Title: The role of integration in achieving sustainable benefits from airline alliances

Authors: Gamze Orhan; Deniz Tasci

Addresses: Department of Aviation Management, Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Eskisehir Technical University, Iki Eylul Campus, TR-26555 Eskisehir, Turkey ' Department of Communication Design and Management, Faculty of Communication Sciences, Anadolu University, Yunus Emre Campus, TR-26470 Eskisehir, Turkey

Abstract: Air transport is one of the industries where strategic alliances are most common. While alliance strategies by airlines are widespread, the performance and sustainability of alliances is currently in debate. However, the importance of the level of integration for the benefits from mergers and alliances in the literature is an important topic discussed. In this study, we relate the sustainability of alliances to the benefits gained from that cooperation and aimed to demonstrate the importance of the level of integration on the alliance benefits in the airline industry. To achieve this aim, after a comprehensive literature, we conducted a research on three global airline alliance members. The study comprises 26 international airlines who are members of one of global airline alliances - Star, SkyTeam and Oneworld. The results suggest that there is a significant and positive relationship between level of integration of airlines to the global alliance and the alliance benefits gained from the alliance membership.

Keywords: strategic alliances; strategic management; sustainable benefits; integration level; airline alliances.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSA.2019.099914

International Journal of Sustainable Aviation, 2019 Vol.5 No.1, pp.70 - 86

Received: 28 Aug 2018
Accepted: 20 Jan 2019
Published online: 28 May 2019 *

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