The Architecture of the Lincoln Memorial Research Paper - 1

The Architecture of the Lincoln Memorial - Research Paper Example In the United States, the Lincoln Memorial stands as just such a monument, speaking eloquently not only about the man to whom it is dedicated but also to the ideas he espoused during his years as President of a war-torn and very briefly as a reunited country. The architecture of the structure itself is sufficient to convey the sense of strength and stability that Lincoln represented a country attempting to fly apart at the seams. Designed by architect Henry Bacon, the building is constructed primarily of marble blocks with limestone columns in the style of an ancient Greek temple. The Doric columns, 44 feet tall and nearly 7.5 feet in diameter at their base, convey supreme strength of purpose and steadying support [do you have a source for this opinion/statement?]. The building commemorates Lincoln’s efforts to maintain the Union primarily through these columns. There are 36 columns supporting the ceiling of the memorial, each one of which stands for one of the 36 states that comprised the re-united nation at the time of Lincoln’s death, complete with the name of the state to which the column is dedicated engraved into it (â€Å"Lincoln Memorial†, 2007). However, the monument wasn’t completed until 1922, by whi ch time the union was comprised of 48 states. Rather than excluding these, the names of the states that joined the union after Lincoln’s death, but before the monument’s completion, are carved into the walls on the outside of the memorial. Finally, the last two states to have joined the United States, Alaska and Hawaii, are commemorated in a plaque located within the approach plaza (â€Å"Lincoln Memorial†, 2007).

Sites of Ron Jon Surf Shop Essay Example for Free

Sites of Ron Jon Surf Shop Essay 1)Access the web sites of Ron Jon Surf Shop (http://www.ronjonsurfshop.com/) and Hilo Hattie (http://www.hilohattie.com/aloha/). Explain how the two companies are similar and how they are different. Can you find elements of organizational planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and control in their web content? Provide specific examples. Respond substantively to two other learners. Ron Jon’s and Hilo Hattie’s are similar in quite a few ways. They both started as retail stores selling products to consumers. They both have adapted to the changing of the times. They both now offer other services. For example, Hattie’s now offers coffee and food in one of their locations. Ron Jon’s offers a variety of services to include a resort and surf school. The companies are different in many ways as well. Hattie’s has a total of seven stores while Ron Jon’s has 12 different establishments. I found an example of leading in Ron Jon’s web site. In the careers section I found an employee philosophy that I thought was motivational. It states â€Å"Our employee philosophy has always been to have a strong balance of promoting from within as well as searching outside the company to find the best and brightest talent available. The surf industry is an exciting atmosphere for individuals that are outgoing, driven and competitive† (Ron Jon Surf Shop, 2012). According to Reilly, M., Minnick, C., Baack, D. (2011) â€Å"Leading means motivating, coordinating, and energizing individuals and groups to work together to achieve organizational goals.† Hattie’s offers a group incentive program to other companies to generate business. They basically offer their products at lower cost to other companies who then give the products to their customers as gifts for selecting their services. I think this is a great example of the planning function that engages an opportunity to increase revenue and utilize Hilo Hattie’s strengths. Josh References Ron Jon Surf Shop (Careers). (2012). Retrieved from http://www.ronjonsurfshop.com/AboutUs/Careers.aspx Reilly, M., Minnick, C., Baack, D. (2011). The five functions of effective management. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUMGT330.11.1/sections/sec1.3

