Article Critique Assignment II February 23rd, 2018 Studen

Article Critique: Assignment II
February 23rd, 2018
Student
Experiences of wake and light therapy in patients with
depression: A qualitative study.
International Journal of Mental Health Nursing
Kragh, M., Møller, D. N., Wihlborg, C. S., Martiny, K., Larsen,
E. R., Videbech, P., &
Lindhardt, T. (2017). Experiences of wake and light therapy in
patients with depression: A
qualitative study. International Journal Of Mental Health
Nursing, 26(2), 170-180.
Summary
Researcher’s for this study designed a qualitative methodology
approach. (Kragh et al.
2017) Thirteen participants diagnosed with moderate-to-severe
depression were used. Individual
interviews were done by a nurse who was previously known to
the patients. This particular nurse
happened to be the first author. Participants were asked to keep
up with a diary, which the first
author would read and use as notes to prompt individuals for
more discussion later. Interviews
would primary be done at the end of a 9-week period. These 17
individual interviews were
conducted in a familiar place to the participants. A guide was

devised to propose interview
questions. Open and closed ended questions were used. Data
was then recorded. (Kragh et al.
2017)
The data was collected and analyzed. (Figure 1) Several other
researchers worked with
the first author in this study by analyzing the data. The other
researcher’s challenged the first
author’s interpretation of the data. Together, the authors came
up with an interpretation.
Qualitative content analysis was used to evaluate the data.
(Kragh et al. 2017) The study
concluded that in general the participants benefited from the
therapies. One main theme was
identified, and that was that participants had an overall positive
encounter with the therapy and
intervention. (Kragh et al. 2017) Four sub themes were
identified as well, which related to this
positivism, however also reflected certain negative aspects.
(Figure 2)
Critique
Depression is a major issue that many people are dealing with
today. Depression is the
world’s leading disability. (Kragh et al. 2017) While this may
seem debilitating, there are many
treatments to help those with this illness. Wake therapy is a
sleeping treatment where patients are
kept awake for a whole night and then the following day as
well. Wake therapy is one of those
treatments that has been proven to reduce symptoms in a matter
of hours. Wake therapy tends to
be paired with chronotherapeutic interventions which helps

prevent depressive symptoms from
returning. (Kragh et al. 2017) This article discusses a
qualitative study done over wake therapy
paired with the specific chronotherapeutic intervention, light
therapy. This study is interesting to
me as an interior design major, because behavioral healthcare
design is becoming more and more
popular. This is most likely an effect of the increased research
that has been provided over these
subjects.
Since depression is seemingly becoming a bigger and bigger
issue, it must be taken into
account more. As an interior designer, I must always keep the
user in mind. Those who will be
using the space that I create for them will be affected by
whatever environment I design. I must
put myself in the shoes of those who I will be designing for. As
someone who has a mental
health condition themselves, this is an issue that is easy to
empathize with. Empathic design is
something I am very interested in, so this information could be
significant research information
keep in mind for my future designs.
The authors of this research study created a clear and definitive
need for this study. They
clearly defined what depression is, and how many people it
affects. The authors then provided
examples of statistics on depression. This build-up lead into a
detailed explanation of what wake
therapy and light therapy interventions is. The author’s also
described the research that is out
today on such topics. They critiqued the studies that have
already been done, and explained what

they wanted to achieve. The authors were clear and to the point.
The author’s also made sure to control for a wide range of
variables, which helped
upstand the validity of this study. Depression has many
uncontrollable variables, yet many
methods were used to help prevent a bias with those
uncontrollable variables. The authors were
very picky with who they chose as participants. They did not
allow those who had “severe
suicidal ideation, panic anxiety and personality disorder, drug
or alcohol abuse, psychotic
disorder, pregnancy, glaucoma, epilepsy, and electroconvulsive
therapy” to participate. (Kragh et
al. 2017) In addition, the author’s made sure to be as inclusive
as they could. They made sure
that even though they had patients who had a depressive order
as a part of a bipolar disorder,
their “high” moods were adjusted for with mood-stabilizing
therapy. (Kragh et al. 2017) The
authors thoroughness helps justify their study.
While this study was very thorough, a key part could be
portrayed as prejudiced. Since
the participants knew the main interviewer previously, there is
potential for those responses to
have been swayed for many reasons. Allowing the study to be
done by someone familiar was
meant to help participants open up, however, it could have also
made participants do the
complete opposite. The first author was a nurse of the hospital
ward chosen, so how participants
felt about that first author previously, could have affected their
responses. The first author could
have also had a bias in what they documented in relation to
their own preconceptions.

