United Airlines

United Airlines is an American key airline whose headquarters is based in Illinois Chicago. The United airline operates mainly in the United States and across other regions such as such as Japan and Guam. The airline handle and average of about 45,000 passengers on daily basis and employs over 88,000 individuals. SWOT ANALYSIS

Swot analysis refers to the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and the threats that a business faces. Every company has its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that it faces. Strengths

Some of the strengths that the United Ailrne experiences include strong operational network, startegica aliances, relatively high employee productivity and the fact that it is the fourth largest carrier in the United States. Strong operational network

The united airline enjoys a strong operational network compared to its competitors, this is because the ailrine operates over 3000 flights daily and has more than 230 destinations. This is vividly shown in its ability to earn 73 per cent of its revenue from the mainline passengers and about 19 percent comes from the regional affiliate passengers. Strategic Alliance

The airline boasts of of being the founding member of one of the most comprehensive alliances famously referd to as the “Star Alliance.” The alliance avails the United airline with the opportunity to access the destinations that it couldn’t have accessed if it were not for the alliance. This further allow the airline to safeguard against litigations such as the anti trust litigations and the price fixing litigations. Relatively high employee roductivity

United airline has a relatively stronger revenue per employee compared to its competitors in the industry such as the delta airline. This is despite the fact that most of its employees are based in the United States. The airline was recently ranked second in the “ average monthly available seat-Miles per Full Time Equivalent employee. Fourth Largest carrier in the United States

At the moment, the airline is ranked as the fourth largesr carrier in the United States in terms of the passanger revenue. With the continuing growth and investment measure undertaken by the management, the airline is likely to grow even further and attain the top three position soon. Weaknesses

Some of the major weaknesse that the airline is experiencing include weakening financial performance, heavy dependence on third party providersand strong unions. Weakenning financial performance

In the past few years, the company has experienced poor financial performance and this has affected the normal operations of the company in one way or the other. One of the greayest losses the company ever experienced is the 2008 financial year the company posted a net loss of about 5.3 billion dollars. The company is also experiencing a slow stock performance, a figure that is even lower than the industry average.

Heavy dependence on the third party providers
The United Airline is heavily dependent on third party providers, a factor that disadvantaging them rather tan help them improve their performance. Some of the major activities such as aircraft repair and maintenance, call service centers and aircraft fuelling have all been delegated to third parties. Strong Unions

Most of the staff employed at the airline a members opf very strong unions and almost each and every employee is a member of a union and these unions tend to facilitate job security and pay increase. Opportunities

The major opportunities that the company can take advantage of to propel its growth include; growing United States Airline Industry, Global travel and tourism industry and Economic growth. Growing U.S. airlines industry

The United States airline industry has consistently experienced steady growth. What is even better is that the industry is expecting even further growth as the years progress. Such positive growth provides the United
Airline with the opportunity to effectively strengthen its network. If the airlines takes advantage of this opportunity it will be able to gain competitive advantage over its competitors. Economic growth

The United States economy has been able to grow steadily after the 200 recessionand because of this, most businesses have been able to also grow effectively. The airline should therefore invest heavily in refurbishing its aircrafts and also investing in projects that will attract employees. To fully take advantage of this project, the United airline should embrace good marketing startegies and also provide competitive prices to its customers. Global travel and tourism industry

The airline industry is greatly influenced by the the travel and tourism trends across the globe. The World Travel and Tourism Board states that the the level of tourism is likely to grow even as the years progress. The growth in the level of tourism is expected to grow at a level of 4.5 per cent annually. This is expected to continue upto 2017. Thus the organization should fully prepare it self and take over the tourism market. Other opportunities include icreased acceptability of the United airline across various countries, large pool of labour and increased and growth of the world economy. Threats

Every business tends to face threats during its operations, however what is important is how the organization handles its threats. The main threats that the United Airline faces include. Future oil prices, intense competition and the world economy. Future Oil Prices

One of the expenses and concer for most airline industries is the cost of fuels. Because of this, most of the companies tend to hedge the fuel prices, in consideration of the future prices at the market. The oil prices are always volatile and dependent on the economic cycles. The company incurs upto 4 billion dollars in fuel charges, a significant amount of money. The organization should thereore be keen and ensure that the it manages its fuel costs effectively and avoid unnecessary losses associated with it.

Intense competition and price discounting
The airline industry in the United States is a very competitive market and because of this, the profit margin are always very low. Other airline companies have discounted fare prices that attract the customer more. Some of these companies include Delta, Alaska, American and Jet Blue. The United Airline should therefore aim and implementing a strategy that will enable them offer competitive prices and the same time nmake profits. World Economy

Being a global economy, the airline’s operations is greatly influenced by the state of the of the world economy. This is due to the current state of affair between countries such as Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Gaza. The gowth and stability of an economy is good for the airline whereas the decline of an economy and other factors such as instability can be very harmful to the economy. Some of the other threats that the airline is likely to face include adjsutments in the airline regaulations, terrorism and political tensions.