American Airlines Essay Example

American Airlines Essay Example American Airlines Essay American Airlines Essay Ninety-Four marked a significant increase in turnover and number of staff employed but a dip in profits. This was not seen as a concern as 93 and 94 were seen as years where the company was making big capital investments to improve future efficiency and capacity. For instance facilities at Gatwick and Heathrow were improved and the Club Europe brand was launched as a further incentive for business customers. BA teamed up further with Qantas and set up two franchises with Logonair and GB Airways in 94 and a further one at the beginning of 95 with Manx Airlines Europe. The economys of scale and new destinations that were offered by these companies allowed further cost cutting by BA but explains the increase in staff numbers. Ninety-Five, Ninety-Six and Ninety-seven were good years for BA. Profits doubled to above those that were being reached before the gulf war and turnover and employee numbers also went up to cope with increasing demand. The economy was in good shape and John Majors government secured new agreements with the USA allowing BA to occupy more slots at US airports. Shortly after BA sold its stake in USAir and went into an arrangement with the bigger American Airlines. A new three-year plan to revolutionise air travel is announced at a cost of i 500 million and is aimed at premium Business customers, the market which was responsible for BAs current large profits. New franchises are announced including overseas ones in Denmark and South Africa and agreements with Canadian Airlines. These arrangements go further towards developing BAs brand and reducing costs through economies of scale. Union problems were settled and cuts or freezes were made on cabin crew and ground staff wages. 1998 saw BA launch Go a no frills airline which would not compete for the same clientele as the increasingly business orientated BA. Manchester airports new 75million terminal was opened. Turnover and Staffing levels continued to go up but alarmingly profit halved. Thus began a time when budget airlines boomed and business airlines suffered. However Go was finding it difficult to attract customers from competitors easyjet and ryanair. In 1999 BAs profit after tax went into the red for the first time since privatisation. BA continued to forge relationships with other international airlines. In particular Spains Iberia who they bought a nine percent share of in February. Turnover continued to rise as did customer numbers and staff levels. The failure of Go, was a contributing factor to BAs worst result since 1982 (BA Reports and Accounts, 1999-2000, inside cover). In 1999, profits had taken a dramatic decline, with operating profit falling by i 358m, down to i 84m. Gross profit had also fallen by i 358m, down to i 261m. This fall in profits also had a negative impact upon investment in the company, with capital and reserves falling (BA Reports and Accounts, 1999-2000). These dramatic falls in profitability were caused by increased competition in the market, which led to competitive pricing and marketing. British Airways funds were getting used too quickly. The increase in oil prices also meant increased expenditure for BA. Things got worse for BA, with low employee morale, leading to poor customer service, which in turn deeply impacted upon BAs reputation (BA Reports and Accounts, 1999-2000). 2000 saw some return to form for the ailing BA. Turnover, Profits and Capital increased and cuts in staff were announced to try to curb the effects of the worldwide recession which seemed imminent. The figures for 2000, were an improvement, but were not back up to pre-1999 levels. One of the major reasons for this was the foot and mouth epidemic, which hit Britain in February 2000. This stopped a lot of people from traveling both out of but especially into the UK and badly hit BA. Also the petrol crisis boosted BAs expenses, and scared people into not traveling (bbc. co. uk). The grounding of Concorde after the Paris crash on July 25th badly hit the travel industry. It hit BAs upper and luxury class services including the business sector that they had been so carefully nurturing. In all this time of hardship, passenger traffic fell by more than 13% (telegraph. co. uk). 2001 looked promising; In May the airline reported a sharp rise in profits and revealed that it was making more money from each customer than it has done since it was privatised in 1987. The new chief executive, Rod Eddington, was being congratulated for turning BA around after years in the wilderness with former boss Bob Ayling. (news. bbc. co. uk/). He planned to stay true to the formula of concentrating on the premium business sector and so in June 2000 completed the sale of Go, BAs no-frills airline, making a  75m profit from its initial investment three years ago. Then, unbelievably the events of September the 11th occurred and within 2 weeks BA were announcing job cuts of over 7000, profit warnings were issued and competitors were going bust. Passengers were unwilling to fly due to safety concerns and the whole industry was hit hard. Suddenly the safety issue that had not grabbed the headlines for 10 years is again a priority and the mountain that BA had climbed since the Gulf War is bigger than ever. BA posted huge losses in 2001 with analysts predicting that it will take several years for the industry to begin to recover.

