Airline industry The airline industry operates in a very competitive market and is still expanding as it has expanded its routes both globally and domestically. In the beginning, the government partly owned the airline industry, although privatization in the industry has taken place over the recent years. The first airline industry, DELAG (Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft), was started on 16 November 1909 through the assistance of the government. Headquartered in Frankfurt, the Zeppelin Corporation was the first airship manufacturer (Shaw, 2016). The five airlines that were the first to be started and still exist today are Mexican Airlines in Mexico, Czech Airlines in the Czech Republic, Qantas Airlines in Australia, and Avianca Airlines in Columbia, and the KLM Airlines in the Netherlands.