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2021/2022

The Air Transport System

Code: 42869 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
4313785 Aeronautical Management OB 0 1
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Jose Manuel Perez de la Cruz
Email:
JoseManuel.Perez@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
spanish (spa)

Teachers

Jose Manuel Perez de la Cruz

External teachers

Angel Villa
Dr. Josep Bernat
Ramón Montero

Prerequisites

None.

Objectives and Contextualisation

The course is designed so that the student becomes familiar with the issues, problems, tasks and basic knowledge necessary to meet the needs of the aviation industry. Professional aviation not only needs a good knowledge of the idiosyncrasies of its area, but to be really effective he/she needs a good practical knowledge of the aviation system as a whole. Course objectives have been designed to meet this requirement.

Competences

  • Communicate and justify conclusions clearly and unambiguously to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Continue the learning process, to a large extent autonomously
  • Identify and understand the different national and international air transport systems, their key factors and their role in achieving safe, efficient air transport.
  • Integrate knowledge and use it to make judgements in complex situations, with incomplete information, while keeping in mind social and ethical responsibilities.
  • Recognise the human, economic, legal and ethical dimension in professional practice.
  • Seek out new areas to open up within the field.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Analyse the economic impact of international terrorist acts and their consequences for transport safety regulations and understand the various strategies used to restore and maintain profits.
  2. Analyse the main features of the modes involved in contemporary and future intermodal transport systems and understand the relative contribution of air transport (passengers or cargo) in intermodal transport.
  3. Communicate and justify conclusions clearly and unambiguously to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  4. Continue the learning process, to a large extent autonomously
  5. Critically analyse the current passenger and cargo transport operations of an airline and recommend changes to ensure continuing profits.
  6. Describe air transport before and after it was deregulated.
  7. Differentiate between the various strategies adopted by airlines since deregulation, with particular emphasis on the new actors in the market.
  8. Evaluate the different strategies on fares and services used by established companies and newcomers during the eighties.
  9. Evaluate the strategic planning of aviation-related organisations in the international context, discriminating between cases of efficient and inefficient strategies.
  10. Explain and synthesise the challenges facing the international aviation market in the light of the following factors: globalisation, regional commercial sectors, less-developed countries, privatisation, information technology and diversity of the labour force.
  11. Explain the different governmental levels of air transport regulation and their relations.
  12. Integrate knowledge and use it to make judgements in complex situations, with incomplete information, while keeping in mind social and ethical responsibilities.
  13. Make and present a critical evaluation of the geographical, political, cultural, economic, structural, financial and other characteristics of aviation-related businesses operating within a global economy.
  14. Recognise the human, economic, legal and ethical dimension in professional practice.
  15. Seek out new areas to open up within the field.

Content

The study of air transport as part of a global, multimodal transport system. The course reviews the evolution of the technological, social, environmental and political aspects of this system, from its beginnings to the beginning of the last century. The effects of short-term and long-term deregulation, energy shortages, government restrictions, and national and international aspects are examined. The transportation of passengers and cargo, as well as aspects of private aviation, are studied in relation to the ever changing transportation needs. Students will also know the EASA and JAR regulations, as well as the objectives and functions of Spanish Civil Aviation and the Spanish State Security Agency. The block also includes a review of the history and the most relevant aspects of the Spanish air transport system.

Methodology

The general methodological approach of the subject is based on the principle of multivariety of strategies, which is intended to facilitate the active participation and construction of the learning process by the student under the principle of "learning by doing".

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Presentation of works 5 0.2 3
Seminars 15 0.6 5, 2, 9, 8, 13, 6, 7, 11, 10, 12, 14
Theory classes 25 1 5, 2, 9, 8, 13, 6, 7, 11, 10, 14
Type: Supervised      
Development of group works 60 2.4 5, 2, 9, 13, 15, 12, 14
Tutorials 8 0.32 4
Type: Autonomous      
Personal study 37 1.48 4

Assessment

For any of the evaluation elements to be considered in the calculation formula of the final mark of the module (according to their weights), their individual qualification must be greater than or equal to 4.

All activities based on written reports must be submitted within the due dates indicated by the teacher. If a report-based activity is suspended, the student may resubmit his report in accordance with the corrections / indications provided by the teacher.

If a written exam is suspended, the student will have the opportunity to repeat it.

The dates of recovery of exams, as well as the dates of re-delivery of work reports will be communicated by the teacher at the beginning of the course.

The student may apply for recovery provided that he has submitted to a set of activities that represent at least two thirds of the total grade for the subject.

The elements evaluated in the recovery phase will obtain the qualification of: Pass (5) or Not pass.

There is no differentiated evaluation method for repetitive students.


To have the right to be evaluated in this module, the class attendance percentages indicated below must be accredited:

  - In the face-to-face modality: 75%

  - In the virtual modality: 50%

The weights of each evaluation activity are given in the following table.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Individual exercises 30 % 0 0 5, 2, 1, 9, 13, 15, 12, 4, 14
Proposal for the constitution of an airline (oral presentation) 20 % 0 0 3, 4
Proposal for the constitution of an airline (report) 50 % 0 0 5, 2, 9, 8, 13, 6, 7, 11, 10, 15, 12, 14

Bibliography

  • A. Benito. TRANSPORTE AÉREO. Ed. Publicaciones E.T.S.I. Aeronáuticos, UPM.
  • S. Pindado. ELEMENTOS DE TRANSPORTE AÉREO. Ed. E.T.S.I. Aeronáuticos, UPM.
  • Rigas Doganis. FLYING OFF COURSE: The Economics of International Airlines. Editorial: George Allen & Unwin.
  • Stephen Shaw. AIRLINE MARKETING & MANAGEMENT. Editorial: Pitman Publishing.
  • Peter S. Morrell. AIRLINES FINANCE. Editorial: Cranfield University, UK.
  • Stephen Holloway. STRAIGHT AND LEVEL: Practical Airline Economics. Editorial: Aviation Consultant, Dubai, UAE.
  • Stephen Holloway. CHANGING PLANES: A strategic management perspective on an industry in transition. Editorial: Aviation Consultant, Dubai, UAE.
  • William E. O¹Connor (2000). An Introduction to Airline Economics, 6th edition. Ed. ABC-CLIO, Inc.
  • Kenneth Button, Kingsley Haynes, Roger Stough. Flying into the Future: Air Transport Policy in the European Union. Ed. Springer.

Software

Application for aircraft operational cost calculation.