adopted to measure customers’ WTP premium prices.

The results reveal a glaring interest of commercial air travelers in flying on a shared, private aircraft and show significant differences in the WTP for private aviation. The findings highlight a difference of WTP between customer segments, including Northern American and European customers, as well as business and leisure travelers.

The study makes a three-fold contribution to theory and practice. First, it bridges SE literature and the WTP construct, and with that, expands the understanding of pricing behaviors in a SE context. For tourism businesses, the study is valuable in that it offers concrete pricing suggestions for SE services when aimed at a premium rather than a budget customer segment. Third, the study is novel in that it taps into the aviation sector as a subsector of the SE ecosystem and offers critical implications suggesting the potential of the SE disrupting traditional aviation businesses.

共享经济对航空业的影响: 旅客的支付意愿

共享经济不仅影响了旅游业, 更进而改变了许多产业的运作模式。本文旨在研究共享经济在航空业的发展潜力, 以及探讨旅客对于共享私人飞机的溢价的付费意愿。

此实证研究是以一个新兴的共享私人飞机公司JetSmarter作为背景。本研究采用定量调查中的随机抽样方法去衡量客户支付溢价的意愿。

研究结果显示旅客对乘坐共享私人飞机有浓厚的兴趣, 并显示出不同客群在付费意愿度上有显著的差异。调查显示北美和欧洲旅客以及商务和休闲旅客的付费意愿明显不同。

此研究对理论和实践做出了三方面的贡献。首先, 藉由结合共享经济的文献和支付意愿的领域, 它扩展了我们对共享经济的定价行为的理解。对于旅游企业而言, 这项研究的价值是它为共享经济提供了具体的定价建议, 且它针对的是高端客户而非中低端客户群。最后, 这项研究的新颖性在于它将航空业定义为共享经济生态系统的一部分, 并且它提供了批判性的建议, 说明共享经济有可能对传统的航空业务造成负面影响。

Economía colaborativa que perturba la aviación: Disposición de los viajeros a pagar.

la economía compartida ha transformado la industria del turismo y continúa afectando a múltiples sectores en el panorama empresarial global. Este artículo tiene como objetivo investigar el potencial de la economía colaborativa que ingresa al sector de la aviación y examina la disposición de los viajeros a pagar una prima por viajes aéreos privados y compartidos.

el contexto para el estudio empírico fue la plataforma JetSmarter, una de las plataformas emergentes de economía compartida en el sector de la aviación privada. Se adoptó una encuesta cuantitativa con un método de muestreo aleatorio para medir la disposición de los clientes a pagar precios superiores.

los resultados revelan un interés evidente de los viajeros aéreos comerciales en volar en aviones privados compartidos y muestran diferencias significativas en la disposición a pagar por la aviación privada. Las conclusiones resaltan una diferencia de disposición a pagar entre los segmentos de clientes, incluyendo a los clientes norteamericanos y europeos, así como a los viajeros de negocios y de placer.

el estudio hace una triple contribución a la teoría y la práctica. Primero, une la literatura sobre economía compartida y el constructo de la disposición a pagar, y con eso, amplía nuestra comprensión sobre los comportamientos de fijación de precios en un contexto de economía compartida. Para las empresas de turismo, el estudio es valioso porque ofrece sugerencias concretas de precios para servicios de economía compartida, cuando se dirige a un segmento de clientes premium en lugar de un segmento de clientes de presupuesto. En tercer lugar, el estudio es novedoso porque aprovecha el sector de la aviación como subsector del ecosistema de la economía colaborativa y ofrece implicaciones críticas que sugieren el potencial de la economía colaborativa que perturba las empresas de aviación tradicionales.

This research aims to examine the moderating effect of strategic orientation on the effect of environmental uncertainties on business performance and the moderating effect of innovations on the effect of environmental uncertainties on performance of the business in the aviation industry in Indonesia.

Research data were collected in stages by means of interviews with corporate leaders of Indonesian airlines and branch managers of several airports, as well as with the Directorate of Civil Aviation as the regulator. A pre-test and focus group discussion (FGD) were conducted to directly determine the questionnaire aspects of the research object, following which an immediate revision was made to the questionnaire. The data from the survey used in each variable were obtained from the mail questionnaire survey. The data collected using the survey are the main data used in the present study.

The model of environment–strategy–performance (ESP) can work well in improving performance if supported by innovations. These findings deepen the ESP paradigm in the aviation industry (Miles and Snow, 1978; Segev 1987; Covin and Slevin, 1989; Miller and Shamsie, 1996) that during conditions of high environmental uncertainties, strategic orientation, rather than a single response, will be effective if supported by innovations that provide the strategy with flexibility. The initial implications of these modeling results generate the findings that the effect of environmental uncertainties in the aviation industry (classified as strictly regulated) on performance of a company is largely determined by the direction of the strategic orientation and the innovation level.

