Strategic market planning in the commercial airline industry

Firms in the commercial airline industry were studied to ascertain their use of strategic market planning. The results indicate strategic market planning and related techniques (Experience curve/cost analysis, portfolio analysis, investment opportunity analysis, and PIMS) are not employed by all firms. In fact, many corporate planners were unfamiliar with the state-of-the-art methods. These results were found in firms of all sizes. Overall, individuals familiar with the strategic market planning tools were critical of their inflexibility and felt they had limited application to the airline industry. Some firms have developed their own proprietary planning methods. A large proportion of smaller firms had no formal planning process, relying instead on executive judgement. Planners identified the need for greater support from top management and better definition of planning requirements. The results are suggestive of the opportunity for greater dissemination of the state-of-the art and research to improve planning technique.