Literature is reviewed in this chapter in support of the study purpose of assessing the advantages and disadvantages of a single-class business-class airline marketing strategy. In this chapter, a description of the search process is provided prior to the literature review. The literature review itself is presented in separate reviews of literature designed to (1) validate the research problem, (2) identify previous strategies and techniques, and (3) identify testable strategies and techniques.
Description of the Process of the Search
The search for relevant sources to review was conducted both in academic libraries, on-line in electronic databases, and an Internet search of the World Wide Web. The search in academic libraries involved the use of electronic databases of library holdings. The on-line search of electronic databases was similar in concept to the academic library search, with the major difference being the specialization of each database and the absence in some instances of access to full-text sources. The Internet search of the World Wide Web, while providing some valuable material not accessible elsewhere for most researchers, also yields high volumes of irrelevant sources.
Literature is review in this section to validate the research problem investigated in this study. Because of the problem-specific focus of this review, the sources included in this review deal exclusively with single-class air carriers.
Substantial speculations and contentions are being made about the potential for new-entrant (start-up) airlines to succeed through the application of a single-class seating strategy, whether that single-class be economy-class or business-class. The Aviation Systems Research Corporation, an independent organization conducting studies of the airline industry, contends, however, that most of this speculation and most of these contentions are based on misinformation. "Congress and the usual-suspects cro...