East Goes West :: essays research papers

One of the first works of fiction written by an Asian immigrant to the United States, Kang's novel describes his early adulthood with a poignant humor that touches not only on his most positive experiences in a new country--such as being befriended by other Korean Americans--but also on some of his worst: the time when college classmates convinced him to run a race in long underwear. Kang, however, never forces us to feel sorry for him; simply by relating his experiences to us in a uniquely crafted language that reflects both his extensive literary training and his own quirky sense of style, Kang manages to win our sympathy for an obviously gifted young man who faces discrimination and hardship during his first years away from home His struggle was long and hard, but he made the reader see the full picture. The joys, the downfalls, and even the times where he thought he could just give up. By making us relate to him, the reader could understand what they so previously where obliviou s to. I responded very favorably to his view of Korean culture but found his criticism of American culture distasteful.I did not fully receive the effect of Kang's humor until reaching the final sentence of the story. Before the final scene, Kang's wit serves the purpose of elevating the Asian Han in the eyes of his audience, but ultimately, it has a more serious, lingering effect. Ironically, it reveals the life of this character to be tragic, hopeless, and not at all amusing. The final line, delivered by Han's mistress, dismisses him from his post, for she requested "a house servant, not a comedian" (2001). Kang thus suggests here that regardless of the amount of effort Han puts into his work and no matter how honest his intentions, he will never be taken seriously nor given a chance to assimilate and improve upon his mistakes. Although he was expected "to work from morning to night" and "had never had to work so hard in his life with no time to himself," his intentions were never regarded as anything but lazy and laughter provoking. Upon learning that he is to be fired, he offers one final, wholehearted attempt to please an unsatisfiable woman: "But hoping still to make good, I dragged the vacuum cleaner in to do the living room, my usual morning task. The girl as usual giggled when she saw me. East Goes West :: essays research papers One of the first works of fiction written by an Asian immigrant to the United States, Kang's novel describes his early adulthood with a poignant humor that touches not only on his most positive experiences in a new country--such as being befriended by other Korean Americans--but also on some of his worst: the time when college classmates convinced him to run a race in long underwear. Kang, however, never forces us to feel sorry for him; simply by relating his experiences to us in a uniquely crafted language that reflects both his extensive literary training and his own quirky sense of style, Kang manages to win our sympathy for an obviously gifted young man who faces discrimination and hardship during his first years away from home His struggle was long and hard, but he made the reader see the full picture. The joys, the downfalls, and even the times where he thought he could just give up. By making us relate to him, the reader could understand what they so previously where obliviou s to. I responded very favorably to his view of Korean culture but found his criticism of American culture distasteful.I did not fully receive the effect of Kang's humor until reaching the final sentence of the story. Before the final scene, Kang's wit serves the purpose of elevating the Asian Han in the eyes of his audience, but ultimately, it has a more serious, lingering effect. Ironically, it reveals the life of this character to be tragic, hopeless, and not at all amusing. The final line, delivered by Han's mistress, dismisses him from his post, for she requested "a house servant, not a comedian" (2001). Kang thus suggests here that regardless of the amount of effort Han puts into his work and no matter how honest his intentions, he will never be taken seriously nor given a chance to assimilate and improve upon his mistakes. Although he was expected "to work from morning to night" and "had never had to work so hard in his life with no time to himself," his intentions were never regarded as anything but lazy and laughter provoking. Upon learning that he is to be fired, he offers one final, wholehearted attempt to please an unsatisfiable woman: "But hoping still to make good, I dragged the vacuum cleaner in to do the living room, my usual morning task. The girl as usual giggled when she saw me.