If I were to continue this study, I would do several things
differently to assist in
guaranteeing validity of the study. I would choose a site that is
impartial to me. This way my
results will not be seen as biased. To ensure that this study has
a distinct focus I would consider
more variables. I would not include patients with bipolar
disorder. I would also restrict the age
gap to be smaller, or to include several smaller studies with
specific age groups. I would also
consider using people who have had a shorter history of
depression. A major theme that was seen
was that the patients were nervous about this recovery option. If
that fear could be eliminated or
reduced, different results may have been reflected. Continuing
this study would be interesting to
me because I want to find out more specific information on how
these concepts can be included
in interior environments; questions related to the interior’s
elements would be used to conduct
my research.
Figures
Figure 1. Data collected and analyzed by this study. This table
provides background information
on participants and their emotional state. Kragh, M., Møller, D.
N., Wihlborg, C. S., Martiny, K.,
Larsen, E. R., Videbech, P., & Lindhardt, T. Experiences of
wake and light therapy in patients
with depression: A qualitative study. International Journal of
Mental Health Nursing, 2017. p.

172.
Figure 2. This picture shows the four sub-themes identified by
this study under the main theme.
Kragh, M., Møller, D. N., Wihlborg, C. S., Martiny, K., Larsen,
E. R., Videbech, P., &
Lindhardt, T. Experiences of wake and light therapy in patients
with depression: A qualitative
study. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 2017. p.
174.
Delta Air Lines, Inc
By Frank T. Rothaermel & David R. King
As if dealing with economic cycles, fuel price volatility,
organized labor, changing customer demographics, and
increased competition was not enough...
Delta CEO Ed Bastian assumed the role of Delta’s CEO in May
20161 at a time when the airline had successfully rebounded
from the “great recession” of 2008–09 by investing in an oil
refinery to insulate itself from higher fuel costs for operating
older, less efficient aircraft.2 However, at his first anniversary,
Delta was brought low twice by computer problems. In August
2016, a power outage in Atlanta disrupted Delta’s operation for
more than three days leading to the cancellation of over 2,000

flights that lost the airline over $100 million in revenue.3
Another computer glitch on January 29, 2017 led to canceling
170 flights.4 These and outages at other airlines reveal a largely
overlooked vulnerability to airline operations—cyber security.5
Delta took the first steps to correcting that deficiency by
creating a new Chief Information Security Officer and the
hiring of former bank executive Deborah Wheeler.
Historically, Delta had focused more on activities associated
with aircraft operations and maintenance, and customer service.
While attention was paid to procuring aircraft, spare parts, and
fuel, and ensuring access to airport gates, less attention was
paid to Delta’s technology infrastructure and human resource
management. In the start of April 2017, Delta cancelled over
three thousand flights over several days during spring break due
to one day of thunderstorms at its Atlanta hub.7 In a digital age,
an internal investigation revealed problems were compounded
by overwhelmed telephone switches that kept aircrew from
learning about new assignments.8 In addition to cancellations
from computer glitches, the month after he became CEO, Ed
Bastian had to deal with Delta pilots picketing the firm’s
headquarters for increased pay.9 During the recession, pilots
accepted 50 percent pay cuts and they wanted a 37 percent raise
now that Delta had returned to profitability.10 After six months
of mediation, Delta’s pilots agreed to a 30 percent raise
implemented in stages through 2019.11 Wage pressure is also
fueled by a looming pilot shortage as pilots are forced to retire
at age 6512 leading to a projected shortfall of over 100,000
pilots for North America in the next 20 years.13
Even if internal operations are executed well, Delta could still
face problems. An improving world-wide economy led many
airlines to invest in new aircraft that contributed to industry
overcapacity. For example, Cathay Pacific reported its first
annual loss since 2008 in 2017.14 There is also airline
overcapacity in Europe15 and the U.S.16 New entrants offering
long-haul budget airline service are further contributing to price
pressure. For example, a new airline, Level, began service in

