Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, Volume 49, Part 1, January 2015, pp. 149–166 Fleet Standardisation and Airline Performance Li Zou, Chunyan Yu, and Martin Dresner Address for correspondence: Li Zou, College of Business, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd., Daytona Beach, FL 32114 (
[email protected]). Chunyan Yu is also at the College of Business, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Martin Dresner is at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742. Abstract We develop three fleet standardisation measurements to estimate their impacts on airline costs and profitability. Using panel data for a group of US airlines from 1999 to 2009, we find that fleet standardisation, as expected, leads to lower unit costs. However, after controlling for its cost- reducing effects, fleet standardisation is negatively related to profit margin. Our findings provide quantitative evidence of the trade-off between the costs and benefits from fleet commonality. Although airlines can benefit from cost savings in flight operations and maintenance with a more standardised fleet, the potential negative revenue impacts from fleet standardisation have generally been overlooked. Date of final version: January 2014 149 Journal of Transport Economics and Policy Volume 49, Part 1 1.0 Introduction Flight operations and maintenance normally account for nearly 50 per cent of passenger airlines’ operating expenses in the USA. It has been widely claimed that a more diverse fleet may result in higher costs associated with pilot training, scheduling, ground handling, maintenance, and the lack of simplicity in operations, while a standardised fleet could reduce both flight operations expenses and maintenance costs (West and Bradley, 2008).