Competition between network carriers and low-cost carriers—retreat battle or breakthrough to a new level of efficiency?

The severe crisis of the global aviation industry has primarily struck the “classical†Network Carriers (NCs) with their complex hub&spoke operation platforms. The crisis was deepened, but by no means caused, by the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The root cause was the end of a temporary revenue “bubble†after the first Iraq war, leading to historically high airline profits and major capacity expansions. After the end of the “golden†90s, an economic downturn and a fear of terrorism resulted in massive overcapacities, with yields showing a return to continued long-term decline.