The COVID-19 pandemic represents an extraordinary inflection point that caught airlines worldwide unprepared, causing CEOs to recalibrate their business models. This book explains why this unprecedented pandemic is different from the past disruptions experienced by the airline industry during the past 50 years, and what airlines and related businesses now can do to adapt to the dramatically changed marketplace. This book presents two future scenarios: continuous improvements and elastic supply. These are considered in three specific contexts for the rebuilding of the airline business. These contexts, in the order of urgency with respect to change from the status quo, are the following. The first context is for airlines to become better prepared to deal with frequent and deeper disruptions that could be localized or globalized relating to such areas as climate change, geopolitics, and cybersecurity. The second context is to collaborate and integrate within the much broader travel ecosystem, possibly using platforms to innovate on new value systems. The third context, which has always been the case and drives the first two, is for airlines to offer real solutions to people’s travel needs, solutions developed with imagination and turbocharged innovation, even as we contemplate new technology airplanes and mobility as a service solutions. This book is recommended reading for all senior-level practitioners of airlines and related businesses, as well as aviation policy makers worldwide.
