Airlines’ Low-Demand Risk Management Implications of COVID-19 Crisis-Induced Immobility Utilizing Big Data

COVID-19 pandemic induced forced travel restrictions, flight suspension, and entry bans, which significantly affected the worldwide transportation industry. The airline industry experienced up to 50% service demand reduction, triggering great uncertainty and revenue losses. Airlines are heavily relying on Web-based platforms in order to establish brand awareness, maintain existing clients, attract new ones, and increase their sales revenue. This study is investigating the effect of the pandemic on online customers’ behavior through the utilization of user-engagement-related big data extracted from airlines’ Web domains. Results indicated that user engagement behavior was significantly affected by the pandemic and, to a substantial degree, directly correlated with the crisis escalation. The results of this study can help airline companies to better understand users’ online behavior during and after crises and develop more efficient risk management plans, through effective allocation of resources.