Airlines - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

[VIDEO] How the Alaska Airlines Incident Could Affect Boeing

January 24, 2024

Two weeks ago, we looked at the terrifying incident that passengers experienced on an Alaska Airlines flight when a door suddenly blew open during takeoff. The incident placed Boeing under renewed scrutiny for its Max line of aircraft, which could have big repercussions for the company going forward. This video looks at the potential consequences Boeing could face, from losing airlines’ confidence to ceding market share to competitors like Airbus.

Questions:

How could airlines’ loss of confidence in Boeing Continue reading →

Regulation, Global, Air Travel, Ethics, Safety, Manufacturing, Supply & Demand, Airlines, FAA

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law, Videos

Record Number of Travelers Will Fly for Thanksgiving

November 15, 2023

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

After travel rates plummeted during the pandemic, Americans have been steadily hitting the road and boarding planes every year since. Thanksgiving is usually the busiest time for travel, and 2023 will be no different. From the Wednesday before Turkey Day to the end of the weekend, AAA estimates that there will be more than 55.4 million people traveling in the U.S. The vast majority will travel by car, with 49 million Americans expected to head out on the highway next Continue reading →

Inflation, Airlines, Hybrid work, Transportation, Travel, Product Distribution, Remote Work, Motivation, Supply & Demand

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 15: Distribution

[VIDEO] How Delta Makes 3,200 Meals Per Day

April 5, 2023

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

In the last few months, we’ve posted videos focusing on small businesses that produce mouthwatering foods by hand, from tasty chocolates to delicious hand-rolled bagels. Today’s video looks at another sort of commercial kitchen, however, a facility owned by Delta Airlines that pumps out more than 3,000 meals daily by relying on robotic machines.

Questions:

Why does Delta rely on automated cooking machines at its Atlanta facility?
Do you think small businesses producing food by hand could benefit Continue reading →

Manufacturing, Automation, Food & Drink, Airlines, Operations Management, Global

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media, Videos

FAA Computer Outage Delays Thousands of Flights

January 13, 2023

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

Last week, we looked at how bad weather and an overloaded scheduling system led to disastrous consequences for Southwest Airlines as it canceled more than 13,000 flights over the holidays. But while this disaster could at least be partly blamed on a rough winter storm, airports had no such excuse on Wednesday when a computer outage led to another massive wave of cancellations and delays. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), a damaged database file corrupted the agency’s system Continue reading →

Marketing, Branding, Operations Management, Regulation, Ethics, Travel, Supply & Demand, Airlines

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

Southwest’s Meltdown Creates Holiday Travel Nightmare

January 4, 2023

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

The end of December is one of the busiest travel times of the year as people rush back and forth from home for the holidays. For travelers who booked trips on Southwest Airlines, though, the season was even more stressful as the carrier canceled more than 13,000 flights in less than a week. The trouble started when a major winter storm swept the country and prevented many pilots and flight attendants from working. Southwest staff usually solve this problem by Continue reading →

Travel, Holidays, Supply & Demand, Airlines, Ethics, Unions, Branding, Labor Relations

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution

Pilots Demand Big Changes from Airlines

July 12, 2022

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

Since the start of the summer travel season, air carriers have canceled thousands of flights as they grapple with bad weather, high fuel costs, and rampant inflation. Along with these problems, airlines are also encountering increased resistance from one of their most important groups of employees: pilots. Faced with large workloads and an unpredictable post-pandemic environment, pilots are demanding substantial wage increases as well as quality of life benefits from their employers.

According to analysts, airlines are likely to Continue reading →

Motivation, Global, Travel, Human Resources, Supply & Demand, Unions, Airlines, Labor Relations, Pandemic

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions

Thousands of Flights Delayed or Canceled over Holiday Weekend

June 22, 2022

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

Americans traveled in droves over the busy Father’s Day and Juneteenth holiday weekend, leading to widespread delays and cancellations at airports despite the best efforts of carriers. All told, airlines canceled more than 5,000 flights over the weekend while almost a third of all arriving flights on Friday were delayed. Travelers experienced similar moments of chaos at airports over Memorial Day weekend, reflecting an industry struggling to return to normal after the pandemic.

According to airlines, poor weather and high Continue reading →

Supply & Demand, Compensation, Airlines, Pandemic, Operations Management, Global, Transportation, Ethics, Travel, Unions

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions

Business Travel May Never Return to Pre-Pandemic Levels

March 29, 2022

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

With omicron infection rates falling and mask mandates expiring across the country, many companies are attempting to reestablish a sense of pre-pandemic normalcy by reopening offices and bringing employees back to stay. But while firms return to business as usual, the nation’s biggest companies may never again return to business travel as usual. According to the Global Business Travel Association, spending on corporate travel amounts to a third of what it was before 2020.

For example, the consultancy giant Continue reading →

Transportation, Travel, Organizational Culture, Airlines, Motivation, Pandemic, Global, Office environment

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 8: Organizational Culture and Structure, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management

Southwest Airlines Suddenly Cancels more than 2,000 Flights

October 13, 2021

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

Last month, we looked at how air travel has become so complicated during the pandemic that people are turning to travel agents to make sense of the mess. But not even the most experienced agents could have prepared Southwest passengers for the problems that many encountered this past weekend. On Saturday the carrier cancelled more than 1,000 flights and then another 800 on Sunday, followed by 360 more cancellations and close to 1,000 delayed flights on Monday. Southwest apologized for Continue reading →

Travel, Product Distribution, Global, Labor Shortage, Supply & Demand, Airlines, Supply chains, Transportation

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 15: Distribution

Airlines Anticipate Drop in Travel due to Delta Variant

August 24, 2021

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

At the beginning of summer, major airlines had plenty of optimism that rising vaccination rates would entice Americans into traveling again. Initially this hope seemed to be well-placed as demand for flights increased and prices surged accordingly, with the Consumer Price Index finding that airfares rose by 7 percent from April to May 2021. While prices stayed around that level through July, sales started to sag by August as carriers saw the impact of the Delta variant on their bottom Continue reading →

Airlines, Global, Pricing, Product Distribution, Air Travel, Supply & Demand

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution