Title
Organizational learning, operating costs and airline consolidation policy in the Chinese airline industry
Document Type
Journal article
Source Publication
Journal of Air Transport Management
Publication Date
8-1-2017
Volume
63
First Page
108
Last Page
118
Publisher
Elsevier Ltd
Keywords
Airline mergers and acquisitions, Operating costs, Operating experience, Organizational learning, Post-acquisition periods, Post-merger periods
Abstract
This study investigated and reviewed organizational learning in the Chinese airline industry, which is dominated by state-owned or state-controlled airlines. This empirical research focused on the extensive scale of airline mergers and acquisitions among 12 Chinese airlines for the period of 1996–2014. This research aims to make a contribution towards addressing the general lack of academic reflection on the impact of organizational learning on airline performance during and after the completion of mergers and acquisitions. The empirical findings of this paper suggested that there was, in general, organizational learning experienced by Chinese airlines from their prior operating experience in improving operating costs. However, airline mergers in 2001/02 increased airlines' average operating costs, as most state-owned airlines are notorious for poor cost management. Significantly, the performance improvement among Chinese airlines was found during the post-merger periods in this study, and the increase in Chinese airlines’ operating costs during the post-acquisition periods due to the limited integration of 2010 acquisition compared with the 2001/02 mergers.
DOI
10.1016/j.jairtraman.2017.06.018
Print ISSN
09696997
E-ISSN
18732089
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Chow, C. K. W., & Tsui, W. H. K. (2017). Organizational learning, operating costs and airline consolidation policy in the Chinese airline industry. Journal of Air Transport Management, 63, 108-118. doi: 10.1016/j.jairtraman.2017.06.018