Europe in 2016 and offers a $149 one-way ticket between
Europe and the U.S. West Coast, adding an international
dimension to budget carriers already operating within the U.S.
and Europe.17 An affiliate of Singapore Airlines has also
announced plans to offer budget flights between Asia and
Athens.18 This is addition to Emirates Airline and Norwegian
Air that already offer low-cost international airline service.19
In response, American Airlines created a new “basic economy”
airfare.20 In considering everything going on internally at Delta
and in its industry, CEO Bastian wondered—what other
challenges have been overlooked? And how should he prioritize
the challenges he faces, and how should he address each one of
them?
As he took a Diet Coke from his office fridge, he sat down at
his desk, and started to boot-up his laptop...while looking out of
his office window, he saw a brand-new Airbus A-380 operated
by Korean Air, Delta’s partner in the SkyTeam alliance, take off
from Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport...
History of Delta Air Lines, Inc.
From Crop-dusting to Mail and Passenger Services. Before
Delta Air Lines existed, HuffDaland Dusters was the world’s
first commercial agricultural flying company. They sprayed
pesticides to control the boll weevil population in cotton fields
over Macon, Georgia. In 1925, HuffDaland Dusters moved its
operations to Monroe, Louisiana. By then, they had created the
world’s largest privately owned fleet–18 aircraft–and provided
aerial dusting service to Florida, Arkansas, California, and
Mexico.
Service for the region it served, the Mississippi Delta.21 By the
end of the 1920s, Delta had established passenger services to
and from Jackson, Mississippi and Dallas, Texas. Flights were
limited to one pilot and five passengers. Mr. Woolman insisted
on strong customer service, a trait for which Delta is still
recognized today. Delta started flying mail for the U.S. Postal
Service in 1934, ferrying letters and packages from Fort Worth,
Texas to Charleston, South Carolina for 24.8 cents per pound. It

also resumed passenger service (which had been temporarily
suspended in 1930), changing its name to Delta Air Lines.22
With the purchase of brand new Stinson Model A aircraft in
1935, Delta upgraded its flight capacity to carry seven
passengers and two pilots. Delta acquired the new aircraft from
American Airways (later American Airlines) for one-quarter of
the price of a new plane–a tactic that continues to play out in
Delta’s fleet strategy today. Delta’s history is summarized in
Exhibit 1.
WWII. In the early 1940s, Delta relocated its headquarters to
Atlanta and started utilizing even larger aircraft (Douglas DC-2
and DC-3). With the increase in airplane size, Delta added
flight attendants to provide in-flight passenger services. From
1942 to 1944, Delta aided the war efforts by modifying over
1,000 aircraft for the military and training pilots and mechanics
in the Army.23 Shortly after the war, Delta changed its official
name to Delta Air Lines Inc. and named Mr. Woolman president
and general manager.24 In 1945, the National Safety Council
(NSC) recognized Delta for flying 300 million passenger miles
over ten years of service without a single fatality. Soon
thereafter, Delta started regular cargo service and also became
the first airline to offer non-stop flights between Chicago and
Miami. With a fleet capacity totaling 644 seats, Delta started its
first coach service in 1949.25
Post-War Expansion. During the 1950s, Delta created the hub-
and-spoke model in which passengers are routed through major
hubs before connecting with flights to their final destinations.
Delta’s modern hub-and-spoke model is visualized on the North
American route map in Exhibit 2a. The company gained its first
international flight with the acquisition of Chicago and
Southern Air Lines in 1952. By the end of the decade, Delta
became the first airline to utilize DC-8 jets in its fleet. The
Delta widget–a red, white, and blue triangle mimicking the
swept wing of a jet–also made its first appearance as part of
Delta’s aircraft livery.
Exhibit 2b shows Delta’s European route network; noteworthy

