Browsing by Author "Itani, Nadine"

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    A macro-environment approach to civil aviation strategic planning
    (Elsevier, 2014-04-03) Itani, Nadine; O'Connell, John Francis; Mason, Keith
    Air transport is considered a cyclical industry sensitive to the macro-environment in which it operates. As aviation policy makers and regulators strategically plan for their future, they need to consider the systematic and synergistic effects of common factors which comprise the operating environment of the industry׳s organisations. Thus, during the process of aviation systems planning governments should perceive the generic conditions which exist in the economy as a whole as equally important to air transport exclusive conditions. This paper highlights the significant impact of the national macro-environment factors on a country׳s air transport sector and it suggests including these elements within the context of civil aviation strategic planning. Country level data is collected on seventeen input variables versus four output variables on a sample of 52 countries. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) is used to identify the descriptors with significant impact on air transport output, namely: passenger traffic, aviation total contribution to GDP, aviation total contribution to employment and air connectivity levels. The identified significant drivers are found to create an enabling environment that determines the capacity of an economy and society to benefit from the air transport system׳s productivity. The results call upon aviation policy makers and regulators to assess the national macro-environment forces during the situation analysis part of the strategic planning process. The identified operating environment conditions act as a framework for providing clear policy orientations and for facilitating the identification of areas where policy intervention could improve air transport sector׳s performance. A well-defined aviation strategy allows aviation policy makers to identify and address nation wide strategic issues and provides aviation industry׳s stake holders with guidelines to help maintain and enhance their competitive position in both domestic and global markets.
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    Towards realizing best-in-class civil aviation strategy scenarios
    (Elsevier, 2015-05-29) Itani, Nadine; O'Connell, John Francis; Mason, Keith J.
    Developed and less developed countries follow different approaches during the formulation of aviation strategic plans. Additionally, there exists no pre-defined framework to guide developing countries in formulating civil aviation strategies matching their macro-environment and competitiveness levels while addressing their future vision for growth or sustainability. Instead, civil aviation planning over-look these priorities and is often dictated by local political pressures, and mostly influenced by uncoordinated foreign aid assistance. Hence, developing countries use dissimilar and un-structured approaches to reach what is known as "civil aviation master plan" or "draft civil aviation policy". Recognizing that a problem exists in the mechanism for civil aviation planning in this part of the world, research is encouraged to highlight this substantial topic. This paper uses a scenario-based approach to study the roles played by the macro-environment and industry-level performance in realizing best-fit national civil aviation strategies. The goals are achieved through utilizing a two-stage performance benchmarking technique named Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) on country level data on a sample of 52 countries in different stages of development, followed by truncated regression. Results of the best performing countries-in terms of output efficiency, indicate that the country's macro-environment and air transport sector's performance serve as guidelines to identify aviation policy elements that are considered to impact efficiency. The regression results indicate that a more liberal air services approach is said to be of positive influence on efficiency levels. Further, we show that private airports are more efficient, while public airports are even less efficient than those with mixed ownership/management model. Hence, policy makers are encouraged to adopt an efficient peer analysis approach based on influential policy elements to bridge performance gaps, achieve better operating capacity, direct and prioritize investments in the civil aviation sector.