Free Essays on Aviation Finance

In the past few years, we have been able to see the near demise of some of the world’s largest airlines. However at the other end of the table sit such sound companies as Jet Blue and Southwest. The mere existence of such companies proves that airline carriers can be viable business entities. Troubled airlines such as United Airlines and American Airlines can see brighter skies in the future, by minimizing costs and maximizing revenues. Nevertheless, lowering costs and raising revenues cannot effectively fix the struggling airlines problems if the airlines are not able to operate in a free market environment. The airline industry is a service industry. The airlines are in the business of transporting people and their belongings as well as products. The major characteristics of the industry include the following: capital intensive, high cash flows, labor intensive, highly unionized, and seasonal. These characteristics are the cause of the industry’s then profit margin. In fact â€Å"airlines, through the years, have earned a net profit between one and two percent, compared to an average of above five percent for U.S. industry’s as a whole†. Due to the industry’s thin profit margin, it comes as no surprise that the history of airlines has been a rocky one. The airline industry has been for the most part profitable for the last sixty years. However a thin profit margin has been a major problem throughout the industry’s history. The majority of the airlines are unable to profitably deal with extreme economic events such as depression, recession, war, and of course the September 11 attacks. Furthermore they are unable to profitably deal with changes in the industry such as, the government deregulation that occurred in the late 70’s and early 80’s. The results of such events are larger than average declines in profit compared to higher profit margin industries. This fact can be seen in the annual reports publish... Free Essays on Aviation Finance Free Essays on Aviation Finance In the past few years, we have been able to see the near demise of some of the world’s largest airlines. However at the other end of the table sit such sound companies as Jet Blue and Southwest. The mere existence of such companies proves that airline carriers can be viable business entities. Troubled airlines such as United Airlines and American Airlines can see brighter skies in the future, by minimizing costs and maximizing revenues. Nevertheless, lowering costs and raising revenues cannot effectively fix the struggling airlines problems if the airlines are not able to operate in a free market environment. The airline industry is a service industry. The airlines are in the business of transporting people and their belongings as well as products. The major characteristics of the industry include the following: capital intensive, high cash flows, labor intensive, highly unionized, and seasonal. These characteristics are the cause of the industry’s then profit margin. In fact â€Å"airlines, through the years, have earned a net profit between one and two percent, compared to an average of above five percent for U.S. industry’s as a whole†. Due to the industry’s thin profit margin, it comes as no surprise that the history of airlines has been a rocky one. The airline industry has been for the most part profitable for the last sixty years. However a thin profit margin has been a major problem throughout the industry’s history. The majority of the airlines are unable to profitably deal with extreme economic events such as depression, recession, war, and of course the September 11 attacks. Furthermore they are unable to profitably deal with changes in the industry such as, the government deregulation that occurred in the late 70’s and early 80’s. The results of such events are larger than average declines in profit compared to higher profit margin industries. This fact can be seen in the annual reports publish...

Sexual harassment in the workplace Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sexual harassment in the workplace - Assignment Example According to the Equal Rights Advocates, sexual harassment is defined as â€Å"unwelcome verbal, visual, or physical conduct of a sexual nature that is severe or pervasive and affects working conditions or creates a hostile work environment.† When reading this definition it is difficult to understand how people would do this within the workplace, but it is important to understand that this happens on a regular basis. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) states that in 2008, 13,867 cases of sexual harassment were received by them and 11,731 of those cases were resolved; 15.9% of these cases were filed by men. The Alliance Training and Consulting group found that in 2010, there were 11,717 cases filed with the EEOC and the eventual resolution of cases cost companies $48.4 million in damages. These statistics show that sexual harassment is not only a problem for the people who experience sexual harassment, but it also is very costly to the companies that are in volved. The challenge for many companies is that they do not know that there is training available for their employees which can help them resolve some of these issues before they begin. According to Pamela Mahabeer, a writer for AOL Jobs, although seminars are done to teach people about sexual harassment, it still is happening. ... Ellie Mystal, a writer for Above The Law, states that many men file sexual harassment claims when they are fired from a job because they are seeking a reason for their firing; many of these cases claimed that men were sexually harassed by other men. Another issue with sexual harassment is that it can be claimed that it creates a hostile work environment. In order to claim that this happens, it must meet two criteria: First, what is going on must be â€Å"subjectively abusive† to the person or persons affected and it must be â€Å"objectively severe or pervasive enough† to create an environment that other people would also find abusive (â€Å"Preventing†). This can happen in many instances and this often indicates that there are many incidences of sexual harassment that are being ignored, or that it is a constant harassing that happens over time. Sexual harassment is a very important issue in the workplace that needs to be challenged when it happens so that everyo ne can be in a safe environment when they are working. Works Cited Alliance Training and Consulting. â€Å"Harassment Statistics the Latest EEOC Statistics.† 2010. 29 June 2011. http://www.alliancetac.com/index.html?PAGE_ID=2702 Equal Rights Advocates. â€Å"Know Your Rights: Sexual Harassment at Work.† 2011. 20 June 2011. http://www.equalrights.org/publications/kyr/shwork.asp Mahabeer, Pamela. â€Å"Sexual Harassment Still Pervasive in the Workplace.† AOL Jobs. 8 January 2011. Web. 11 June 2011. http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2011/01/28/sexual-harassment-in-the-workplace . Mystal, Ellie. â€Å"Sexual Harassment: It’s Not Just for Women Anymore.† Above the Law. Web. March 24, 2010 http://abovethelaw.com/2010/03/sexual-harassment-men