Airline Basics

Airline Basics and Facts.

Airline Basics.

An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit. Generally, airline companies are recognized with an air operating certificate or license issued by a governmental aviation body.

There are two major aircraft makers  - 1) Boeing

                                                       2) Airbus

There are three major type of aircrafts – 1) Commercial Jets

                                                          2) Regional Jets

                                                          3) Turboprops

Aviation Fuel

Aviation fuel is a specialized type of petroleum-based fuel used to power aircraft. Most aviation fuels available for aircraft are kinds of petroleum spirit used in engines with spark plugs or fuel for jet turbine engines, which is also used in diesel aircraft engines. Aircraft engines emit noise pollution, gases and particulate emissions, and contribute to global dimming. Growth of the industry in recent years raised a number of ecological questions. The rate of air travel globally increased at 3.7 percent per year over the same time.

•   The global airline industry’s fuel bill is forecast to total $207 billion in 2012 (accounting for 33% of operating expenses at $110.0/barrel Brent of oil).
•   This is an increase of $31 billion over 2011 and is almost 5 times 2003’s fuel bill of $44 billion (that accounted for 14% of operating expenses at $28.8/barrel Brent).
•   In 2011 the fuel bill is estimated at $176 billion (accounting for 30% of operating expenses at $111.2 per barrel Brent).
•   Industry profits of $3.0 billion are forecast for 2012 and following profits of $7.9 billion in 2011.

Alternative fuels, particularly sustainable biofuels, have been identified as one of the key elements in helping achieve this goal. Biofuels derived from sustainable oil crops such as jatropha, camelina and algae or from wood and waste biomass can reduce the overall carbon footprint  by around 80% over their full lifecycle. Test flights using biofuels have been carried out by dozens of airlines and have proven that biofuels work and can be mixed with existing jet fuel. The airline industry has played an instrumental role in advancing technical certification for biofuels which can now be used on passenger flights. The first commercial flights using biofuels were achieved in 2011.

Airline personnel

The various types of airline personnel include: Flight operations personnel including flight safety personnel.

• Flight Crew :- Flight Crew, responsible for the operation of the aircraft. Flight crew members include:

• Pilots (Captain and First Officer: some older aircraft also required a Flight Engineer and or a Navigator)
• Flight attendants, (led by a purser on larger aircraft)
• in-flight security personnel on some airlines (most notably El Al)

• Ground Crew:- Ground Crew, responsible for operations at airports. Ground crew members include:

• Aerospace and avionics engineers responsible for certifying the aircraft for flight and management of aircraft maintenance
• Aerospace engineers, responsible for airframe, powerplant and electrical systems maintenance
• Avionics engineers responsible for avionics and instruments maintenance

• Airframe and powerplant technicians

• Electric System technicians, responsible for maintenance of electrical systems

• Avionics technicians, responsible for maintenance of avionics

• Flight dispatchers

• Baggage handlers

• Ramp Agents

• Remote centralised weight and balancing

• Gate agents

• Ticket agents

• Passenger service agents (such as airline lounge employees)

• Reservation agents, usually (but not always) at facilities outside the airport.

Airlines follow a corporate structure where each broad area of operations (such as maintenance, flight operations(including flight safety), and passenger service) is supervised by a vice president. Larger airlines often appoint vice presidents to oversee each of the airline's hubs as well. Airlines employ lawyers to deal with regulatory procedures and other administrative tasks.

• There are more than 95000+ commercial flights are operating worldwide.
• There are 1 to 4 compartments / Class of services available
• There are 8-50 booking classes/RBD/inventory buckets
• Multiple Fare products (FBCs) per booking class.