What is an Airline?

Introduction

The idea of air travel was romanticized, because air travel initially was only accessible to the rich. Boarding music, in-flight entertainment, fine meals, champagne in the air, glamorous cabin crew, plush seats...none of these have anything to do with an airline.

This section uncovers what an airline truly is.

An airline is a transport service

An airline is a transport service provider.

Transportation is the carriage of people or cargo in a vehicle from an origin (point A) to a destination (point B). Air transport is a form of transport where the vehicle involved is an aircraft.

An aircraft is a machine capable of flight. Flight is defined as "the action or process of flying through the air". This means the airline service may be operated on an aeroplane (powered or unpowered, piston or turbine, pressurized or unpressurised), a helicopter, an airship, or a vessel with any other technology or mechanism that allows it to fly through the air.

Air transport competes with other forms of transport, such as road transport, rail transport, and water transport. Road, rail and water transport are collectively referred to as surface transport. The only other form of non-surface transport is space transport, which hitherto is of no significance for the transport of cargo or passengers between an origin and destination on earth.

Cargo airlines, which transport only cargo and no passengers are examples of a 'pure' air transport service. The cargo arrives at the aircraft, is loaded, is flown to the destination, and then unloaded. The cargo may not be met with any special treatment - not even a greeting. Cargo may include live cargo, such as animals.

The 15-Aug'21 evacuation operated from Kabul by a USAF C-17 Globemaster with 823 passengers is the closest example of a pure passenger airline service - no seats, no windows, no in-flight service or entertainment, no greetings, and probably no comfort - nothing but humans being transported from point A to point B. While used only as an example, we remain sensitive to the sad circumstances surrounding the evacuation.

Schedule - the "when" of the air transport service

If an air transport service is available at a non-specific time and date, it is a non-scheduled service, and the air transport provider is referred to as a non-scheduled airline.

If this air transport service is operated at a specific time and date between a specified origin and destination, it is a scheduled service, and the air transport provider is referred to as a scheduled airline. When offering a scheduled service, an airline usually commits to depart no sooner than the scheduled time of departure at the origin, and arrive no later than the scheduled time of arrival at the destination.

A scheduled passenger airline is a public transport service

A public transport is characterized as accessible to the public, and operating on a published network on a published schedule. Anyone can buy an airline ticket, and when doing so, are buying the air transport service that will transport them from point A to point B at a specified time and date. An airline thus is a public transport. An airline operating aircraft with a sizable number of seats is a mass public transport service provider.

Key attributes of an airline

The two key attributes of a scheduled airline are:

1. Schedule

2. Schedule Reliability

Schedule

A network describes the 'where' of the service of an airline: the list of where from (origin), and where to (destination). The schedule includes the network, but also describes the 'when' of the services of the airline: when does the service depart from the origin, when does the service arrive at the destination, and when in a week. The basic calendar period of a schedule is a week, and schedules usually repeat weekly.

A schedule is thus a list of the services on offer.

Schedule Reliability

Schedule reliability is a measure of the quality of the service.

Due to parameters both within and outside the control of an airline, flights are faced with either delays or cancellations. A delay is the inability to keep time, while a cancellation is the inability to offer the service.

Schedule Reliability is the percentage of scheduled flights that were operated on schedule. Cancellations, and delays beyond 15 minutes of the arrival time are considered operations that did not adhere to the schedule.

When a customer avails of the service of an airline, the airline is expected to manage all parameters both in and out of its control that may affect schedule reliability. Safety and security during transport are regulatory requirements.

What about the other services and amenities?

Meet-and-greet services, lounge services, comfortable seating, classes - first, business, premium economy and economy, meal service, drink service, hot towel service, in-flight entertainment service, internet service, frequent flyer programs, and more: None of these have anything to do with an airline. These are services above and beyond the air transport service, used as tools of differentiation.

Summary

An airline is a transport service provider. The transport service is operated through air. Either cargo or passengers may be transported. A predominant focus on either cargo or passengers classifies airlines as either a cargo or a passenger airline. An airline that operates on a schedule is a scheduled airline, and one that does not operate on a schedule is a non-scheduled airline. Because the public can buy a ticket on a scheduled airline, a scheduled airline is a public transport service, and usually a mass public transport service. There are only two key attributes of a scheduled airline: The schedule that lists all the services (where and when), and the schedule reliability that measures the quality of the service. Any other service offered by an airline has nothing to do with an air transport service.