Importance of Playing Sports Essay

But I think as generation is passing by the importance of sports and games is diminishing.Todays youth is more interested in virtual games like playing Xbox ,PS,mobile games rather than real games which could be beneficial for them.Not only shifting of interest to virtual games,some have reasons of studies or work and they are not able to take out time for sports and games or they don’t give much importance to it.But here my motive is to make you aware of its benefits and what are the things you are loosing if you don’t have time or you don’t have any importance for it. Playing sports and games can give you a numerous benefits which can lead to overall improvement of your body both mentally and physically.Lets check out what are the benefits it can give you. I Assume that everybody knows how important it is for physical health.Not only it keeps you fit and healthy for a period of time in fact it helps you for life time. I have seen many people at mature age they find difficulties with physical fitness.A strong reasons for many can be at their young age they never gave importance for sports. Researches are found the evidence that at age of maturity or old age the person who were found with difficulties physical and health ,for many, reasons were the same. Playing sports can boast up your strength which leads to activeness.It keeps you active all the time whether at time of work or studies. As I mentioned above that sports and games can lead to a very fit and fine body.You don’t have to go gym for body fitness ,Sports is enough to keep your body fit. Builds up energy, stamina and strength. For health and mind both sports and games are very beneficial.It keeps you fit from inside,improves immune system which in turn gives a healthy and fit body. It helps in refreshing your mind.Working or studying all the time can make make your thinking, decision or learning power low.,makes your life more with stress ,tension and workload.So here taking out some time to play some sports or games can makes you distress. Research and study have reported that those who play sports and games at young age they have much growth of mind as compared to others.Games like chess, Sudoku ,Monopoly,Scrabble helps you in opening a mind and growth to think. I think that life is very similar to sports and games.So I believe that it can teach you a lot of things which can help in many ways in your normal life. Sports and games teaches a young mind a lot of things ,Decision making is one of them.You know when you play some sports or game you have to make some decisions these decisions train your mind how to make decisions in life. Playing games and sports give you a lot of motivation in life at the time of your difficult situations, hectic life etc.. When you play sports which need team members to play ,it teaches you how to work in a team,teaches you strength of unity,team bonding.This helps you at time when you are working at some place which requires team work. It teaches you how to make a discipline in personal and professional life. When you play sports or some game ,some time the situation get very crucial and that time you have to get down all your capabilities to focus.Same things happens in life when you struggling with crucial situations. Sports and games teaches you the art of patience at difficult times in life. As I mentioned above it keeps you fit mentally as well as physically all over your life time.Lower the chances of diseases and physical problems. Sports and games are nothing without challenges.You have to take challenges from your self as well as from opponent. This teaches you how to accept challenges in normal life. Likewise there are many things a person can learn from sports and games, not only for professional life but personal life too. When we talk about the sports and games, there are many which are beneficial for normal person but here I will tell you those sports and games for which you don’t need high skills and extra efforts to play.I have divided the list of sports and games according to physical and mental benefits. Physical Football Swimming Cycling Basket ball Rope skipping Running| Mental Chess Scrabble Sudoku Monopoly Snake and ladders(refreshment)| How to take out time for Sports and games? I know many have reasons that they don’t have much time other than their work or studies but it is not possible.Its all about managing the time,so for making out time for sports and games you need to mange your time that’s it. Half or an hour a day is enough to keep you healthy and fit with other benefits.Who all are working can make out their time after the work post probably the evening and those who are studying can make out time when taking breaks.