is the fact that this follows a point-to-point rather than a hub-
and-spoke model, mainly because of existing international
regulations (so-called cabotage rules, i.e., foreign airlines are
generally not allowed to fly domestically; for example, while
Singapore Airlines is allowed to fly from Singapore to San
Francisco; it is not allowed to fly from San Francisco to other
destinations in the U.S.). Exhibit 2c shows Delta’s Asia Pacific
route network. This network also operates mainly by a point-to-
point model, but also uses several hubs such as Tokyo’s Haneda
and Narita airports, allowing for a hub-and-spoke operation in
collaboration with Delta’s alliance partners.
Delta continued to expand its operations throughout the 1960s
with non-stop routes and new destinations. Continued high
growth in passenger volume made the company’s manual
reservation system increasingly difficult to handle. The advent
of computing technology led to the development of the Semi-
Automated Business Research Environment reservation system
(SABRE), which Delta adopted in 1962, greatly decreasing the
costs and increasing the efficiency of the reservation process.
Symbolic of Delta’s changing focus, the company closed its
crop-dusting operations in 1966, the same year that C.E.
Woolman died and was succeeded by Charles Dolson as chief
executive officer.26 By 1970, Delta’s fleet consisted entirely of
passenger airplanes, including the new Boeing 747. However,
Delta diversified its offerings again one year later by adding
Delta Dash, a small package cargo service. In 1975, the
company added a high priority cargo service called Delta Air
Express.27
Industry Deregulation. President Jimmy Carter signed the
Airline Deregulation Act in 1978, removing government control
over commercial airlines’ fares and routes and permitting the
entry of new airlines into the market. Up until this point, major
airline carriers had been guaranteed to receive a 12 percent
return on any flight filled at 55 percent capacity or higher.
Access to routes was closely regulated and limited service,
therefore airlines had few incentives to offer discounts. The Act

was intended to increase competition and decrease ticket
prices.28
Delta initiated its first frequent flyer program at the start of the
1980s, made possible by its computer reservation system (CRS).
Unfortunately, the U.S. economy tanked in 1982, hitting the
major airlines hard just as they were starting to adapt to their
new regulatory environment. As a result, Delta reported its first
financial loss ever. During the lull, Delta employees banded
together and accepted $30 million in payroll deductions to
purchase the first Boeing 767, named “The Spirit of Delta.” As
financial conditions improved, Delta resumed its expansion
efforts, creating the Delta Connection program for its regional
partner airlines, strengthening the spokes of its hub-and-spoke
model, and opening its first routes to Asia in 1988.29
Earnings dropped again at the start of the 1990s, but this did not
deter Delta from expanding even further. The airline purchased
several new gates, aircraft, and routes in 1991. Among those
added to Delta’s route portfolio were Canadian flights from
Eastern Airlines, a New York-to-Boston flight run by Pan Am,
and more European routes including a hub in Frankfurt,
Germany. While the expansion made Delta a major international
competitor, it was costly. Delta incurred such a severe loss that
it had to prune multiple routes and 15,000 jobs between 1994
and 1997. Despite morale being at an all-time low, Delta had to
continue its cost-saving measures. Delta Express, a low-cost
alternative with no in-flight meals or entertainment, was
launched in 1996 and administered separately from mainline
operations.
Partnerships proved to be a useful tool for competing in the
post-deregulation era. Under a new CEO, Leo Mullin, Delta
formed the first international cargo alliance with SwissCargo in
1997.30 After Continental Airlines broke off takeover talks with
Delta to join with Northwest Airlines, Delta retaliated by
creating a joint frequent flyer program with United Airlines. In
2000, Delta, Air France, Aeromexico, and Korean Air founded
the SkyTeam alliance in order to combat the other emerging

global code-sharing groups, Oneworld and Star Alliance.
Exhibit 3 shows which carriers are in the three alliance
networks.
Post 9/11. Terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 led to the
closing of U.S. airspace for two days and significantly affected
air travel thereafter. Delta suffered its first financial loss since
199513 and was forced to rationalize flights and reduce its
workforce by 15 percent. Low-cost carriers (LCCs), how-ever,
thrived in the aftermath of 9/11. Delta fought back against the
low-cost threat from companies like Southwest and JetBlue by
launching its own budget service, called Song, in 2003, only to
merge it back into its mainline operations three years later. At
the same time, Delta continued to innovate by offering a new
passenger check-in model, redesigning its lobbies, and
expanding the number of kiosks.14 The federal government
approved the largest code-sharing agreement between domestic
carriers (Delta, Continental Airlines and Northwest Airlines) in
2003.15, 16
Before the 1978 Deregulation Act, airline bankruptcy was
unheard of for interstate carriers because of the regulatory
protection provided by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). In
fact, the CAB often joined failing carriers with survivors in an
effort to maintain routes and assets. However, since
deregulation, the air travel industry has been highly competitive
with many new entrants and very low mar-gins on fares, leading
to almost 200 airline company Chapter 7 and 111 bankruptcy
filings by 2013. Since then the airlines consolidated through
horizontal merger activity. Exhibit 4 shows industry dynamics
over time during periods of regulation, deregulation, and
consolidation.
Not even some of the largest carriers could weather the
combined effects of worldwide economic recessions, rising fuel
costs, and the 9/11 terrorist attacks.31 Delta filed for Chapter
11 bankruptcy in September 2005.32 As a drastic measure,
Delta sold Atlantic Southeast Airlines, which it had purchased
in March 1999.33 Ultimately, a $2 billion financing deal from