Interactions between innovations and environmental uncertainties have a significant negative effect on the achievement of business performance of the branches with a coefficient of 0.02 and a t-value of 2.00, meaning that the innovation level of a branch has an increasingly stronger influence on the business performance of the branch in the uncertain environment with limitations or underestimated by the branch manager or the innovation level of the branch is not supported with airport facilities and services, which means that the provision of airport facilities and services is inversely proportional to the needs of the airline branches. In other words, the variable “innovations” is a moderating variable for the effect of environmental uncertainties on business performance.

The results of the modeling performed in this research also show that innovations play a major role in the implementation of the ESP model (Blumentritt and Danis, 2006). The empirical phenomena and descriptive analysis results suggest that the Indonesian airlines which have been quite successful and have demonstrated an above-average performance possess higher levels of innovations. This finding corroborates that of previous studies that environmental uncertainties and direction of strategic orientation will determine the ability of a company to overcome the barriers to innovations, by maximizing innovative resources in achieving the target of innovations (Manu, 1992; O’Regan and Ghobadian, 2005; Hult et al., 2003), and more specifically, it indicates that strategic orientation that is prospective in nature leads to a high level of innovations (Salavou et al., 2004).

The research findings indicate that innovations have a central role in the ESP models and are able to offer a new concept as a modification of the ESP model which in the study is called ESIP. The role of innovations in the ESIP model puts innovations as a variable moderating the effect of environmental uncertainties on performance and the effect of strategic orientation on performance. Moreover, based on the summary of the results for the analysis of the ESIP model, the following can be explained: first, environmental uncertainties have a significant and positive effect on the innovation level or the higher the level of environmental uncertainties, the more is the number of the innovations that an Indonesian airline branch creates. External environmental conditions that are likely to be complex and dynamic found in the area of operations make the branch management more able to identify barriers to innovations and manage resources to be more creative and productive for the attainment of the targets of innovations.

Innovations in business models as a new effort in improvisation specific to the business stage of the basic model (not very valuable) become more advanced business processes to produce products that are more valuable for consumers, at a more efficient cost with better profitability (Chesbrough, 2007b). So far, research on the role of innovations in response to environmental uncertainties and implementation of strategies to improve the performance of the ESP model is still done partially, so that there is no comprehensive model to describe the role of innovations in this ESP model, or let us say that a gap exists between theories and opportunities to conduct further research on the role of innovations in the ESP model.

This viewpoint aims to increase the awareness on the demand faced by the technical sector of the Indian and Chinese aviation industry and how this can be met by the adoption of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) regulatory framework.

A brief overview of the challenges that the Indian and the Chinese aviation industry is facing is provided, in terms of meeting the demand for sustainable growth. A description of the structure of the EASA framework and its main characteristics is presented, along with a focussed discussion on the framework’s applicability to the Indian and the Chinese aviation maintenance and broader continuing airworthiness sector.

The EASA regulatory framework can offer a safe and business-effective solution for the Indian and the Chinese aviation industry, aligning with world’s best practice.

A discussion in adopting the EASA framework in India and China can be helpful in increasing awareness and assisting decision makers realise that this is a possible option.

This viewpoint can be useful in provoking discussion, by summarising the key issues and points surrounding aviation regulation standardisation in India and China, along the lines of the EASA framework. Moreover, some possible ways to increase awareness around EASA in India and China are discussed from the point of view of influencing tomorrow’s decision makers.

While a number of studies introduce entrepreneurship in the public sector, there is still a need for empirical research in this field. We use a survey of U.S. general aviation airport managers to investigate the benefits of entrepreneurial spirit in public sector management. The results of logistic regressions suggest that the airport managers’ beliefs in importance of selfsustainability significantly improve the likelihood of general aviation airports to be self-sustaining. On the other hand, the airport specific characteristics, such as a favorable location, county population, and others are not statistically significant in achieving self-sustainability. Our findings support the literature that argue that entrepreneurship can be a mean of achieving more efficient, flexible and adaptive management in the public sector.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the four strategy tools of positions and positioning: leader, challenger, follower and niche. It suggests that it is important for managers to understand where their business fits in the market, vis‐à‐vis the competition. Without this knowledge, it is difficult to identify a differential advantage that will give the necessary competitive edge to attract the target customer.

This paper reviews positioning using a back to basics explanation. A simply constructed matrix – represented by variables: company‐focused or competition‐focused and pushes the boundaries or stays within boundaries – illustrates business philosophy in the marketplace.

Airlines positioned in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) aviation industry exemplify a market environment with companies holding distinctive positions. Emirates Airline is the leader, Etihad Airways is the challenger, Gulf Air is the follower and Air Arabia is successfully established in the niche position. A summary explanation of business operations for each airline supports the discussion.

Marketing practice aligned with textbook theory is identified in the growth‐oriented UAE aviation industry. In real‐world terms, four airlines distinctively hold each of the four positions while a fifth airline is making inroads into the regional market and appears to be challenging the current challenger.

The strategy simply stated in this paper suggests that the market environment is dynamic and constant assessment is necessary. Managers seeking to maximize differential advantage vis‐à‐vis the competition should consider using more than one strategy tool particularly if it contributes to a manager's ability to understand the market environment.