In this assignment, you will duplicate a portion of airline economics research conducted by Klophaus, Conradly, & Fichert (2012) who compare the business models of several low-cost carriers to the archetypal low-cost carrier business model originally developed by Southwest Airlines. They find considerable deviation from this model concluding that some airlines have incorporated aspects of the full-service, network carrier (FSNC) business model making these carriers a hybrid of the two models. You will choose a U.S. low-cost carrier (LCC) and conduct a similar analysis. (The restriction to U.S. airlines is due to the limited financial and operational data available for many foreign carriers.) From your research, you will determine if your selected airline closely follows the archetypal LCC business model or is more of a hybrid carrier incorporating aspects of both the LCC and FSNC business models. Klophaus et al. (2012) utilize several criteria that characterize the LCC business model. Table 1 below draws from their research but has been revised for this assignment.

As with every academic paper, begin with an introduction that tells your reader the subject of the paper, explicitly states the objective, and lists the topics covered.

Next, concisely compare and contrast LCC and FSNC business models. You may wish to present your findings in a table, but provide sufficient information so that your reader can understand the comparison.

Then, for each of the criteria in Table 1, assess your airline's adherence. Rate the airline on a scale of 1 to 3 where 1 is strict adherence to the criteria and 3 indicates the adoption of the FSNC model. Cite the sources of all information and data used in the analysis. Summarize your findings in a form similar to Table 2 in Klophaus et al (2012) so that your reader can easily see the results of your analysis.

Finally, use the data from the Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) to compare your chosen airline with a competing FSNC. AWIN is available in the Hunt Library Research Databases. See the last section of this assignment for guidance on using AWIN.

Compare the CASM. The LCC should have significantly lower CASM (otherwise it is not a low-cost carrier). If you wish to compare by size or scale of the airlines, ASM, RPM, departures, and fleet size are appropriate metrics. Be certain that you understand the definition and computation of each statistic. Several online glossaries are available.

In your conclusion, review your research findings. Did you find that your chosen airline closely follows the archetypal LCC business model or is more of a hybrid carrier incorporating aspects of both the LCC and FSMC business models?