its creditors helped Delta to emerge from bankruptcy and
continue operations. The road back to profitability was a long
journey, but Delta’s pilots shortened the trip by agreeing to
several changes in their benefits and compensation packages,
saving the company $280 million annually. Seeing Delta in a
weakened state, US Airways made a bid to cover Delta’s debt
(about $8 billion in cash and stocks) and to acquire the
company; the offer was rejected by the Delta Board of
Directors. A few months later, US Airways increased its offer to
$10 billion but was still unsuccessful in swaying the board. In
April 2007, Delta re-emerged from bankruptcy with Richard
Anderson, former CEO of Northwest Airlines, as CEO. In April
2008, Delta initiated its largest, most profitable acquisition to
date, purchasing Northwest Airlines. Delta had to negotiate with
unionized pilots and persuade antitrust regulators in order to
complete the acquisition. Consolidation and integration of the
two companies continued through 2010. Delta paid $2.8 billion
to become the airline with the highest traffic in the world.34
Exhibit 5 shows the mergers and acquisitions since 2004 in both
the domestic U.S. as well the global airline industry,
highlighting the trend towards further consolidation.
Delta Air Lines Today
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Since 2010, Delta has re-invested $2 billion to upgrade its
airport facilities and the aircraft within its mainline fleet. For
example, by 2015, the Business Elite sections of all long-haul
aircraft were equipped with lie-flat seating. In 2016, Delta was
the first U.S. airline to purchase Bombardier’s new C series
regional jet.35 Overall, Delta boasts more first-class seating, in-
flight entertainment options, access to power sources, and
inflight Wi-Fi access than any of its domestic competitors.
Exhibit 6 shows Delta’s recent key financial data.
STRUCTURE
Since its 2012 acquisition of the Trainer fuel refinery from
ConocoPhillips for $150 million, Delta has partitioned its
operations into the airline and refinery businesses. The refinery

unit is responsible for the supply of jet fuel and works with
Delta’s fuel partners, Phillips 66, and BP. The airline unit
includes air transportation of passenger and cargo items as well
as all maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) activity. There
are multiple strategic business units (SBUs) within the airline
segment, including airport customer service, private jets, cargo,
global services, technical operations, flight operations, inflight
services, among others. More information is available on these
different SBUs in Exhibit 7.36
MARKETS
Delta currently serves its passenger and cargo customers
domestically and internationally through major hubs in Atlanta,
Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis, New York, Salt
Lake City, Amsterdam, Paris, and Tokyo. Delta’s Atlanta hub
alone boarded 13 million passengers per month during calendar
year 2013.37 Regional connecting flights radiate from these
central locations, filling in the spokes of Delta’s hub-and-spoke
network strategy. In a hub-and-spoke network, smaller aircraft
fly shorter routes on the “spokes” to a central hub where
passenger traffic is aggregated for connecting flights to create
economies of scale.
LEADERSHIP
Ed Bastion, the current CEO of Delta Air Lines, replaced
Richard Anderson who had over twenty-five years of experience
in the aviation industry. Mr. Anderson led a recovery at Delta
following the 2008 recession, and the results led to Delta
placing at the top of Fortune’s Most Admired airlines list in
2011 and 2013 because of its rankings in people management,
quality management, innovation, long-term investment, social
responsibility, quality of products and services, and global
competitive-ness. In 2016, Delta climbed nine spots to 30 on
Fortune’s most admired companies and only fell one spot in
2017.38
Still, Edward Bastian’s tenure as CEO has involved multiple
challenges. However, his long preparation to be CEO included
executive vice president, chief financial officer, chief