Maintaining Healthy Lifestyle Old Age Health And Social Care Essay

IntroductionUnder the fast gait of societal life and the deterioration of life environment, people are enduring from semi-health and disease such as high blood force per unit area and cholesterin. The inordinate usage of medical specialty and medical intervention is a facile solution, which can non bring around the cardinal job. Keeping a healthy life style into old age, nevertheless, is a cardinal solution. This essay is aimed to sketch and measure grounds that people can keep a healthy life style into old age. The essay foremost analyzes the unhealthy life style to bespeak importance of a healthy life style ; the essay will further sketch the benefits of keeping a healthy life style into old age.Problem in life styleBy keeping a healthy life style, people are able to minimise their emphasis and execute expeditiously in their work every bit good as prevent a batch of diseases in every phase of life. Macqueen ( 1998 ) suggest that a healthy life style should includes following elements: A nutritionally balanced diet, sufficient relaxation and slumber, regular exercising, merely a moderate consumption of intoxicant, minimum usage of non-prescription drugs including coffin nails, emotion support and societal contact minimisation of emphasis. However, a figure of people still can non see the importance of keeping a healthy life style into old age. BBC News has reported a crisp addition in the â€Å" lifestyle malignant neoplastic disease † , for illustration tegument and liver malignant neoplastic disease in Scotland. Harmonizing to the statistics, the rates of malignant melanoma have increased by 68 % in work forces and 71 % in adult females with a rise of 51 % of liver malignant neoplastic disease in males from 1998 to 2008. As suggested by Health Secretary, Nicola Sturgeon, it was strong apparent that â€Å" lifestyle pick † would do rises in malignant neoplastic disease. ( BBC, 2010 ) Harmonizing to the UK National Statistics on life style and behaviour, there are a high prevalence of unhealthy life styles such as smoke, imbibing and fleshiness. It shows that 24 % of grownups ( aged 16 or supra ) in England were classified as obese in 2006, which is a 9 % of addition from 1993, with 3 % of adult females and 1 % of work forces were likely to endure from morbidly fleshiness ( NHS, 2008b ) . Similarly, 28 % of grownups aged 16 and above are reported smoke in 2008 in England. This figure is the same as that in 2007 ( NHS, 2010 ) . It is suggested there are close linkage between Smoking and dirking and bosom disease. Different from smoke, which are considered as no possible wellness benefits to people, moderate imbibing is regarded as aid to protect people ‘ bosom ( Westcott, 2010 ) . However, statistics besides shows that 40 % of males and 33 % of females had rummy more than the day-to-day recommended figure of unite on at least one twenty-four hours in the hebd omad prior to interview. 23 % of work forces and 15 % of adult females had rummy more than twice the recommended day-to-day consumption. ( NHS, 2008a )Benefits of keeping a healthy life styleThe development of modern medical scientific discipline makes people more cognizant of their organic structures. The benefits of a healthy life style are going progressively evident, which is good to people of all ages, weights or societal position. There are several benefits for people to keep a healthy life style into old age. By keeping a healthy life style into old age, people are able to achieve good wellness and cut down the hazards of unwellness and hurts. Frequent exercisings can better their staying power, strength and flexibleness. A balanced and varied diet can supply people with needful foods and energy without acquiring weights. Besides, regular exercising and balanced diet are able to cut down blood force per unit area, lose weight and lower the hazard of diabetes development and bosom disease. A healthy life style can supply many benefits that medical specialty can non. It is able to ease the consequence of medical intervention. Harmonizing to the survey of Kelley, et. Al. ( 2005 ) , aerophilic exercising and opposition preparation can efficaciously take down LDL-C of patients. Furthermore, this decrease will is enhanced by weight loss and diet, but mitigated by weight addition ( Kelley, et. Al. 2005 ) . By keeping a healthy life style into old age, people are able to populate a longer life. As people get aged, the physical conditions are going weaker and weaker. However, though a healthy life style, they are able to beef up their physical status. It helps people live a longer life. As stated above, a healthy life style helps people maintain good wellness. In other words, people are able to cut down their disbursal on wellness attention and physician visit. By keeping a healthy life style into old age, people may hold better control of their life. Peoples maintain a better organic structure status and physical map, which helps them work better in their calling and live a better life. For illustration, insomnia is a job that bothers a batch of workers. By keeping a healthy life style, people are able to bit by bit better their sleep form. With adequate remainder and slumber, they feel energetic in the daylight and execute better in their calling. With a better physical visual aspect ( for illustration, slimmer ) , they look better and experience better about themselves, which enhance their self-image and self-pride.DecisionGood wellness is non a trade good that one can buy from a infirmary or a drug shop. However, it can be obtained though keeping a healthy life style for a life-time. Keeping a healthy life style into old age does non intend one have to be trained like a professional jock. Nor, it is something can be done nightlong. The secret lies in doggedness. If one support reiterating the healthy life style he has chosen, he will bask the benefit Oklahoman or subsequently.

Obesity and Surgery essays

Obesity and Surgery essays Obesity affects millions of people every year because of the changing world, which makes things easier for individuals not to exercise. With that knowledge, it is apparent the changing world has also created ways to where people can get the fat removed by surgery, which is a major health risk. Atul Gawande tells the story of Vincent Caselli, who underwent a gastric bypass to lose weight by surgically reducing the size of his stomach, thus making him physically unable to eat and absorb the nutrients from more than an ounce of food at a sitting. The statistics on the gastric-bypass procedure, the last resort of people who cannot shed weight in other ways, confirm the sharp rise of obesity in this country. According to the American Society for Bariatric Surgery, in 1992 surgeons performed 7 6,200 of the procedures. In 2002, the number jumped to 63,100 and one year later to 103,200. Gawande, who assisted on the surgery, calls this "among the strangest operations surgeons perform" in th at it "is intended to control a person's will-to manipulate his innards so that he does not overeat." Those who, like Caselli, are morbidly obese and whose weight profoundly reduces their quality of life are turning to the gastric bypass more frequently. Gawande, a surgical resident and also a staff writer for the New Yorker, uses the story of Caselli to "contemplate the human appetite." As such, he provides a fitting and compelling end to the selections in this chapter on obesity (Picador and Gawande, 2002). From there, it is apparent obesity is a serious matter in American society due to the quick fix changing society. Along with that, obesity is a growing problem that is killing the American people within society. With new technology, people do not have to work as hard, which gets them to physical unmotivated to be active. Furthermore, like McDonalds has set the tone for bigger food portions such as the super sized meal. From there...

