Andreas Wittmer

This paper develops a systems-oriented framework for strategic management across the aviation industry, grounded in the aviation systems perspective introduced by Wittmer and Bieger (2011). The aviation industry requires different organizations at its core to navigate the complex environment of aviation. The aviation system framework aims at reducing complexity in different areas including ecosystem interdependencies, regulatory uncertainty, technological disruption, geopolitical volatility, and sustainability pressures simultaneously. Traditional management approaches often focus on isolated operational, technical, or financial indicators, thereby underestimating the systemic nature of value creation, competitiveness, and resilience within the aviation ecosystem. Building on systems theory, ecosystem theory, dynamic capabilities, and paradox theory, this paper proposes the Aviation System 5-Spheres Model as an integrative framework for strategic management in aviation. The model conceptualizes aviation as an adaptive socio-technical system shaped by five interconnected environmental domains: economic, political/regulatory, technological, ecological, and social spheres. The framework further translates these conceptual dimensions into workshop-based managerial canvases designed to support strategic diagnosis, executive alignment, scenario development, capability assessment, target-picture design, and transformation planning. The paper contributes to aviation management practitioners and scholars in three ways. First, it extends systems thinking into aviation management by integrating environmental forces, ecosystem actors, organizational capabilities, and strategic tensions into a coherent analytical framework. Second, it operationalizes systems theory into a practical workshop architecture suitable for executive education, consulting engagements, organizational transformation, and strategic planning across different aviation sectors. Third, it demonstrates how competing objectives such as efficiency and resilience, growth and sustainability, or innovation and regulatory compliance can be visualized and managed through collaborative facilitation processes. The framework is applicable across multiple actors within the aviation system, including airlines, airports, air navigation service providers, aircraft manufacturers, regulators, and other ecosystem participants. By emphasizing the interdependencies among these actors, the Aviation System 5-Spheres Model provides a holistic perspective for understanding and managing the increasing complexity of the global aviation system.

Andreas Wittmer

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