Industry OverviewHistory of the Airline IndustryIn 1903, the Wright brothers' first successful flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina marked the beginning of the aviation industry. In the early years, the public didn't consider air travel an option, thinking it was too dangerous. In 1927, Charles Lindbergh completed his first successful solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean and sparked enormous interest in flying among the general public. Subsequently, a series of aviation holding companies began, including Aviation Corporation. The company's air transportation division was called American Airways and later grew to become American Airlines, one of the largest commercial airlines in the United States. In 1928, what would become another major airline company was created as a holding company by Boeing and its aviation division, United Aircraft and Transportation Corporation. In 1931, United Aircraft's four aviation divisions became United Airlines. Airline Industry Overview Air travel grew rapidly through 2001, expanding from 172 million passengers in 1970 to nearly 642 million in 2003. However, over the next 3 years, a combination of factors including the events of September 11, 2001 and an economic recession combined to reduce air travel. Despite all the problems airlines have had, air travel remains one of the most popular modes of transportation to this day. SWOT Analysis According to the University of South Australia website, a SWOT analysis is defined as “A critical set of steps in a planning exercise is to carry out internal assessments (including an analysis of performance against the previous plan) and external assessments (including an analysis of the operating environment) that lead to the identification of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats through what is called a SWOT analysis, a complex analysis that involves matching external possibilities with internal capabilities. The objective of a SWOT analysis is to identify the internal and external factors that are important to achieve a certain objective within the company (Wikipedia, 2007). analysis is a good tool to look at a company as a whole. Below is a SWOTT analysis of the US airline industry. The information in the analysis was obtained from Strengths1. Ability to survive two or more years with annual profitability growth (increase in positive net profits).