It’s not easy to run an airline!
October 19th, 2025 Rédaction No Comment Airline France, Gouverner, United airlines
There’s a position every ambitious air transport employee dreams of: that of an airline’s Executive Chairman. And yet, on reflection, is it such an enviable profession? The constraints, both internal to the company and related to its environment, within which it must operate, can make life impossible. Listing them is a real headache, but we can at least outline the most obvious ones.
Ecology
Its consideration has changed the air transport environment, which until now had to evolve by focusing on its economy and safety.
This is something to occupy the mind of any manager. Now we must add this new constraint which, without anyone really foreseeing it coming, is increasingly influencing the ecosystem in which every carrier must operate.
No operating program can be considered without taking it into account. It influences everything from fleet composition and, of course, the routes to be served. And it will only become more pronounced in the years to come.
Unions
They are very powerful in this sector. Turning against one category of staff can completely bring an airline to a standstill.
However, the unions are diverse and have different expectations.
Certainly, pilot unions are by far the most powerful, so much so that in the not-so-distant past, United Airlines pilots took control of the major American carrier, with disastrous results.
No airline executive will admit to having to do without the sometimes endless discussions with unions, because any of them, including those in the most modest positions, like baggage handlers, can bring their company to a standstill.
Manufacturers
The almost endless growth of air transport is leading to a bottleneck among manufacturers.
Airbus, for example, delivered only 73 aircraft in September, a drop in the ocean compared to the approximately 8,000 to 9,000 planes ordered.
At this rate, it will take nearly 10 years of production to meet demand, and during these ten years, the manufacturer will still receive several thousand additional orders.
And there’s no chance for airlines to compensate for the European manufacturer’s delivery delays by turning to Boeing, which is, and will continue to be, in a very difficult situation.
Let’s add that engine manufacturers are also unable to keep up with the production rate.
It must be said that new aircraft are increasingly efficient and increasingly complex to build.
In short, how can you manage a medium-term operating program when you can’t even know the aircraft’s delivery dates?
This is not the least of the difficulties that airline bosses face.
The Controllers
At least in Europe, they are the terror of operators.
They can go on strike at any time and for any reason.
However, in Europe, there are a great many control centers: more than 40, spread across the various states that must be crossed to get from one point to another on this ultimately small continent, at least geographically.
And each country manages this workforce differently, meaning the risk of disruption to operations is multiplied by the political and economic conditions of each state.
The United States faced similar problems, but they were abruptly resolved by President Reagan in the early 1980s.
The European political situation is much more complex.
States
Governments cannot help but poke their noses into air transport and therefore very often into the management
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