HIRING PRACTICES IN THE AMERICAN AIRLINE INDUSTRY
II. Methodological Considerations.
A. Airline Ownership Classifications.
B. Airlines Included in the Examination.
III. Airline Employment Practices.
B. Employee Involvement in Downsizing Decisions.
D. Contract ProvisionsùDischarges.
H. Employment Practices At Subsidiary Carriers.
HIRING PRACTICES IN THE AMERICAN AIRLINE INDUSTRY
Subsequent to the completion of the airline deregulation program almost 15 years ago both the market structure and the ownership structure of the industry were transformed. Deregulation brought about a rush of new airline companies into the industry. In 1978, the last full year of operation prior to the initiation of deregulation, there were 248 airline companies in the United States (FAA opens, 1985, p. 1). By the end of the first full year of deregulation, there were 349 such companies.
By the end of the second full year of deregulation, however, some carriersùmany old lineùhad failed or were on the verge of financial failure. By early 1983, the industry had developed into one in which approximately six major carriers accounted for the bulk of the trunk traffic within the country, and two carriers, Pan American and Trans World, accounted for most of the international traffic on American flag carriers. The trunk line segment of the industry, as predicted by the opponents of deregulation, had, indeed, become an oligopoly in a quite short period of time under a policy of deregulation which was intended to increase the number of competitors in the industry.
During the remainder of the decade of the 1980s, bankruptcies, near bankruptcies, acquisitions, and mergers saw the demise of many old line airline companies. Economic pressures and enhanced global competition caused many American air carriers to either form operational alliances with foreign air carriers or to permit foreign air carriers to acquire ownershi...