ASSESSMENT OF THE AIRLINE SEAT INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Airline companies are confronted with a competitive operating environment that has been created by a combination of industry deregulation and economic malaise. As a means of restoring financial health, airline companies have, through the manipulation of computerized reservations systems, implemented seat inventory management systems based upon the yield management concept. While the various manifestations of seat inventory management systems have often proved to be financially beneficial to airline companies, their operation has also generated challenges to their legality by government, charges of unfairness by consumer advocacy groups, and effective countermeasures by air travelers. The problem investigated by this study was an assessment of the desirability of retaining seat inventory management systems based on the yield management concept in the face of opposition from both government and consumers.
This assessment was based on a survey of a sample of airline executives, government regulatory officials, and consumer advocates. The survey measured the perceptions of airline executives with respect to the effectiveness of yield management based seat inventory management systems; government regulatory officials with respect to the likely impact of governmental challenges to these systems; and consumer advocates with respect to the implications for airline profitability of consumer opposition to the systems. The survey data were analyzed through the application of chi square analysis procedures to test goodness of fit. Introduction
In an effort to restore profitability in a hostile competitive environment, airline companies have implemented seat inventory management systems based on the yield management concept. While some financial successes have been attributed to the use of these systems, both the systems and the underlying concept have become the target of le...