BSc (Hons) Airline and Airport Management

One of the key skills identified by employers as required by graduates is numerical skills. This module aims to provide a foundation by which to underpin numerical and analytical understanding of the financial performance of the air transport industry. Students will interpret and analyse air transport industry financial statements, in the context of both budgeting and via ratio analysis, to attempt to understand the various components associated with an organisations financial performance and requirements. Economic concepts and principles will be studied in the context of the air transport industry and students will be expected to interpret and evaluate these – predominantly in the context of business costs and revenues. One of the key objectives in the business strategy of contemporary organisations is profitability. The airline industry has historically been a sector that, on the whole, has only achieved marginal profitability. The airport industry has generally seen better profitability amongst the largest hub airports, whilst smaller, more regional airports have struggled and many are loss-making. Another key characteristic of the air transport industry is the high levels of capital required to both operate and grow – this is evident in the airline, airport and aircraft manufacturing sectors. This module will provide the knowledge related to the underlying concepts of profitability in financial and economic terms – the principles of supply and demand, costs and revenues – and the relentless desire amongst many air transport organisations to reduce costs and grow ancillary revenues. The module will also analyse the concepts and principles as to how air transport organisations attempt to obtain the capital they require in order to operate and grow. This module provides the necessary foundation in order to develop students numerical and analytical skills through the course and it provides a link to the Level 6 module – Aviation Strategy and Commercial Analysis

The aim of the module is to provide you with a basic overview of the aviation management principles of flight and operation of commercial aircraft. Aviation managers often find this knowledge to be useful when collaborating with flight operations, engineering and environmental sustainability departments within airlines and airports.

This module is designed to give students a conceptual underpinning and thorough knowledge of basic principles in relation to the history and development of commercial aviation whilst looking at broader technological developments in aviation. Students will gain an insight into the rapid growth of the industry, business models, airlines, airports, aircraft manufacturers and environmental issues.

Specialised Air Transport Services module aims to provide students with a basic understanding of the structure, nature and operating characteristics of the segments of aviation that are outside of the mainstream of civil passenger aviation industry. These include but are not limited to, Business and Corporate Aviation, Cargo Airlines, Unmanned Air Systems, Air Ships, Law Enforcement, Air-Ambulance and Military. They generally represent a relatively small percentage by the number of aircraft (fixed-wing or rotorcraft). Still, they serve important roles supporting society in roles that otherwise would not be completed as efficiently and as promptly as possible. Some of them even support the future development of the aviation system and extend it in directions not utilised at present. Although they share a similar natural environment to the airlines, there are many substantial differences in their operating scenarios and regulatory requirements. Related planning, operational, financial and management issues are highly complex, involving a balance between such factors as safety, operational, human factors, maintenance and financial performance. Therefore, it is vital for students to acquire sufficient knowledge of the key developments and components that have helped shape those parts of the international aviation industry. Students are expected to understand the complex and changing issues required to maximize all aspects of the services including challenges, risks, advantages of different vehicles utilised (rotary, fixed-wing, and airship). Linked into these students will examine the roles and responsibilities of the major organisations outside the scheduled carrier system to equip themselves with the skills and knowledge required for potential roles in, or interfacing with, these exciting areas of aviation.

The module will address the key areas required for future employability within the aviation industry. The module will also focus on comprehending and applying effective academic competencies. In terms of employability, the module is designed to equip students with knowledge and understanding pertinent to employment within the aviation sector. With these skills, graduates can enhance their employment prospects.

The aviation industry operates in a rapidly evolving environment that has significantly changed over the last 30 years. Still, human error is estimated to be a major cause in the majority of all aircraft accidents. The consequences of failure can be catastrophic and far-reaching therefore, aviation safety, and human factors, as a discipline are considered essential elements of Air Transport Management. The air transport safety management approach is strongly driven by an underlying concept of accident causation. Therefore, when situations have not gone as planned civil aviation investigation of aircraft accidents is the task of respective government agencies and other involved and interested parties. Under international civil aviation regulations (e.g. ICAO Annex 13) and relevant national regulations, the investigation participants must have the technical expertise to support the investigation as well as an understanding of the accident investigation process to provide accurate and timely support. This module aims to provide students with knowledge of accident and incident investigation procedures and regulations. Through the use of case studies and group work, it will present the fundamentals of accident and incident investigation and provide students with the knowledge to understand, if not to participate, in an investigation. It is designed to give students a conceptual underpinning and thorough knowledge of basic principles and to introduce a model of safety/accident causation which lies under the adopted Safety Management System (SMS) concept. It will provide an overview of the principles of the overall SMS picture (i.e. Components, Implementation, Regulatory requirements and the role of the aviation authorities). It is intended for the module to introduce students to the fundamentals of Risk Management (RM) and the rationale behind RM, Risk Assessment and Risk Analysis. Finally, to help investigate the possible human error it will cover the main theories in key concepts and components of Human Factors as a discipline and apply this to airlines and aviation.

The module aims to provide students with broad knowledge and understanding of the theory and practice of research. It focuses on the use of a range of different research methods and approaches. The module encompasses the understanding and application of appropriate research methodologies, research approaches, research designs, forms of data collection, research statistics and report writing and presentation.

