Find Background Information - AVM 4501 - Air Transportation Management - Research Guides at Florida Institute of Technology

Background Information

Before you can start any research on your topic, you must have a background knowledge of it. Books and websites can provide you with that knowledge.

This is important because:

Background sources give you the language that people are using to discuss your topic. You will use this language when you start to search databases for scholarly articles and resources on the topic.
This "pre-research" gives you a sense if your topic is focused enough. If your initial searches bring back so many results you can't even figure out what the language is, then you should consider narrowing your topic.

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Websites & Background Material

General references sources of possible interest:

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Full-text access to many business-specific reference titles including 17 business and management encyclopedias. Search for specific airlines for brief but authoritative histories with bibliographies of further resources.
IBISWorld Industry Reports This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive and easy to digest industry research reports on every U.S. industry including aviation. Each report has key statistics and analysis on market characteristics, operating conditions, current and forecast performance, major industry participants and more.
Mergent Online This link opens in a new window
Company and industry information for current companies only. (Look under the Reports Search tab for Industry Reports.)
Mergent Archives This link opens in a new window
Full-text archive of historical business, financial and industry information from Moody’s and Mergent corporate and municipal manuals dating back to the early 1900’s. Best source for many years of company financial statistics.
NetAdvantage This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive, professional source of proprietary analysis on current companies, industries, and investments with tools to better understand the structure and dynamics of industry sectors and corporate financial trends. Also notable for its airlines industry surveys back to 1998 which cover individual airlines and how to analyze an airline. (Comparable to the print Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys on 4th floor where earlier editions from 1978-1997 are at HC106.6 .S74.)

Websites of possible interest include:

Air Carrier Statistics
Includes such things as air time, passengers, seats, ramp time and load factor for specific air carriers including some international ones.
Bankruptcy Research Database
Brief summaries of bankrupt airlines.
Data and Statistics from Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS)
Downloadable data on airlines and much more from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
FAA Data & Research
Aerospace forecasts and statistics for on-time and delayed flights, passengers and cargo, safety and accidents, from 2003-present. Can search by large air carrier.
TransStats Aviation Data Library
Downloadable air carrier statistics from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics on passengers, freight and mail transported, aircraft type, service class, available capacity and seats, aircraft hours, safety, more. 1990-present.
TransStats Air Carrier Financial Statistics
Downloadable financial statistics for major air carriers from 1990 to present from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.