1. The Air Transportation Industry
Chapter 2 A
The Air Transportation Industry

2. OBJECTIVES: Define airline industry terminology
Explain how various types of aircraft are used in commercial aviation
Categorize airline types
Describe what factors affect air ticket prices
Describe airport procedures

3. Aviation: Industry that builds and flies aircraft 2 parts
Military Aviation-flown by air force and other branches of its military
Civil Aviation: industry that flies public from place to place

4. FAA
The Federal Aviation Administration: controls air traffic operations, licenses pilots, inspects aircraft and oversees maintenance

5. ATA
Air Transport Association: regulates ticketing, keeps ticket purchases standardized

6. ARC
The Airlines Reporting Corporation: controls the distribution of tickets, collects the money for tickets

7. TSA
Transportation Security Administration: government entity responsible for security at airports in the US

8. Air Service and Routes
Aircraft can’t simply fly wherever and whenever they want.
When dealing with business or vacation flying you deal with scheduled service- transportation that operates regularly at set advertised times, no matter how many people book the service

9. Charter Flights
Companies sell seats, to or through tour operators or mass-market sellers
Flight may be made several times a week, however, may be canceled if there aren’t enough passengers.
May be called a direct air carrier

10. Private Jets Owned by individuals or companies
May be owned by several individuals or companies and called fractional ownership
Often less expensive for a company than buying first class or business class for executives

11. Flight Types
Nonstop Flight: One on which a traveler goes from Point A to Point B on the same aircraft with no stops in between. Example: LAX airport in Los Angeles to JFK airport in New York City with no stops in between

12. Flight Types
Direct Flight: one on which a traveler goes from Point A to Point B on the same aircraft but stops at an airport in between. Example: La to Dallas to NYC with no plane change
Sometimes called continuing or one-stop flights

13. Flight Types
Connecting Flight: A traveler must change planes once, twice, or more times to get to the destination

14. Itinerary Routes
One-way Flight: customer goes from Point A to Point B and that’s it.
A one-way flight may be more expensive than a round trip
Round Trip Flight: Most common, Customer goes from Point A to Point B and then returns to Point A

15. Itinerary Routes
Open-jaw Flight: Flies from point A to point B, travels by rail or rental car to point C, then returns by air from point C to point A
Transcontinental Service: flies from coast to coast
Circle Flight: Fly from Point A to point B, stay a while, Fly to Point C, stay a while, then fly back to Point A from point C

16. Hubs and Spokes
Hub: key airport where a carrier bases most of its flights from, economic for airlines
Spokes: vast system of flights out of the hub, may be direct or nonstop
Domestic Hubs: handle mostly domestic (local in the US) flights
International Hubs: handle mostly flights to other countries

17. Hub and Spoke Example SEA BOS LAS PHL LAX MIA DFW SAN Chicago
O’Hare (ORD)
LAS
PHL
LAX
MIA
DFW
SAN

18. Aircraft
Jet engine: driven by jets, faster than prop planes, go farther, tend to be larger-Narrow-body jets and wide-body jets called jumbo jets-747,777,DC-10
Propeller or Prop: driven by propellers, smaller, go relatively slow, travel short distances

19. Seating
Pitch: also called legroom, distance between seat rows, more pitch, more leg room, affects comfort
Width: how wide the seat is, affects comfort, average 18 in., some just 16.5
Recline: seats lay back, 10% to 45%, but some 100% like bed (according to class)

20. Class of Service
First Class: at the front of the plane, wider seats, greater pitch, more recline, elaborate meals, complimentary alcoholic beverages, free movies

21. Class of Service
Coach Class: also called economy, standard level of service, narrower seats, less pitch and recline, simple meals or snacks, maybe no meals, soft drinks. Alcoholic beverages cost extra as well as movies. Usually separated from 1st class by wall called bulkhead

22. Class of Service
Business Class: Some airlines may have a business class between the first class and the coach, somewhat better than coach and with less than first class. Almost always, business and first class feature fewer seats per row (more comfort)

23. Seating Assignment
In most cases a passenger can reserve a specific seat in advance
Sometimes you can reserve a seat when you check in at the airport
Some airlines will not let you book a specific seat.
Southwest lets you sit where you want, first come, first serve

24. Overbooking
Airlines sometimes allow bookings to exceed the number of seat available on a slight-oversold or overbooked
Companies have computers that estimate (guess) how many people will not show (no-shows) for the flight

25. Rewards Volunteers are asked to fly later to release overbooked seats
Some are offered vouchers worth hundreds of dollars toward future trips
Some are offered “FREE” flight, upgrades to first class or even cash

26. Bumped
Passengers must check in for their flight no later than minutes
If you are late, you may not be able to board and may be “bumped” to a later flight

27. Airlines 4 basic categories of airlines
1. Major U.S. Airlines-huge companies, services U.S. and international cities
2. Secondary Airlines: not as large as majors, offer great service, most have connecting hubs ad crisscross the U.S.

28. Airlines
3. Low-Fare Airlines: Low-frills, low fares, target leisure travelers, establish hubs in secondary airports (smaller), have fewer nonstop flights, rarely offer meals or movies, have coach seating only, use only 1 or 2 aircraft models, their tickets are usually not accepted by other larger companies

29. Airlines
4. Regional Airlines: commuter airlines, limited sections of country, usually affiliated with a major airline, use small jets and prop planes

30. Airline Terms Commercial Flight: seats sold to general public
Code-Sharing: partner airlines use each others carrier codes
Red-eye flight: overnight flight where passenger tries to sleep, and usually does not get any sleep

31. Airline Terms
Gateway: airport that serves an airline as its departure/arrival point for international travel
Flight Attendants: Airline personnel who see to the safety, comfort and needs of passengers on the plane