COMPETITORS ANALYSIS AIRLINES INDUSTRY Research Paper

COMPETITORS ANALYSIS AIRLINES INDUSTRY - Research Paper Example It will start a new delta.com platform in 2012, which it expects to produce additional purchases of tickets (Delta, 2011, p.7). It will also change its â€Å"distribution from a commodity approach to a differentiated and merchandised approach† (Delta, 2011, p.7). It believes that new merchandising initiatives that it is implementing, chiefly through delta.com, will produce additional revenue opportunities and enhance the purchasing experience of customers (Delta, 2011, p.7). Its main goal is to provide customers with opportunities to buy what they value, like â€Å"first class upgrades, economy comfort seating, WiFi access and SkyClub passes† (Delta, 2011, p.7). Delta also aims to reach amplified traffic on delta.com through a mixture of advertising revenue and transactions of third party products and services such as car rentals, hotels, and trip insurance (Delta, 2011, p.7). Its net income for 2011 was $854 million, which is $261 million higher than 2010 (Delta, 2011, p.27). US Airways Group is a holding company whose main business activity is operating a major network air carrier through its 100%- owned subsidiaries â€Å"US Airways, Piedmont Airlines, Inc. ("Piedmont"), PSA Airlines, Inc. ("PSA"), Material Services Company, Inc. ("MSC") and Airways Assurance Limited ("AAL")† (US Airways, 2011, p.5). It operates the fifth largest airline in the United States, which is measured by domestic revenue passenger miles ("RPMs") and available seat miles ("ASMs") (US Airways, 2011, p.6). It had around 53 million passengers for its mainline flights in 2011 (US Airways, 2011, p.6). For the same year, its mainline operation provided frequently scheduled service or seasonal service at 133 airports while the US Airways Express network served 156 airports in the United States, Canada and Mexico, including 78 airports also served by our mainline operation (US Airways, 2011, p.6). In 2011, it earned net income of $71 million, which