ANALYSIS AND CLASSIFICATION OF APPLICATIONS BY AIRLINES TO PROTECT CONSUMERS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC PERIOD

Abstract

Airline companies have developed specific measures and practices to maintain their commercial activities and protect consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, while some airlines take hygiene measures such as disinfection of airplanes and luggage, others have introduced certain time flexibility on their tickets so that passengers do not lose their flight rights. On the other hand, they informed the passengers through their web pages and had some practices to maintain social distancing and reduce the crowd. In this study, the official websites of the member airlines of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) were examined, the practices carried out by the companies to protect consumers from disease and to minimize or compensate for their loss of rights were determined, and these practices were systematically grouped based on the similarities in their purposes. Also, regional differences between airlines’ practices were examined based on the regional classification of IATA. Although the studies in the literature deal with these practices one by one, this study brought them together and classified them systematically for the first time. Thus, in the event of a rapid increase in COVID-19 cases or another similar pandemic, it has become possible to find applications that can be made in the airline passenger transportation sector in a single study to reduce transmission, protect consumers, and compensate for the loss of rights. Continuing flexible ticketing and self-service technology applications during the pandemic will also benefit consumers after the pandemic, and airline companies that continue these applications will make a difference between them and their competitors. Hygiene measures and practices taken during the pandemic are also necessary. While preventing the spread of infectious diseases such as colds provides confidence to its passengers.