Competition in Aviation Management for British Airways in UK

This research proposal explores the factors of competition for the British Airways in the UK and how the challenges could be handled by the aviation company to maintain its competitiveness in the market. The study aims to investigate the factors contributing to the increased competition in the aviation management for British Airways and to provide recommendations on mitigating the challenges. The research methodology includes mixed methodology, descriptive case study research design, and thematic analysis method.

Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Research Proposal on “Competition in Aviation Management for British Airways in UK”
Name of the Student:
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1RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Introduction
This paper produces a research proposal on the topic of competition in the aviation
management for the British Airways in the UK. The aviation industry in the UK comprises of
many large domestic and international players and all thrive to increase their share of market by
expanding routes, increasing number of flights and attracting more customers through improved
services (Flouris and Oswald 2016). Thus, this research study will explore the factors of
competition for the British Airways and how the challenges could be handled by the aviation
company to maintain its competitiveness in the market. The paper will present research aim,
research objectives, rationale of the study and research methodology for exploring the research
topic.
Research aim
The aim of this study is to investigate the factors contributing in the increased
competition in the aviation management for British Airways and to provide recommendation on
mitigating the challenges.
Research objectives (SMART)
The SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time Based) objectives for the
study are:
 Specific: To explore the specific factors those create competition in the aviation
management for British airways in the UK
 Measurable: To improve the revenue of the organization by 5% in the next 1 year by
mitigating the impact of competition in the market

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 Attainable: To provide recommendations on how to achieve the target through aviation
management for British airways
 Relevant: To meet the organizational goals of retaining its leading market position by
addressing the competition challenges
 Time frame: To achieve the increase in target for the organization in the next 1 year
Rationale for study
British Airways faces tough competition from many domestic and international airlines,
such as, easyJet, Jet2, Virgin Atlantic, Thomson Airways, Delta Airlines, Monarch Air group,
United Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines etc. (Owler.com 2019). Thus, it can be
said that with numerous competitors across the country and the world, it is quite challenging for
the British Airways to retain as well as increase its market share and revenues. Aviation
management deals with all kinds of business operations of the airlines, airports and other related
functionalities. Business performance of the airlines companies is highly dependent on the
efficiency of aviation management, which in turn affects the quality of customer service
(Merkert and Morrell 2012).
Cost effectiveness is a crucial factor in the aviation industry. British Airways faces
challenges from low cost airlines, such as, easyJet, Ryan Air etc. These low cost carriers have
been able to capture a larger market share in a short span of time. Alderighi et al. (2012)
highlighted that price level plays a major role in determining the business performance for the
European airlines, and on the other hand, the competition among the carriers affect the price
levels and leisure segments of the airlines. The arrival of the low cost carriers in the UK and

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other regions has significantly affected the price level of the full service carriers, and as a result,
they faced losses in their revenue.
Forsyth (2018) stated about the predatory behavior of the airlines companies prior and
post liberalization in the aviation industry. After liberalization, the number of carriers increased
significantly, and there has been improvement in the quality of customer service. However, the
full service carriers face a challenge on their cost effectiveness and profit margin to prevent
intense competition from the predatory behavior of the new entrants. On a similar note,
Hüschelrath et al. (2013) threw light on various strategies, such as, effects of the entry of low
cost carriers, strategies of product differentiation and dynamic pricing, competition in the
connecting markets, monopolization of routes and safety features. All these factors are highly
important in determining the shape of business and profit of the carriers all over the world.
Thus, it can be said that, the performance efficiency of a full service carrier like British
Airways is dependent on internal as well as external factors, including market competition in
terms of price, quality or service, safety features, technology etc. This study will explore all
those factors to get an in-depth insight about the challenges faced by the British Airways and will
recommend ways to mitigate those.
Research approach
To address the research objectives, the researcher will apply mixed methodology. This
methodology helps in getting a detailed overview of the research topic in both the scientific and
social aspects (Mackey and Bryfonski 2018). The study will take an exploratory research
approach as the research aim is to explore and identify the factors of challenge and explore their
impact on the performance to recommend ways to improve the business (Sekaran and Bougie

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2016). Descriptive case study research design will be chosen as a particular organization will be
used for the investigation to get specific results (Hancock and Algozzine 2016). British Airways
is the case study company. Both qualitative and quantitative data will be collected. Primary data
will be collected from the employees of British Airways through interview and survey methods.
The survey responses will be analyzed using quantitative method and the interview responses
will be analyzed using qualitative method. Secondary information will also be collected and
analyzed using qualitative methods to support the findings from the primary data. Thematic
analysis method will be chosen in which various relevant themes will be designed and the study
will be conducted in that direction in a controlled manner (Braun et al. 2019).

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References
Alderighi, M., Cento, A., Nijkamp, P. and Rietveld, P., 2012. Competition in the European
aviation market: the entry of low-cost airlines. Journal of Transport Geography, 24, pp.223-233.
Braun, V., Clarke, V., Hayfield, N. and Terry, G., 2019. Thematic analysis. Handbook of
Research Methods in Health Social Sciences, pp.843-860.
Flouris, T.G. and Oswald, S.L., 2016. Designing and executing strategy in aviation management.
Routledge.
Forsyth, P., 2018. Competition versus Predation in aviation markets: a survey of experience in
North America, Europe and Australia. Routledge.
Hancock, D.R. and Algozzine, B., 2016. Doing case study research: A practical guide for
beginning researchers. Teachers College Press.
Hüschelrath, K., Niemeier, H.M., Wolf, H., Gillen, D. and Forsyth, P. eds., 2013. Liberalization
in aviation: competition, cooperation and public policy. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd..
Mackey, A. and Bryfonski, L., 2018. Mixed methodology. In The Palgrave Handbook of Applied
Linguistics Research Methodology (pp. 103-121). Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Merkert, R. and Morrell, P.S., 2012. Mergers and acquisitions in aviation–Management and
economic perspectives on the size of airlines. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and
Transportation Review, 48(4), pp.853-862.

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Owler.com, 2019. British Airways Competitors, Revenue and Employees - Owler Company
Profile. [online] Owler. Available at: https://www.owler.com/company/britishairways [Accessed
2 Mar. 2019].
Sekaran, U. and Bougie, R., 2016. Research methods for business: A skill building approach.
John Wiley & Sons.