Outline

Overview

Aviation is an international growth industry offering extensive commercial and employment opportunities in airlines, airports, logistic providers, banks, consultancies and other players of the aviation supply chain. This unit covers all aspects of international business and management along the aviation value chain and analysis from the perspectives of consumers (passengers and cargo), producers, distributors, brokers and investors. Students develop industry skills and an understanding of the strategic management and economics of operating airlines and other aviation entities, including financial analysis, risk management, sustainability, logistics, innovations and implications of competitive strategies for the development of hubs and alliances both in the global and regional/remote context. The volatilities and disruptions in air traffic (i.e. due to COVID-19) create many management challenges but also opportunities (i.e. in the Asia/Pacific region) and thus the unit also covers data analytics, forecasting, entrepreneurship and the role of the private sector in airline/airport business development. As a result of our strategic partnership with CAPA and a number of airlines and airports, students have access to industry datasets, senior management guest lecturers, company information and aviation as well as logistics contacts/networks.

Unit details and rules

Unit code	ITLS6410
Academic unit	Transport and Logistics Studies
Credit points	6
Prohibitions ?	ITLS6400 or ITLS6401
Prerequisites ?	None
Corequisites ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	Yes

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Rico Merkert, rico.merkert@sydney.edu.au
Lecturer(s)	Rico Merkert, rico.merkert@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Final exam (Record+)	Final exam Written exam	20%	Formal exam period	1 hour
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Individual report Individual report	50%	Week 09 Due date: 05 Oct 2021 at 10:55 Closing date: 09 Oct 2021	12 pages
Outcomes assessed:
Presentation	Strategy group presentation Group presentation	30%	Week 12 Due date: 26 Oct 2021 at 10:55 Closing date: 26 Oct 2021	6 slides each
Outcomes assessed:
= group assignment ? = Type B final exam ?

Assessment summary

Strategy group presentation: The group project will develop and test students' ability to work together in teams on significant, real worldproblems in aviation and will need to work together to develop an aviation business plan and develop verbal/PowerPoint presentation skills.

Individual report: The individual report will develop and test students' ability to analyse aviation logistics problems, find relevant resources to support their arguments and communicate in the business report format.

Final exam: The final examination will test students' understanding of the core concepts, respond to unseen written questions in a timely fashion

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a high distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at an exceptional standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
Distinction	75 - 84	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at a very high standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
Credit	65 - 74	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at a good standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
Pass	50 - 64	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at an acceptable standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
Fail	0 - 49	When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

For more information see sydney.edu.au/students/guide-to-grades.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

as per university policy

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

You may only use artificial intelligence and writing assistance tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator, and if you do use them, you must also acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section.

Studiosity is permitted for postgraduate units unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Mid-semester break	Mid-semester break (no teaching)	Independent study (0.1 hr)
Week 01	1- Introduction to course and current issues in aviation management and logistics; 2- Strategic analysis and the aviation value chain	Lecture (3.5 hr)
Week 02	3 - Framework and structure of global aviation, markets; 4 - Strategic aviation management and business models	Lecture (3 hr)
Week 03	5 - Demand/Pricing; 6 - Rev. Management and Forecasting	Lecture (3.5 hr)
Week 04	7 - Cost control and success strategies; 8 - Aircraft/Fleet management and leasing	Lecture (3.5 hr)
Week 05	9 - Benchmarking in aviation; 10 - Airline distribution management	Workshop (3.5 hr)
Week 06	11 - Financial analysis; 12 - Financial ratios	Lecture (3.5 hr)
Week 07	13 - M&A and alliances; 14 - Airline operation, scheduling and route management	Workshop (3 hr)
Week 09	15 - Strategic Airport management; 16 - Airport/Airline relationship management	Lecture (3 hr)
Week 10	17 - Air cargo; 18 - Aviation spare part logistics	Lecture (3 hr)
Week 11	19 - Innovation and Sustainability Strategies in Aviation; 20 - Models of privatisation, leasing and private equity engagement; business plan	Workshop (3 hr)
Week 12	Group presentations	Workshop (3.5 hr)
Week 13	Revision	Workshop (3 hr)

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

While we don’t prescribe a textbook for this unit, the following books may be useful for some background reading:

Budd, L. and Ison, S. (2020): Air transport management: an international perspective. 2nd ed. London; New York: Routledge.

Doganis, R. (2019): Flying Off Course, 5th ed., Routledge, London and New York.

Morrell, P.S. (2020). Moving Boxes By Air, 2nd Ed., Routledge. An ebook is available at https://library.sydney.edu.au/about/library-projects/new-library-servicesplatform.html

Further (more recent) readings will be posted to Canvas.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. Analyse the complexities of the global and regional aviation sectors and the factors that impact most on the workings of the industry
LO2. Apply theoretical concepts of strategic management to the core issues faced by global aviation businesses
LO3. Critically analyse links between strategic, tactical and operational perspectives in problem solving and decision making along the aviation value chain
LO4. Identify key elemental differences in airline business models. Successfully identify and deploy datasets to inform strategic management
LO5. Effectively communicate and work with your team through class presentations and an aviation business plan group exercise.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

This is the first time this unit has been offered

Additional information

Business School Policies

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

ITLS6410: Aviation Management and Logistics

Semester 2, 2021 [Normal day] - Remote

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect