An investment adviser has to evaluate the consequences for a client's pension fund of British Airways' balance sheet disclosure of a write-down of ￡1.3 billion associated with their unfunded pension liability, resulting from the company's required adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards in 2005.

Having overseen the oftentimes acrimonious merger of Canadian Airlines, witnessed the depression in the airline passenger market in the wake of September 11, 2001, been negatively affected by the war in Iraq and the SARS threat in the spring of 2003, Robert Milton, CEO of Air Canada, had only recently reached 11th hour settlements with Air Canada's major unions. It was these agreements that had saved Air Canada from liquidation. Public critics .....more

Since its start in the mid-1990s, WestJet Airlines, a regional carrier, has had continued growth and success with its low-fare flights and exceptional service. It has maintained this success despite the entry of smaller airlines into the market, which were taking advantage of the disruption caused by the amalgamation of Air Canada and Canadian Airlines, and despite the industry challenges experienced after the events of September 11, 2001. The founders .....more

WestJet is a regional airline service. During the early afternoon of September 11, 2001, the director of customer service is on her way to an emergency meeting. For the first time ever, all civilian airline flights across North American airspace are suspended. WestJet guests and employees are stranded across the country without any indication as to when flights will resume. In addition, there are grounded employees that are dealing with a tremendous .....more

For over 50 years, SG Industries has manufactured and sold aircraft jet engines to customers around the world. The marketing manager of the company's spare parts division has learned that a new competitor from a different industry has begun to manufacture a machine part that is similar to one produced and sold by SG. There is, however, one major difference: the wear and durability of the competitor's product has proven to be four times better .....more

This supplement to the Euro-Air (A) case, 9A99M015, serves to contrast what competitor airlines do with respect to service recovery and communication. The larger issue relates to our ability to use these two short cases to explore the nature and limitations of certain non-equity international alliances.

A North America-based representative of a major European airline has just received a letter from an unhappy customer detailing a very large number of service problems. A quick check had revealed that this premium-paying customer's complaints were all valid. A meeting is planned with the customer. Before this, the airline representative must decide (A) what to say in response, and (B) what, if any, compensation should be offered. Internally, there .....more

The president of a regional aircraft carrier in Thompson, Manitoba, is contemplating a route expansion which would service Winnipeg and several northern Manitoba communities, positioning the firm in direct competition with the only two other airlines in this market. Students, in the role of president, are asked to develop a complete marketing strategy involving decisions on the types of aircraft to be used, scheduling, pricing, and promotional activities .....more

This case was written for the operations module in an introductory business course. Skyward is a regional airline offering charter and scheduled service in northern Manitoba. The company's rapid growth over the past three to four years in scheduled service has altered its requirements for information processing. The problems have reached the point where customer service has deteriorated because of longer waiting times. The case allows students .....more

As part of their quest to build a global airline system, British Airways has acquired a 25 percent equity position in USAir, a major domestic U.S. carrier. But USAir is a very troubled airline and now, sixteen months into the relationship, British Airways is faced with choices that range from writing off their investment to injecting new cash in support of USAir's operations. The case raises issues of responses to globalization, partner choice .....more