restructuring officer during the Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and
president.39 Ed joined Delta’s Board of Directors in 2010, and
he oversaw the growth of Delta Cargo, TechOps, Delta Private
Jets, and DGS (Delta Global Services). He was also heavily
involved in the acquisition of Northwest Airlines and the
Trainer refinery. All of these initiatives are part of the
company’s strategic focus on reducing debt and enhancing the
Delta experience, as a means of decreasing Delta’s vulnerability
to economic cycles.
Glen Hauenstein moved up from Executive Vice President to
replace Ed Bastian as President, and he has been with Delta
since 2005.40 In this role, he provides oversight of Delta’s
marketing, sales, and customer engagement and loyalty. In his
tenure, Glen has added 70 worldwide destinations to Delta’s
network of flights and enhancing Delta’s Sky Clubs for frequent
flyers. Gil West serves as Chief Operating Officer, and he
directs 70,000 employees in providing safe and reliable
operations of Delta’s flights across the globe.41
PERFORMANCE
Delta has operated in the black with net income exceeding $4.37
billion in 2016, though revenue fell to $39.6 billion in 2016
from $40.7 billion in 2015.42
The Air Travel Industry
SHAREHOLDER VALUE DESTRUCTION
Historically, airlines have teetered between periods of
profitability and bankruptcy–with the out-come highly
dependent on the health of the economy. Major problems
include the fierce, price-dominated rivalry among competitors,
price sensitivity of customers with a diminishing need to travel,
and clout of suppliers. The primary economics (perishable
commodity product, volatile demand, and the slow nature of
capacity changes) put pressure on prices such that airlines tend
to match price with marginal cost and ramp up capacity to meet
prospective demand.43 It is only in recent years that airlines
have begun to demonstrate consistent profitability.
BUSINESS MODELS: HUB-AND-SPOKE VS. POINT-TO-

POINT
LCCs (Southwest, JetBlue, Virgin Atlantic, and Alaska
Airlines) compete with traditional or “legacy” carriers (Delta,
United, and American Airlines) for passengers and profits. The
legacy carriers, which offer many more routes than LCCs,
utilize a hub-and-spoke business model allowing them to
efficiently service a vast selection of routes and destinations.
Passengers are routed through major hubs before connecting
with flights to their final destinations. For example, anyone
flying from Seattle, Washington to Miami, Florida would be
routed through Delta’s main hub in Atlanta, Georgia. In
contrast, LCCs use a point-to-point network of heavily
trafficked city-pairs that minimizes cost while sacrificing the
variety of destinations served. Baggage transfers and
coordination with other airlines is unnecessary with the point-
to-point system, which helps keep costs down.
LCCs also save money by using a limited number of jetliner
models. For instance, Southwest and JetBlue exclusively use
737s and A320s, respectively. As a result, they have lower
expenses than legacy carriers for maintenance and training.
JetBlue further reduces costs by carrying more passengers per
flight over longer distances. Exhibit 8 shows detailed revenue,
cost, and profit data for U.S. domestic airlines over time.
Traditional carriers have higher cost structures which leave
them especially vulnerable during periods of recession and high
fuel prices. Their main advantage lies in the international
market where there are a limited number of competitors and
profits are protected by governmental restrictions. For example,
so-called cabotage rules prohibit foreign airlines from one
country traveling into another country and picking up
passengers and providing transportation between points within
that foreign country.44
In addition, higher barriers to entry in the hub-and-spoke
system reduce some of the competition for traditional carriers
while LCCs face a higher threat of new entry from start-ups.
Also, hub-and-spoke airlines face diminished buyer power by

