Efficiency decomposition approach: A cross-country airline analysis

In this paper a two-phase data envelopment analysis approach is proposed in order to examine in a separated way the operational and financial performances for airlines. Empirical results are based on panel data from Brazilian and American airlines, using data from 34 observations (within the period from 1997 to 2006), and shows that for the emergent market, operational performance is always much better than the financial one, showing that the resources optimization has been the main concern for these companies. Also, results for this market show that improving the operational efficiency does not necessarily generate an improvement in financial efficiency. Future research should ascertain whether or not these results replicate in companies other than airlines.