The aviation industry has applied technology and innovation since before the Wright Brothers first flight in 1903. This module will examine and analyse historical technological developments and focus on contemporary technologies and how they are being utilised and could be utilised in the future, by 3 of the main sectors within the aviation industry – airlines, airports and aircraft manufacturers. An understanding and the ability to apply technological solutions, in an innovative way, will be a key skill in the graduate of the future and this module aims to provide the foundations in these key areas. Technology and innovation can be categorised into 5 approximate areas, in terms of the rationale for development and implementation; operational efficiencies, cost reduction, revenue generation, product differentiation and improve environmental performance. These will be analysed in the context of the 3 main aviation sectors mentioned above. The airline industry, since deregulation, has increasingly utilised technological developments to improve business performance. The introduction of the low-cost business model and the advent of the internet, has resulted in increased competition and the search for effective technological solutions to reduce costs, generating improved and new sources of revenue and as a product differentiator. The airport industry has become increasingly competitive in recent times and this has led to the search for operational efficiencies and product differentiation especially, as airports seek to compete and prosper in this competitive environment. Environmental issues and the drive from airlines for reductions in fuel consumption, has led aircraft manufacturers to develop new technologies and innovative materials, components and processes, to meet the demand from both the airlines and regulatory authorities. Students will not only analyse technology and innovation in the above contexts but also propose innovative technological solutions to identified problems.

This module will study two important co-related areas in Two Parts; the use of digital marketing and revenue management applied in commercial aviation as well as airports. Part One – Digital marketing greatly contributes to competitive advantage in aviation through building brand and differentiation. This module will offer an introduction to Consumer psychology and Digital marketing. It provides a detailed overview of the technologies, issues and context underpinning digital marketing. Part Two – Aims to provide students with a systematic understanding of the theory and practice of revenue management and its impact on aviation companies as well as their customers. It seeks to provide the students with knowledge and skills to enable them to critically analyse and evaluate market conditions, pricing strategies, inventory control tactics and customer value assessment in order to make appropriate management decisions that enable hospitality organisations to achieve sustainable financial success.

This module explores talent management, which has become an area of significant importance in internationally HR practice, as retaining excellent employees plays an important role in the strategic competitiveness of an organisation. This is never so important than in today’s ever-changing work environment, where businesses operate in an environment of not only risk but also volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA). The module will develop your understanding of the requirements for entrepreneurial leadership, which is essential in enabling the dynamic capabilities of the organisation. This module aims to develop your understanding of the requirements for successful leadership and talent management in an ever-changing world.

The aim of this module is to provide students with the knowledge and understanding required to plan and perform airline route operations. The module covers both the commercial and operational aspects of route development and operations through critical analysis and evaluation of information and data and the application of management science. Political, economic, regulatory and environmental considerations are embedded throughout the learning.

Organisational strategy is a key factor in the success of air transport organisations. Decisions made at the top (board) level permeate through the organisation and dictate overall strategy, the strategy of individual business units and play a vital role in the profitability of the organisation. This module comprehensively develops students’ understanding of the strategic and commercial aspects of air transport management. It examines approaches to aviation strategic management, strategic analysis and seeks to determine how these organisations may improve, grow and develop; alongside an investigation of key strategic, financial, and economic trends, problems, and developments in aviation management. Strategy is linked into the context of commercial performance via commercial analysis. This will take the form of building on the foundations studied in the L4 module – Air Transport Finance and Business Strategy – by utilising more advanced ratio analysis, which will continue to develop student’s numerical skills. It will also study the commercial performance of air transport organisations in a more applied way, covering some of the key topics in this area, such as; ownership structures and commercial performance, sources of finance/leasing, fuel hedging and the role of aircraft manufacturers. The importance of technology will be studied throughout, where relevant.

This module is designed to give students a conceptual underpinning and thorough knowledge of basic principles and operational practice in sustainable aviation; providing an overview of the principles of sustainability and sustainable aviation management. It is intended that the module will introduce students to sustainable aviation policy, procedures and strategy for airlines, airports and aircraft manufacturers. It will cover the main theories in regulating environmental externalities and help the students to assess and evaluate these policies and initiatives. Finally, it aims to create a critical and collaborative learning environment that will manifest itself in students reflecting on their contribution to corporate social responsibility and sustainability and taking their place as responsible global citizens.

The aim of the dissertation module is to provide students with the opportunity to critically review, analyse and evaluate a topic of their choice related to the subject area of the course that they are studying. This is best done by conducting research on that topic and presenting the outcomes in a thesis. The module builds on knowledge and understanding that students may have achieved as part of an introductory research methods module. However, this is a self-contained module and it is not a pre-requisite to have been previously studied in an introductory research module. Students initially produce a proposal report of their research idea and complete a set of research ethics forms in accordance with the University’s research ethics policy. Thereafter, students work towards completing the research project with advice and guidance from the academic team. The project culminates in the submission of a capstone thesis that incorporates a thorough critical review of the literature, a detailed methodology outlining relevance and limitations, critical analysis and discussion of the results and the critical evaluation of the outcomes of the work.