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Digital transformation has created an important framework for the commercial aviation industry. Aviation companies that develop a digital strategy or implement the strategies successfully are seeing improvements in their overall efficiency, cost, flexibility and security performances with the effect of digitalization. For aviation businesses, digitalization is seen as one of the important conditions of competition. For this reason, many aviation businesses prioritize digital investments and make the major strategic moves necessary to gain a competitive advantage. However, the digitization of aviation businesses cannot be achieved by investing in technology alone. Digital arguments need to be aligned with customer expectations and the goals of the business. The increase in the number of airline companies has caused airline companies to create new strategies that will increase cost efficiency. IATA (International Air Transport Association), which is a member of airline companies and works for the efficiency of commercial air transportation revealed its vision of a ‘Digital Airline’, which represents what an airline can look like in 2025. Digitalization and efficiency, reflections on human resources, digital applications of airlines, benefits of airline companies from digital transformation, airline mobile applications, online check-in and boarding services (self-check-in, kiosk), online travel assistant, digital baggage cards (RFID – radio frequency identification), digital cabin management systems, in-flight entertainment systems, cabin cleaning robots, digital loyalty programmes, a new perspective in aviation education, interactive virtual reality environments, big data technology and applications and disadvantages of digital transformation are evaluated in the chapter.

The expected learning outcomes are to understand the complexities involved in the integration of two carriers with different business strategies and approaches, the merger of two brands with distinct personas and identities and the confluence of two different cultures; figure out the strategic options in front of the Tata Group and how it can deal with various macro- and micro-level business challenges, defy the financial hiccups and manoeuvre the operational complexities to accomplish mission Vihaan.AI; and develop a pragmatic approach to macro and micro business environmental scanning for making strategic business decisions.

In November 2022, Tata Group, the salt to software conglomerate, announced the merger of Air India (AI) and Vistara. This would lead to the formation of the full-service airline under the brand name “Air India”. The obvious reason behind this was the higher recognition, salience and recall of the brand AI as compared with Vistara in the global market. The Tata Group envisaged the brand AI to be a significant international aviation player with the heritage, persona and ethos of the brand Vistara in the renewed manifestation of AI. To realise these goals, Tata Group laid down an ambitious plan called “Vihaan.AI”, which was aimed at capturing a domestic market share of 30% by 2027.

This case study can be taught as part of undergraduate- and postgraduate-level management programmes.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

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.

International business and/or strategic management.

This case is useful for undergraduate and postgraduate level students majoring in international business management and/or strategic management.

Etihad Airways was established in 2003, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the UAE government as sole owner. It is the national carrier of UAE with Abu Dhabi as its centre of operations. Etihad is recognized as a fast-growing player in the aviation industry, and has become one of the dominant international players in the industry in a relatively short time. Etihad's fleet now contains more than 67 planes, with more than 1,300 flights per week to diverse destinations across the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. The company describes its business strategy as “sustainable growth”. Looking through a practitioner's lens, strategic partnerships have been the critical activities through which Etihad has delivered its strategy. The purpose of this case study is therefore to elaborate on its major and successful partnerships and the critical benefits of these. Secondary data were collected from credible sources including academic studies, relevant Etihad publications and industry reports published by official aviation associations.

Students will be able to understand the theory of strategic partnerships, their roles and benefits and critically evaluate the pre-staging “requirements” of such partnerships. In this case, the specific learning outcome of it is to help students to understand the importance of successful strategic partnerships for Etihad Airlines and how partnership strategies can improve the performance of Etihad Airlines.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

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.

This study aims to propose a research model that emphasizes the moderating influence of ethical leadership (ELS) and the link between socially responsible human resource management (SRHRM) and leaders’ eco-helping behavior (LEH) in the aviation industry.

The authors used a time-lag research design. Data were gathered from 397 respondents working for aviation companies in Vietnam and analyzed using SmartPLS 4.0.

The findings show that SRHRM has a beneficial effect on LEH through employees’ voluntary workplace green behavior (EVB). Based on social cognitive theory, this study developed a theoretical model of how SRHRM influences LEH through EVB. The authors discovered that SRHRM increased LEH and that EVB mediated this favorable relationship. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that ELS mitigates the indirect impact of SRHRM on LEH via EVB.

Future studies should assess constructs with numerous observations across time, with a larger sample size and in different industrial settings.

Volunteerism is one of the most important values in the aviation industry given that it is vulnerable to practices such as overbooking, delaying, postponing flights and pressure weather.

This study emphasized the impact of SRHRM and ELS on LEH while fulfilling their professional obligations. EVB may be best positioned to mediate the relationship between SRHRM and LEH.

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.

The AirAsia India 2017 (AAI) case presents the situation faced by Tony Fernandes, the CEO of the AirAsia group of companies, in 2017, when he had to respond to the changes in aviation policy made by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MCA). As per the changes, an airline operating in India could start its international operations without having five years of domestic flying experience provided it deployed 20 of its aircraft or 20% of the total capacity, whichever was higher, for domestic operations. The objective of this case is to help discuss issues relating to sustaining late entry and exploring new growth opportunities in the context of regulatory changes.