buy custom Applications in Corporate Finance essay

buy custom Applications in Corporate Finance essay The point of this analysis is to come up with how best DanAir Airlines can continue to be a thriving industry in the 21st century. This is accomplished by providing a background region analysis of the global industry of airlines. Current and future evolvement of the industry also has to be considered as do the reasons why airlines fail and how to achieve success. Regulation While route scheduling, as well as, the air ticket price has been de-regulated for some time and many of the sections are still under tight control. Governments own and regulate the airports in their regions and control key bottlenecks to airline services such as access to boarding gates and runways. Most airport commissions allocate gates without a formal market mechanism such as a bidding process. In addition, international routes have been de-regulated only gradually, through negotiated bilateral open-sky agreements, which generally allow airline companies from two countries to fly planes within and to each other without restrictions. In many airports, airlines must obtain a slot for their aircraft to land or take off. The regulations that were designed to avoid congestion in extremely busy airports have lagged behind market realities (Vasigh, Fleming, and Mackay, 2010). Service to some small and isolated markets is also subsidized and regulated by said the government. Airline competition has not benefited all consumers. Business travelers paying full fare usually enjoy a superior product in terms of service and flexibility. There is an increased demand for air travel, thus, there are new passengers who air travel. This means that even though competition among airlines may not necessarily profit all categories of passengers, there is an increase of the passengers, which lowers average prices (Shaw, 2007). While profits are volatile, industries without volatile profits operate without substantial government regulation. Free are an advantage for the big industries because they give provisions for firms when it comes to innovation to demand and cost systems. Free markets provide incentives for innovations to spread, thereby increasing efficiency. Impact of Policy on Competition Airlines are a complex mix of competition and standardization, the policy choices made could affect its competition. Policies are the mechanism for allocating airport gates and facilities. The airport commissions usually rely on the mechanisms not from market formations to allocate these resources (Renga and Mentges, 2010). Changes in these policies force the authorities to increase supply as the bid values go higher than the costs. Evidence suggests that the airfares increase as concentration in the market increases and this harms consumers. The concentrated markets benefit from the consumers by creating bigger networks with better flights. A third significant policy dimension involves restrictions on substantial foreign ownerships of airlines and on domestic flights by foreign owned airlines. While profits have fluctuated a great deal in the airline industry, DanAir has been characterized in the past by steady growth, and falling prices. Liberalization Since the horrendous attacks of September 11 2001, global airlines have registered abysmal performances especially when compared with their recorded profits in the years before 2001. The airline industry is structurally challenged by its very nature, facing high fixed costs, and cyclical demands. As such, the number of bankruptcies continues to pile up as airlines seek protection from creditors and look for ways to restructure costs. Facing increase competition and fighting to retain customers and thrive, most airlines have introduced cost cutting measures such as frequent flier programmes that reward customer loyalty with tickets, cabin upgrades, priority check ins, priority boarding, lounge access among other privileges. Passengers can also accumulate mileage point based on distances travelled and in what travel class and then redeem those miles for rewards such as free or discounted tickets. Loyalty programs such as these are often more profitable than other forms of marketing like comparison of routes, services and price. Both airlines and consumers benefit from the advent of loyalty programs. Airlines benefit from a faithful consumer base that remains even with increased fares and passengers earn free tickets and other rewards. Alliances Hardly any airline, no matter its largesse or scope is able to efficiently provide service to all the destinations of the world. To counteract this fault, airlines, even gigantic airlines, form alliances with other airlines to overcome their limited abilities and reap a profit. By amalgamating, they also increase their market presence and expand their network. While larger airlines opt for agreements with regional carriers, the trend of alliances is now beginning to go international. The benefits of this to the consumer are clear: more reachable destinations, lower prices, and more departure times, access to more lounges, faster mileage rewards and around the world tickets. This is the result of the airlines sharing facilities, cooperating in sales and making investments in different regions of the world (Morrel, 2007). Profitability in the Air Industry The ultimate challenge for airlines is