airline customers in the global market because of their
protection from foreign competition. Point-to-point networks
face a far greater threat of substitutes because of their regional
nature and the availability of alternate modes of travel (car,
train, or bus). Power exerted by suppliers on LCCs tends to be
higher because of their small size and a resulting lack of
bargaining power. Rivalry within the point-to-point strategic
group is likely more intense than in the hub-and-spoke group.
RE-CONSOLIDATION
The U.S. commercial airline industry started out under strict
government regulation. During this era, airline profits were
protected by legislation that controlled airfares and routes. The
federal govern-ment also directed airlines that performed poorly
to merge with airlines that did well. Government-led
consolidation of the airlines focused control over the airways in
the hands of a few major carriers.
Once Congress passed the Airlines Deregulation Act of 1978,
new airlines rapidly entered the mar-ket. Competition increased
sharply as a result of deregulation, causing a dramatic decrease
in pricing power accompanied by a rapid rise in the number of
airline bankruptcies. As time progressed, air-lines started to re-
consolidate in an effort to create larger networks and regain
pricing power. In the last decade, North American carriers have
seen a number of significant mergers including Delta and
Northwest (2010), Southwest and AirTran (2011), United and
Continental (2012), American Airlines and US Airways (2013),
and Alaska Airlines and Virgin America, as shown in Exhibit 5.
The wave of consolidation in the airline industry has enabled
traditional carriers to manage their capacity and streamline their
operations, resulting in a more cost-efficient structure. Other
periph-eral effects were significant improvements in arrival and
departures delays (17 percent and 8 percent decrease,
respectively), flight cancellations (26 percent decrease), and
baggage mishandling (31 percent decrease).45 The number of
mergers and acquisitions and bankruptcies during periods of
regulation, deregulation, and consolidation, respectively, are

shown in Exhibit 4.
The 2015 merger between American Airlines and US Airways
was contested by the Department of Justice because of worries
over anti-competition. American Airlines and US Airways were
required to sell thirty-four slots at LaGuardia Airport and
eighty-six at Reagan National for $381 million.46 By order of
the Department of Justice, these slots could only be offered to
Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) in order to keep the oligopoly of
traditional carriers in check. LCC growth has outpaced that of
tradi-tional network carriers and now accounts for 30 percent of
domestic traffic. Counting domestic and international passenger
traffic, Delta is the third largest U.S. airline behind American
Airlines and Southwest.47
COST CONTROL
Meanwhile, a series of exogenous shocks including terrorist
hijackings (9/11), increasing fuel prices, and a deep global
recession have further challenged the air travel industry in
recent years. Because of the resulting volatility in demand,
airlines have focused on controlling their costs through various
means such as changing their fleet make-up to include more
fuel-efficient aircraft, rationalizing their network of routes, and
decreasing overall operating expenses.
Fuels costs account for 30–40 percent of an airline’s operating
expenses. Because air carriers’ profits are highly sensitive to
the fluctuating prices of jet fuel, they invest in fuel hedging
strategies. One approach utilizes financial instruments, such as
call and put options, to mitigate the risk of fuel price volatility.
For instance, if an airline buys a call option on fuel while the
price of fuel increases, the airline offsets the market price of
fuel with the return on the call. However, if a company buys a
fuel swap and the price declines, it ends up paying greater than
the market price. Air carriers collectively lost millions of
dollars in fuel hedging due to the rapid drop in jet fuel prices
associated with the global recession in 2008 and 2009.
Taking a different approach, Delta backward integrated into fuel
production and supply by pur-chasing the Trainer refinery in

Pennsylvania from ConocoPhillips for $150 million in 2012.
The facility is expected to provide significant fuel hedging
capabilities for Delta’s operations. “According to Richard
Anderson, Delta’s CEO, “Acquiring the Trainer refinery is an
innovative approach to manag-ing our largest expense...This
modest investment, the equivalent of the list price of a new
widebody aircraft, will allow Delta to reduce its fuel expense by
$300 million annually and ensure jet fuel avail-ability in the
Northeast.48
REVENUE MANAGEMENT
Airlines have developed sophisticated quantitative pricing
analytics and revenue management tools to increase revenues
amid harsh industry conditions. One approach is to draw upon
vast customer information databases to derive dynamic price
structures based on how early a purchase is made before the
travel date and the type of seat being purchased. Another
successful pricing strategy is the unbundling of services
previously included as part of the ticket price. Customers must
now pay extra to have access to such amenities as checked
baggage, in-flight meals, preferred seating, priority board-ing,
special facilities in airports, and automatic upgrades. Delta
realized a 40 percent growth in rev-enue ($635 million) in 2013,
in large part due to the income generated from ancillary fees.49
However, this has proven difficult to maintain with 2016
recording both a decline in passengers, revenue, and net
income.50 Meanwhile, the real, inflation-adjusted ticket prices
for air travel, shown in Exhibit 9, has actually decreased from
approximately $450 to $250 since 1978. The nominal (or
sticker) price has increased from approximately $200 to $350
over the same period. Exhibit 10 shows the current cost
breakdown of the average U.S. domestic flight.
Revenue management techniques rely partially on overbooking
as a means to maximize revenue by carefully balancing the
expected cost of no-shows and flying empty seats with the
expected cost of compensating overbooked passengers who are
denied boarding. The more information that is avail-able to

