Learning from strategic failures: what really happened to AtlasGlobal Airlines?

Abstract

Historically, the aviation industry is full of airlines that went out of business. AtlasGlobal, once a prominent airline in Turkey, stopped its operations in 2020, which attracted a lot of interest in terms of what really happened to the company. The carrier went through repetitive patterns of experiences that resulted in hard-edged strategic changes. While unpredictable incidents compelled the airline to lead a change in the strategy process, the sudden drifts seemed to instigate the failure. The aim of this case study is to help readers understand what went wrong strategically with AtlasGlobal to develop strategic foresight. The case study provides information specific to AtlasGlobal’s corporate and business level strategies, along with the company brand positioning of the 19 years in business. The readers are invited to look through the strategic lens to determine the factors and strategic patterns that precipitated AtlasGlobal’ failure, and outline what other businesses can learn from the airline’s demise to improve their chances of success.