selling the most ticets for at the highest prices and targeting the right customers so that price discrimination will occur where customers pay different rates for the very same destination and service. Airlines face additional pressure to fill seats because empty seats are considered perishable goods with the airline having to fly even with empty seats. Striking an ideal balance between price and demand is undoubtedly difficult and airlines resort to a lot of market research to categorize their customers. There are business travelers, and those travelling for urgent personal reasons, and there are leisure travelers who are price sensitive and an influence demands. At the extreme end, of the economy spectrum is the least expensive seat, which may be four times less the most expensive seat. Understandably, airlines will focus on filling their first and second class sections which more than over the cost of their lowest economy class seats. Managing Cost Structure In stark contrasts with the management of other service businesses, airlines today need an extensive range of expensive equipment in order to operate efficiently. Companies have traditionally financed their costs by loans or public stock offerings, but recently, airlines are leasing equipment such as aircraft, baggage vehicles, and hangars, having realized that those leases provide greater flexibility in updating equipment while keeping upfront costs down. If the lease is a capital lease, an airline records the asset and a lease liability that is generally equal to the sum of the present value of the lease payment during the lease term. Another benefit of the capital lease is the depreciating expense relating to the asset over the economical life of the asset. Aiming to limit their long-term liabilities, most airlines prefer operational leases (Crans, 1996). In these, neither the asset nor the lease liability is included in the balance sheet. Leases also provide airlines with flexibility. In times of increase of demand, airlines can quickly utilize larger planes to accommodate all their customers. In the post September 11, 2001 era, most airlines have espoused cost-cutting measures as a goal to pursue. The airline industry is labor intensive, and so pilots, flight attendants, baggage handlers, dispatchers, and customer service comprise the biggest portion of the airlines operating expenses. This is due to a highly tenured workforce, higher pension costs, and work rules because of hiring unionized labor. The maintenance department is also under operations focusing on aircraft condition to preserve the airlines most valuable capital asset, the airplanes. This group is essential to the airlines because it can affect the airlines bottom line. Aircrafts cost the airline a lot, whether just sitting idle or in full flight. As a result, maintenance personnel are often charged to keep the planes in tiptop shape to minimize downtime. Reducing Costs of Fuel In consistently seeking to lower fuel costs, management and operations will fill aircraft with more fuel than is necessary for the trip to its destination, as the cost of fuel in the place where it is going may be more than what it is in other areas. To save fuel, pilots use single engine emergency procedures when they doing normal drills as well as selective engine shutdown when the ground procedures are under delay. Cargo personnel can reduce and weigh more effectively the onboard weight while redistributing belly cargo to save on fuel. Pilots can also cruise longer at high altitudes while employing shorter and steeper approaches. DanAir can also optimize flight planning for a minimum fuel burn routes and altitudes. Hubs and schedules should be redesigned to alleviate congestion and DanAir can acquire fuel-efficient airplanes to save on fuel. High priced localities as far as fuel is concerned are also to be avoided. There is another risky option for decreasing fuelling costs, fuel hedging. The basic premise is to purchase a contract that locks in a fuel price in the future at which point the airline will pay that strike price should the price of fuel increase above the current price. Through forward contracts, future contracts and optional swaps, an airline can manage its fuel price risks. The primary difference between forward contracts, future contracts, and optional swaps is that options grant the airline the power to buy or sell at a specific time without obligation whereas future and forward contracts will result in direct losses if fuel prices drop below the contract price, as there is an obligation to pat the contract price. Landing Fees Airport and en route charges are a significant expense in flight operation costs. Both private and public airports charge airlines for the use of their runway and terminal facilities. These fees are quite considerable taking into account the number of aircraft landing and departing each day. Due to the considerable cost of airport charges, DanAir should attempt to fly fewer planes into the priciest airports and try to maximize their load factors during times of high fuel prices. Ancillary Fees In response to the most recent economic downturn, airlines have begun to charge extra fees for services that were once considered complimentary. These include checked baggage, food and beverage, seat selection, priority boarding, ticket changes, reservations via telephone or internet, and carryon