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Operational excellence becomes a competitive force for American Airlines, Delta and United

Analysis

Now that the largest wave of consolidation is over in the US market place, it is arguable that operational performance plays an even greater role in the country's competitive landscape. The US' three large global network airlines, American, Delta and United, through their own network strength and partnerships, have the ability to offer passengers almost blanket coverage of the globe.

Yet, as the network distinctions among those airlines become increasingly blurred, airlines need to find other ways to distinguish themselves. So operational performance becomes an increasingly competitive facet of the business.

Among the three large airlines, Delta enjoys an outperformance of its rivals in mainline operations. Its on-time performance and lower percentage of flights cancelled throughout 2015 outshine both American and United.

American has just completed its reservations systems cutover, and now has time to focus on maximising the merged (AA/US) entity's operational performance. United is working towards shoring up its operational performance, having made progress during 2015 to decrease flight cancellations and to improve its ontime rates.

There is no doubt that Delta has set the competitive bar for its large US peers, and other airlines. The question is how long Delta's reign of operational supremacy will last.

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