Transport Management Lecture Notes Monojit Banerjee Lecturer, School of Management Studies, Techno India

AIR TRANSPORT Aviation refers to activities involving man-made flying devices (aircraft), including the people, organizations, and regulatory bodies involved with them. Air transport is the most recent mode of transportation. Transport of men, mail and material through a vehicle in the air from one place to another is referred to as air transport. Initially its activities were limited to the carrying of passengers but now it has made inroads into carrying particularly the light and valuable goods, from one place to another on commercial basis.

Why Air Transport is special The importance of air transport lies in the fact that it reaches the place where the rail, road and water transports have no access. Also it does not need a specific track for its operations. It has no physical barriers like other modes of transport. Political boundaries are also immaterial although it has to observe the requirements of international law.

Air transport is the fastest mode of transport but its operational costs are very high. Costs include fuel, personnel, maintenance of aircrafts and airports, etc. To provide its service Air Transport Industry must combine the effort of: • people who sell the service, for instance Travel Agents; • people who operate aircrafts, airlines; • people who operate airports; • traffic controllers; • customs; • police; Because this service is provided across countries, it also requires the cooperation of governments. An optimal Air Transport system must combine conflicting interests like safety, low fares and noise acceptable for Airport neighbours. The involved organizations have different lifecycles. You can create a Travel Agency in a couple of days and an Airline in a couple of months but you must plan a new Airport twenty years in advance. Such a system needs regulations and the problem is to identify which regulations are needed and which regulations actually protect special interests. International Air Transport The Chicago Convention signed on December 7th 1944, makes possible International Air Transport through the following rules: Each contracting State grants to the other contracting States the following freedoms of the air in respect of scheduled international air services: (1) The privilege to fly across its territory without landing; (2) The privilege to land for non-traffic purposes; (3) The privilege to put down passengers, mail and cargo taken on in the territory of the State whose nationality the aircraft possesses; (4) The privilege to take on passengers, mail and cargo destined for the territory of the State whose nationality the aircraft possesses; (5) The privilege to take on passengers, mail and cargo destined for the territory of any other contracting State and the privilege to put down passengers, mail and cargo coming from any such territory. Air Transport

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Resource Scheduling in Airlines Resource scheduling consists in defining when the aircrafts must take off to go where with the following constraints: 1. The aircraft must flight. 2. The aircraft must take off at time convenient for customers. 3. The aircraft and crew must be available at the right place. A crew in Bangkok cannot help if a flight is needed from London. This problem is especially hard to solve. To the opposite of machines people need to sleep and recover. Things often do not go as planned because machines never stop breaking down. Air transport is still very sensitive to weather conditions, etc... The system involves third parties such as Aviation Authorities. For instance aircrafts queue before taking off due to groundhold strategies because other aircrafts would not be allowed to land when they arrive if these were allowed to take off. Advantages of Air Transport [1]

High Speed: It is the fastest among all modes of transport. It is most suitable where time is an important factor. With every new improvement in aircraft design, we are having faster and faster planes. [2] Unbroken journey: Unbroken journey over land and sea is possible in this mode of transport only and consequently there is no transshipment or other delays which are generally found in other forms of transport. [3] Links to inaccessible areas: Air transport economic development of areas where other means of transport are practically absent. The difficulty, slowness and high cost of land transport has encouraged the flying of some types of valuable cargo and passengers by air. In regions where road cannot be constructed or land transportation links cannot be established, this mode of service is pressed into service because of necessity. Settlement in various mining areas or in the snow fed mountainous areas is only possible because of air transportation links. In flood stricken areas, and other disaster sites, air transport is often the only means of providing relief. [4] Comfortable and quick service: It provides efficient, comfortable and quick service to its passengers. [5] Employment generation: Air transport industries create a lot of employment opportunities. Pilots, cabin crew, ground staff, maintenance technicians, catering service providers, travel agents, etc. form an indicative list of jobs created. [6] No investment in construction of track: Air transport operates on natural airways. Therefore, it does not require huge investment for the construction of tracks. Airports can be constructed on any piece of sufficiently leveled ground. [7] Expansion of geographical market: A number of industries have been able to expand their geographical markets and introduce just-in-time (JIT) innovative distribution techniques thanks to air transport. [8] Relief during natural calamities: It can operate even when all other means of transport cannot be operated due to floods or other natural calamities. [9] Increase in foreign exchange reserve: A national airline can help in saving foreign exchange. Receipts from foreign travelers, export freight and airport expenditure by foreign airlines provide revenues of great value in terms of foreign exchange. Through air transport exports can be increased which results in earning the foreign exchange. [10] National defence: Air transport plays a very important role in the defence of a country. Fighter aircrafts or bomber aircrafts are the main strengths of an air force. Other aircrafts that carry troops, equipments, tanks, jeeps, etc. provides the logistics necessary for an armed force.

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[11] Development of Tourism: Air transport offers attractive travel packages to the travelers. Better airport facilities and frequencies of air service can enhance the attraction of a place. [12] Reduced transit time: Speed is vital to boost economic activities, and also for transport of perishable goods. Light goods of high value such as diamonds, bullion, etc. are transported over long distances in the shortest possible time, thereby reducing any risks during transit. [13] Reduces packing cost: Due to quick delivery of goods simple packing is usually sufficient. Limitations of Air Transport [1]

[2]

[3] [4] [5]

[6] [7]

[8] [9]

High cost of operation: It is the costliest means of transport. The fares of air transport are so high that it is beyond the reach of the common man. It requires large amount for the construction of aeroplanes and airports. The high cost of air travel are largely due to the severe incidence of over-head cost, such as depreciation and obsolescence, fees for landing equipment and so on. Also fuel prices are skyrocketing. Affected by adverse weather conditions: Weather conditions of a region play an important part in setting up an airport. Weather hazards such as cloud, fog, smoke, dust storm which either interfere with visibility or affect performance of the air transport service. Limited carrying capacity: Number of passengers transported is much less than rail or water transport. It is not suitable for carrying heavy and bulky goods. High obsolescence of aircrafts: The rate of obsolescence and depreciation in respect of aircraft is very high. Replacement costs are very high. No door to door service: In air transport the goods are loaded or unloaded at airports only. The merchants have to send or collect their goods at the airport which is very inconvenient for them. It also cannot provide doorstep service or direct connectivity to consumption points. Legal restrictions: There are many legal restrictions imposed by various countries in the interest of their own national unity and peace. No aeroplane can fly over the territory of the other country without the air agreement with that country. Capital intensive: Air transport development requires huge capital investment. Modern traffic control building has to be constructed for safe landing of aircrafts. Provisions for ground facilities like air traffic control, radio and meteorological services with modern technical equipment are essential for air transport development. Construction of airports requires a large area to accommodate large sized aircrafts. An aircraft is costly to manufacture, operate and maintain. It also requires high consumption of energy per unit of weight carried. Specialized skill: Air transport requires a specialized skill and high degree of training for its operation. Services of specialists like Pilots and technicians are required for its smooth functioning. Breakdowns and accidents: In air transport chances of breakdowns and accidents are high and the chances of survival in case of any accident during the journey are very remote. Hence, it involves comparatively great risks.

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