baggage fees (Salerno, 2010). Performance Metrics Data revealed in specific metrics can underscore why some airlines are profitable and others slump into bankruptcy. It will underline efficiency measures undertaken in both cutting costs and in generating maximum revenue from each passenger (Banfe, 1992). In revenue metrics, rather than looking at system total operating revenue when comparing airlines, one can glean more information from system passenger revenue per available seat mile. Revenue per available seat mile, which includes both passenger revenue, as well as revenue earned from freight, is also used to compare airlines. It represents how much revenue an airline generates per seat per mile flown. In theory, higher revenue per seat mile translates into higher profit. Expense Metrics Analyzing airline expenses exposes a significant difference between the airlines that dedicate themselves to serious cost minimizing and those that place less value on it. The lower an airlines cost per available seat mile; the more efficient for the airline operations then the airline probably post a profit avoiding bankruptcy. Laborers Laborers in the airline industry have constantly sought to re-negotiate contracts and fight when their demands are not met. It is a constant battle between the airlines who struggle to cut costs to avoid bankruptcy and the labor unions that seek higher wages or better benefits. To cut costs, some airlines ascribe to employees extra duties that do not fall under their original portfolios but that they can perform easily and efficiently such as asking maintenance personnel to wash parts of the plane (Morrison and Winston, 1995). That can actually increase the bottom line of the said airline by lowering the overhead costs, as well. Stage length is an important strategy to consider, as well. It refers to the average flight times of a particular airline. As stage lengths increase, costs tend to go down which bodes well for the long haul airlines that have fewer take offs and landings. Traffic and Capacity Metrics The most fundamental metrics related to the airline industry are traffic and capacity, which are used as the basis for unit revenue and unit costs. They also provide the essential metric of load factor, which measures the percentage of seats sold out of the available seating places available. Total available seat miles determine which airline has the largest seating capacity as total available seat miles is equal to increasing seats proportionally to the number of miles flown (Doganis, 2002). Airlines strive for the highest load factor as they face high fixed costs for each plane flying. As the plane will typically fly regardless of its load factor, the airline will lose revenue for each seat that goes unsold as it absorbs operating costs, such as fuel, labor and landing costs. It is, therefore, critical for airlines to attempt to sell each seat, as the airline with the largest load factor is likely generating the most revenue for from each flight. Since reaching the low point of 2001, most airlines have steadily increased their load factors. This is primarily due to more efficient and sophisticated yield management systems which allow the airlines to more accurately estimate demand at different price levels resulting in more sold seats. In addition, some airlines have also reduced the number of flights, which increases load factor due to offering less capacity yet facing rising demand. However, while load factor provides insight into how much revenue an airline generates from each flight, it disregards expenses. Moving into the next decade, the airline industry is still at crossroads, and while demand for air travel has increased exponentially, many of the carriers continue to struggle in their quest to turn a healthy profit. A few steps can be taken to avoid bankruptcy and start the journey towards earning ever-increasing profits. (a)Cross utilization of employees. The major airlines must negotiate with their labor unions to seek changes to their agreements as concerns their duties. Management should highlight the advantages of cross utilization to the leaders of the unions, which can translate to a superior working environment, as employees are not limited to one function only. From a corporate perspective, this of course leads to productivity increases thereby decreasing costs (Haines, 2004). (b)Maintaining cost discipline. Airlines need to adopt efficiencies that include eliminating in-flight services such as food and snack distribution, flying more point-to-point routes, and decreasing turnaround times, which contribute to aircraft utilization. (c)Breakeven load factor. This is acquired by decreasing costs. It is the average percentage of seats that must be filled on an average flight at average fares for the airlines passenger revenue to break even with the airlines operating expenses. It is imperative for major airlines to reduce their breakeven load factors by focusing on reducing their unit costs thereby increasing their margins. (d)Intangible. Airlines should provide a fun atmosphere in their aircrafts that promote a fun outlook. They should also source for new aircraft if their present machines are dilapidated and not adopt a policy of providing frugal amenities, which can taint an airline for a long time with a reputation of stinginess. Buy custom Applications in Corporate Finance essay