Overview

Usually described as state industries, European airlines have been criticised as uncompetitive, overstaffed and subsidised. But this view begs the question of why and how the state became involved in air transport, as well as the question of whether airlines could have succeeded in Europe and elsewhere without government support. This study of the complicated history of relations between the state and the air transport industry in Europe travels from the earliest scheduled flights down to the era of liberalisation and privatisation in the 1990s. Martin Staniland concentrates on four key countries: France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, exploring both the sources of support for airlines in Europe and the reasons why public ownership lost favour as the industry expanded. In particular, Staniland examines links between the airlines and national aircraft builders and ministries concerned with defence, foreign policy and colonial administration. The author concludes by considering the crises and restructuring experienced by national airlines in the 1980s and 1990s and the related political battles over privatisation.

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9780742501249

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Reviews

A new, important, and unique analysis of the relationship between state and airline in Western Europe that is tightly focused, engagingly written, and imaginative. The scholarship is extremely impressive, and the research extensive. Indispensable to aviation scholars and very valuable for scholars and advanced students in public policy, political economy, and European politics.--Hussein Kassim

Unique in its depth and comparative framework, Government Birds is also the first work to explore both the historical roots of the dynamic process of 'statization' and the reasons why state involvement was logical and even necessary at crucial points in the evolution of the air transport industry. -- Giandomenico Majone, European University Institute Here is a useful new assessment of how and why European airlines developed the way they have. Given the increasing pace of privatization in Europe, this new study is especially timely in providing a sense of context. After reading this you will better understand why Sabena and Swissair did not make it-and why other flag carriers may succumb as well. * Airways * Government Birds is a must for scholars of air transport. * The Journal Of Transport History * A new, important, and unique analysis of the relationship between state and airline in Western Europe that is tightly focused, engagingly written, and imaginative. The scholarship is extremely impressive, and the research extensive. Indispensable to aviation scholars and very valuable for scholars and advanced students in public policy, political economy, and European politics. -- Hussein Kassim, University of London

Author Information

Martin Staniland is professor in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh.

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