Optimal Pricing and Seat Allocation in the Airline Industry Under the Market Competition

Optimal Pricing and Seat Allocation in the Airline Industry Under the Market Competition PDF Author: Syed Asif Raza
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
The current practice of revenue management is either quantity based or price based. A quantity based revenue management is most commonly observed in the airline industry; whereas a price based revenue management is practiced in retail enterprises. Recent improvement of information technology has not only increased the market size, but also has increased market competition. In a competitive environment customers choose among substitutable products depending on several rationalities, however a paramount factor in most selections is price. This thesis investigates pricing issue in revenue management and makes three contributions. First, price based revenue management is studied in the airline industry in a competitive market. Airlines compete for customers using their fare pricing strategies while having fixed capacity allocated in each fare class. The demand for each fare class of an airline is dependent on its fare price and the fare price offered by rival airline(s). A game theoretic approach is used to address the problem assuming both the deterministic and stochastic price sensitive customer demand for each fare class. The existence and uniqueness of Nash equilibrium for the game is shown for both deterministic and stochastic demands. A sensitivity analysis is carried out to determine fare pricing in each fare class considering various situations in the case of deterministic demand. The analysis is further extended to stochastic price sensitive demand, and a sensitivity analysis of the fare prices for each fare class is also reported. Second, an integrated approach to price and quantity based revenue management with an application to the airline industry is presented. The models proposed enable joint control of fare pricing and seat allocation in a duopoly competitive market. Both non cooperative and cooperative bargaining games are studied. Numerical experimentation is performed to study both competitive and cooperative fare pricing along with seat inventory control assuming a nested control on booking limits. In the case of a non cooperative game, Nash equilibrium for the competing airlines is determined assuming both symmetric and asymmetric market competition. A sensitivity analysis based on a statistical design of experiments is also presented to study the behavior of the game. Statistical evidence is established which shows that cooperation improves the revenue to the competing airlines. Lastly, a distribution free approach for pricing in revenue management is explored. The approach assumes the worst possible demand distribution and optimizes the lower bound estimate on revenue, while jointly controlling the price and capacity. The approach is first addressed to revenue management's most commonly observed standard newsvendor problem. Extensions to the problem are identified which can be applied to airline industry. Later the analysis is extended to consider the following cases: a shortage cost penalty; a holding and shortage cost; a recourse cost, with a second purchasing opportunity; and the case of random yields. An application of the approach is also suggested to capacity constrained industries facing restrictions such as limited budget. A numerical study reveals that the approach results in a near optimal estimate on revenue. Using a statistical comparison it is also shown that the outcomes of the standard newsvendor problem are significantly different than its extensions.

Pricing and Revenue Optimization

Pricing and Revenue Optimization PDF Author: Robert Phillips
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 0804781648
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 470

Book Description
This is the first comprehensive introduction to the concepts, theories, and applications of pricing and revenue optimization. From the initial success of "yield management" in the commercial airline industry down to more recent successes of markdown management and dynamic pricing, the application of mathematical analysis to optimize pricing has become increasingly important across many different industries. But, since pricing and revenue optimization has involved the use of sophisticated mathematical techniques, the topic has remained largely inaccessible to students and the typical manager. With methods proven in the MBA courses taught by the author at Columbia and Stanford Business Schools, this book presents the basic concepts of pricing and revenue optimization in a form accessible to MBA students, MS students, and advanced undergraduates. In addition, managers will find the practical approach to the issue of pricing and revenue optimization invaluable. Solutions to the end-of-chapter exercises are available to instructors who are using this book in their courses. For access to the solutions manual, please contact [email protected].

Integrated Pricing and Seat Allocation for Airline Network Revenue Management

Integrated Pricing and Seat Allocation for Airline Network Revenue Management PDF Author: Baskar Mohan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Book Description
ABSTRACT: The airline industry is facing unprecedented challenges in generating sufficient revenues to stay in business. Airlines must capture the greatest revenue yield from every flight by leaving no seats unsold and not over filling the cabin with discount fares. To succeed in doing the above airlines must be able to accurately forecast each of their market segments, manage product andprice availability to maximize revenue and react quickly to competitive changes in the market place. Thus seat inventory control and ticket pricing form the two major tools of revenue management. The focus of this paper is to consolidate the ideas of seats inventory control and pricing in order to maximize the revenues generated by an airline network. A continuous time yield management model for a network with multiple legs, multiple fare classes and dynamic price changes for all fare classes is considered.

