Member Benefits

Membership fees from the Airline Industry Consortium supplement the funding of the MIT Global Airline Industry Program provided by the Sloan Foundation and will eventually replace this funding to place the Program on a self-sustaining basis. Consortium members will be able to participate in the research and educational efforts of the Global Airline Industry Program. Specific benefits for Consortium members include:

• Annual meeting at MIT to review research activities - Members are invited to an annual meeting held at MIT, typically in the fall of each year, to attend presentations by our faculty and students about our research projects. The meetings focus on projects funded by the Airline Industry Consortium, but also include an overview of other aviation-related research at MIT. Members have the opportunity to provide feedback about the projects and suggest new research directions.
• Executive workshops/educational seminars - Workshops or Executive Education Programs are offered at least once per year. Each Consortium Member will be entitled to send 3 attendees to each of these events without paying registration fees. Our next Executive Education Program is scheduled for June 2010. Future workshops will typically focus on one or two theme areas, for example, congestion/capacity or network operations and planning.
• Member visits to discuss specific issues - Individual member companies can arrange separate meetings with faculty and students to discuss current research projects in more detail, as well as to solicit ideas and exchange data or other information. These meetings could be held at the member's offices, or at MIT.
• Priority access to research findings and reports - Our Program generates 6-10 Master's and PhD theses each year, and Consortium Members have access to these reports as soon as they become available. Members also have access to unpublished working papers and presentations in advance of their public release.
• Provide input to the research agenda - Consortium members have the opportunity to provide suggestions for new research topics and thesis work. For individual members wishing to sponsor more directed research, a separate Sponsored Research Program can be established for work to be performed outside the Consortium framework.
• Student internships - Member companies are able to arrange for graduate students to spend a summer or a semester as interns working at the company's offices. Such internships help the students identify interesting thesis topics and obtain required data, while giving the company a more direct link to a specific research project, as well as becoming acquainted with the students as potential future employees.
• Recognition as a supporting member - Consortium member companies are explicitly recognized as a supporting member of our Program, subject to their approval, on our website and in other promotional materials.