Global airline alliances before and during the COVID-19 crisis: exploring the critical success factors through critic-cocoso methods

This study aims to reveal the critical success factors that provide global airline alliances success by making a comparative analysis of the performances of global airline alliances for the period before and during the pandemic. To do this, the performance data of 35 airlines that are members of Star Alliance, SkyTeam, and Oneworld alliances were analyzed for the years between 2017 and 2020 by using CRITIC-CoCoSo methods. The study benefits 7 criteria including 3 financial and 4 operational. The results reveal that the operating result and the load factor are among the critical success factors for global airline alliances when considering all years analyzed. In addition, SkyTeam alliance is in the first place during the pandemic period, while it is in the last place after Oneworld and Star Alliance in the general ranking. The study is expected to contribute to the airline management literature, executives of global airline alliances and member airlines by exploring the critical success factors that global airline alliances must have to overcome negative effects of crisis periods and to be sustainable.