these systems, the more robust are the resulting pricing
segmentation and revenue maximiza-tion algorithms. For this
reason, the collection of consumer information and prediction of
behavior has become highly valuable to airlines.
PROJECTED GROWTH
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) forecasts that total
passengers using air travel will grow at an average of 2.9
percent over the next 20 years.51 The FAA identifies three
major trends influencing domestic airlines: 1) consolidation, 2)
capacity discipline, and 3) proliferation of ancillary revenues.52
While airlines were slow to add capacity following the “great
recession” and this helped profitability, there are now concerns
of potential overcapacity.53
Products and Services
According to Delta’s Investor Day presentation in 2013, “The
customer experience has a different value for each customer and
by tailoring our approach for different customers, we can
improve over-all satisfaction and increase our revenues.”36
This comment alludes to the unbundling of services in order to
offer a cheaper base fare to compete with LCCs, while
generating additional profit from fees for ancillary services.
Delta’s reports over $5 billion in ancillary revenue obtained
from baggage fees and service charges, SkyMiles®, cargo, and
other products and services.54
BOOKING
Booking is the first opportunity airlines have to interact with
their customers, whether it is through an online or traditional
travel agency, mobile application, the airline’s webpage, or at a
kiosk in the airport. Differentiation in booking amongst the
major carriers has been stunted because of online travel …
Student

23 February 18
Article critique #2
Vlaović, Zoran, et al. “Comfort Evaluation as the Example of
Anthropotechnical Furniture
Design.”
The purpose of the article was intended to portray the weight of
the issue based on the
comfort and discomfort of desk chairs. In order to find true
answers, the authors conducted a
study that tested multiple different chairs that had different size
seats. The purpose of the
study was to determine if size and composition of the seat
would change comfort levels of
individuals that spend large amounts of time sitting in them per
day.
One thing I really loved about the article was how descriptive
it was. It really looked
deep into things that I never really thought about as an issue. I
had never placed seat cushion
size and shape as something that I would use as a determining
factor to comfort over a long
period of time, but I guess it does make a lot of sense. I felt like
the diagrams really help a lot

too in understanding all of the information really well! Overall,
I thought the article was very
informative and portrayed the information in a really clear and
descriptive manner.
Article
Critique Rubric
GOOD
2 PTS
FAIR
1.5 PTS
POOR
1 PTS
BAD
0 PTS
SUMMARY Good
The article is clearly but
succinctly summarized - only
the key points of the article are
touched upon. The article
summary takes up no more than
one third of the total
assignment.
Fair

The article is clearly
summarized, but some sub
points are addressed along
with main points.
Poor
The article summary is
unclear or overly detailed.
Often well over half of the
assignment is taken up by
the summary.
No Effort
CRITIQUE Good
Strengths and weaknesses that
are central to the article are
addressed. The discussion of
strengths and weaknesses take
up the majority of the
assignment.
Fair
Strengths and weaknesses
that are peripheral to the
article are addressed. The
discussion of strengths and
weaknesses take up the
majority of the assignment
Poor

Strengths and weaknesses
are addressed peripherally,
weakly, or not at all. The
discussion of strengths and
weaknesses take up only a
small part of the
assignment
MECHANICS
Good
There are no grammatical
errors or typos.
Fair
There are few grammatical
errors or typos
Poor
There are many
grammatical errors and/or
typos
FORMAT Good

APA/MLA and page length
requirements are met
Fair
requirements are met
Poor
requirements are not met.
Article Critique
■ Reference
– APA format
■ Summary
– One paragraph (what the study was about primarily and what
were the key findings)
– Write in your own words
■ Do not just copy and paste the abstract
■ Critique

– Minimum three paragraphs
■ What was good?
– Subjects, study design etc.
■ Shortcomings of the article
– Pick apart the article
■ How you would take the study forward?
– Do not just go with their directions for future research

Article Critique Assignment II February 23rd, 2018 Studen

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