Cleared for Take-off? Management-Labour Partnership in the European Civil Aviation Industry
Harvey Geraint, 2004
Name of publisher/editor
European Journal of Industrial Relations
Co-author
Peter Turnbull , Paul Blyton
Geographic area
Europe
Summary & key words
As product and labour markets within the European Union are liberalized and deregulated, industrial relations regulation appears to shift from national to sector and company levels. Nonetheless, company-based initiatives such as management-labour partnerships are still more likely to flourish in coordinated rather than liberal market economies. This is demonstrated in this article by a contextualized comparison of three national airlines. While Lufthansa has been able to develop an innovative, long-term competitive strategy, both British Airways and Aer Lingus have been permitted, if not compelled, to pursue short-term, cost-minimizing strategies inimical to their management-labour partnerships.