Aerospace And Defense ( A & D ) Industry Competitive Analysis

With only a few large companies across the globe (Boeing, MD, and Airbus), the commercial aircraft industry essentially exhibits the qualities of an oligopolistic competition with intense rivalry. Here is an analysis of competition in the commercial aircraft business using Porter’s Five Forces.

It is a mature, consolidating, highly competitive industry. Companies operate off of high margins (high 70%). Smaller companies either go bankrupt or bought out by bigger companies.

The risk of entry into the airline industry by potential competitors is low due to the “liberalization of market access, a result of globalization. According to the IATA (International Air Transport Association), about 1,300 new airlines were established in the last 40 years,” (Cederholm, 2016). The cost structure of businesses in an industry is a determinant of rivalry. In the Airlines Industry, fixed costs are high, because before the organization can make any sales, they must invest in air crafts, fuel and service employees. These items come attached with hefty price tags. Industries that require such enormous amounts of start-up capital as predicted by many analysts

Competitive rivalry: Airline industry can be characterized as imperfect oligopoly. There are several big airlines that dominate in long-distance flights and several smaller airlines compete for short-distance flights. The competition and price sensitive buyers lower the returns airlines receive. This market situation is favorable for a company like JetBlue, which differentiated itself by comfort at low price, but this can be easily duplicated by other companies.

There are only 3 main competitors in the commercial jet engine-making industry which operates as an oligopoly. Historically, all of these companies have competed with each other for jet engine contracts which led to intense price wars. To avert ruinous price wars, these companies typically enter into exclusive supplier contracts with aircraft manufacturers. In such arrangements, the engine maker becomes the sole provider of jet engines for a specific aircraft model.

American airline industry is steadily growing at an extremely strong rate. This growth comes with a number economic and social advantage. This contributes a great deal to the international inventory. The US airline industry is a major economic aspect in both the outcome on other related industries like tourism and manufacturing of aircraft and its own terms of operation. The airline industry is receiving massive media attention unlike other industries through participating and making of government policies. As Hoffman and Bateson (2011) show the major competitors include Southwest Airlines, Delta Airline, and United Airline.

It can be used to "kick off" strategy formulation, or in a more sophisticated way as a serious strategy tool. You can also use it to get an understanding of your competitors, which can give you the insights you need to craft a coherent and successful competitive position.

In addition, companies speculate strategies in order to respond to the main competitive forces in any industry by different organizational strategies.

Dominating the commercial aircraft market for decades, Boeing is considered to be the most highly competitive U.S aerospace industry. “U.S. firms manufacture a wide variety of products for civil and defense purposes and, in 2010, the value of aerospace industry shipments was estimated at $171 billion, of which civil aircraft and aircraft parts accounted for over half of all U.S. aerospace shipments. The U.S. aerospace industry exported nearly $78 billion in products in 2010, of which $67 billion (or 86% of total exports) were civil aircraft, engines, equipment, and parts” (Harrison, 2011). However, its position of influence has lessened in recent years. This is due to its main competitor, Airbus, who in recent years has made significant

The following analysis discusses the suppliers, buyers, industry competition, threats to entry, and substitutes that exist within the large commercial aircraft industry. Additionally, the analysis identifies the pressure that each of these groups applies on the industry and estimates the impact this pressure has on potential industry profits. Each group is identified using a high, medium, or low-pressure classification. A high-pressure classification indicates the group reduces industry profit potential and vice versa.

highly fragmented with at least 20 major manufacturers in each technology segment. Because of the

For example, Boeing and Airbus supply most commercial aircraft. The concentration within the suppliers segment of the industry makes it very difficult for competitors to exercise leverage over another supplier and obtain lower prices. The power of the supplier is one key in prohibiting the ability of competitors to earn higher profits.

Airbus’s main competitor, Boeing Company was founded in 1916, it has been the world 's leading manufacturer of large commercial aircrafts for several decades (Tong & Tong, 2003). However, in 2005 Airbus delivered more planes than Boeing, due to the 911 terrorist attack in 2001, and suffered a strike by workers in the manufacturing site last autumn. Between 2005 and 2004, Airbus deliveries increased by 18% to 378 aircraft, said Chief Executive Gustav Humbert. It was a new record for Airbus, it was a better outcome than the European aircraft maker 's perdition (370 deliveries). On the other hand, Boeing, which has lagged behind Airbus in orders since 2001 and deliveries since 2003, only delivered 290 planes in 2005 (Michaels, 2006).

In this case some big companies dominate the whole industry and as a result the small companies

Baumol recognizes that since it is large organizations that are most likely to be competitors within an oligopoly, then the chains of control and decision making are likely to be elongated. It is therefore considered that more likely that it will take longer to arrive at and implement decisions within such organizations than within smaller competitors.