Within a few short weeks the reports came out about 2 traditionalGlobal 5000 firms -- American Airlines and Eastman Kodak -- filed for bankruptcy. At the same time Facebook is filing for what is shpaing up to be one of the largest IPO's ever. None of this is exactly news. American is one of the old line carriers that has never gone thru a restructuring or merger along the lines of United, US Air and Delta as example. The Kodak story has been watched for years as the transition from the film and camera business to the digital world never ...Read More »

AMR, the parent company of American Airlines, filed for bankruptcy this week. They are the last of the major carriers to file. When we step back and look at the overall airline industry, there are some interesting differences between the largest airlines and the rest of the leading companies around the world. From The Global 5000 database, we took the 25 largest airline companies and compared them to the top 25 companies in each region around the globe for a total of 125 leading companies. Airlines had a growth rate of 6% between 2007 and 2010 compared to the overall leaders growth ...Read More »

We often hear that social media is about individuals and consumers and not really the realm of the corporate world. Or if it is, most corporations use it the same way they do mass marketing & emailing -- as a push mechanism to sell "stuff" While that may be true for many organizations, it does not mean you can ignore it.  Take the case yesterday of the Army soldiers, Delta airlines, YouTube and baggage fees. If you haven't heard, read the Washington Post article. Most of us do not like all the baggage rules and fees the airlines hit us with ...Read More »

During this recession, the airlines have been hit as hard as any industry ... and all who have done any travel during these years have felt it as well with reduced services.  After a year of back and forth jumping thru the regulatory hurdles, British Airways and Iberia announced their shareholders have approved their merger.  With this event, we have taken another look at the airline companies. There are 38  airlines in the Gloal 5000 and they account for approximately $230 billion (USD) last year.  In 2007, they grew by 10.2% and then by 7.9% in 2008 before shrinking 13% last year.  ...Read More »