Management and Employment-Relations Strategies in the Airline Industry: Perspectives on Asia, Australia and the Middle East

Abstract

This chapter discusses the variety of approaches to the management of people in airlines from the Asia / Pacific / Middle East region in the face of increasing deregulation. We identify key differences between the institutional environment for airlines in the US versus those in Asia-Pacific nations and discuss their competitive implications. Then we describe the competitive and employment relations strategies of seven airlines (both incumbents and new entrants) from four countries. We note that incumbent airlines show little change to their basic employment paradigm, despite major restructuring efforts. New entrants show more variety, both in their approach to union relationships and their approach to relations with employees. However, we find that none of these airlines fully matches the model of Southwest Airlines, one of the world‘s most successful airlines, and suggest that there may be unexploited opportunities to turn employment relationships into a source of advantage.

Keywords: airlines, varieties of capitalism, Asia, Australia, commitment, control, partner, accommodate unions

JEL Classification: J53, L93, L22, R48, M12, M54, O53, O56, O57, P51