Airline Competition

Airline Competition PDF Author: United States. General Accounting Office
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Airlines
Languages : en
Pages : 68

Book Description


Competition and Efficiency in Regulated Airline City-pair Markets

Competition and Efficiency in Regulated Airline City-pair Markets PDF Author: Scott Dale Nason
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Airlines
Languages : en
Pages : 98

Book Description


Competition and Price Dispersion, in the U. S. Airline Industry

Competition and Price Dispersion, in the U. S. Airline Industry PDF Author: Severin Borenstein
Publisher: Forgotten Books
ISBN: 9781330369005
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 45

Book Description
Excerpt from Competition and Price Dispersion, in the U. S. Airline Industry Abstract: We study dispersion in the prices that an airline charges to different customers on the same route. Such variation in airline fares is substantial: on average the expected absolute difference in fares between two of an airline's passengers on a route is thirty-six percent of the airline's average ticket price on the route. The pattern of price disperison that we find does not seem to be explained solely by cost differences. Dispersion is higher on more competitive routes, possibly reflecting a pattern of discrimination against customers who are less willing to switch to alternative flights or airlines. We argue that the data support an explanation based on theories of price discrimination in monopolistically competitive markets. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The Theory and Practice of Revenue Management

The Theory and Practice of Revenue Management PDF Author: Kalyan T. Talluri
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0387273913
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 731

Book Description
Revenue management (RM) has emerged as one of the most important new business practices in recent times. This book is the first comprehensive reference book to be published in the field of RM. It unifies the field, drawing from industry sources as well as relevant research from disparate disciplines, as well as documenting industry practices and implementation details. Successful hardcover version published in April 2004.

Pricing Behaviour and Non-Price Characteristics in the Airline Industry

Pricing Behaviour and Non-Price Characteristics in the Airline Industry PDF Author: James Peoples
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
ISBN: 1780524684
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 332

Book Description
Provokes the reader to think critically about the emergence of corporate styles of governance, management and leadership in higher education institutions (HEIs) and ways in which the demands of public management and the knowledge economy has shaped and re-shaped scholarly work and identity.

Airline Competition

Airline Competition PDF Author: Kenneth M. Mead
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Airlines
Languages : en
Pages : 22

Book Description


Airline Pricing and Fare Product Differentiation

Airline Pricing and Fare Product Differentiation PDF Author: Theodore Charles Botimer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Airlines
Languages : en
Pages : 286

Book Description
Airlines offer combinations of price level and purchase restrictions, or fare products, designed to best maximize revenues on their flights. This dissertation provides the first comprehensive examination of the differentiated fare product structure on the market today in terms of passenger demand, airline revenue, and societal welfare. The role of pricing in the airline revenue management function is established first. The types of price discrimination currently practiced by airlines, as defined in the economics literature, are then identified. Although the terms airline product differentiation and price discrimination have previously been used interchangeably, the two practices are shown to differ and exist simultaneously in the current industry environment. Next, airline revenue management techniques and, in particular, fare product differentiation are examined from the standpoint of economic efficiency. This dissertation concludes that both efficiency in exchange and Pareto optimality are unattainable under the current structure of airline fare product differentiation as a result of the costs incurred by passengers due to applied purchase restrictions. It is found, however, that a differentiated fare product structure with a wide range of price levels coupled with effective revenue management techniques can provide airline seats to those consumers who value them most when demand exceeds supply. Efficiency in allocation can thus be achieved in the current industry environment. Virtually every existing yield management seat allocation model assumes that consumers view differentiated airline fare products as separate products with uncorrelated demands that compete for space on a fixed capacity aircraft. Such formulations ignore the dependence of the demand for a given fare product on the price levels and characteristics of the other available (competing) fare products. In this dissertation, a model of product differentiation that considers the interrelationships of the available airline fare products as well as the cost incurred by consumers of accepting more restricted (and less flexible) products is presented. This generalized cost model of airline fare product differentiation explicitly incorporates the techniques of fare product differentiation and price discrimination currently used by airlines. The generalized cost model is extended to incorporate the "buy down" or diversion of passengers to lower-priced fare products as a result of their ability to meet the additional purchase restrictions imposed by airlines. Moreover, diverting passengers may be induced to "sell up" to higher-priced fare products when booking limits are applied to the lower-priced products. The generalized cost model contributes the first behavioral motivation of both passenger diversion and sell up. The dissertation demonstrates the use of booking limits as devices to control and limit the revenue dilution effects of passenger diversion. The effects of pricing and other fare product design decisions are quantified for any set of OD market conditions using the generalized cost model. The model provides insight into the underlying effects of the tradeoffs made by airlines when making pricing and marketing planning decisions. In summary, this research provides the first cohesive look at the relationships between price level, purchase restrictions, demand, and revenue in the context of airline product differentiation and yield management.