The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Financial Performance of Full-Service Versus Low-Cost Airlines

This study analyzes the post-pandemic recovery of the low-cost and full-service airline industries. An analysis of the financial performance of five full-service and four low-cost airlines during and after the pandemic is conducted using four different financial ratios. Low-cost airlines recovered faster and had better performance after the pandemic, despite receiving less federal aid. To explain this difference in recovery speed, the author examined the air traffic, market share, fleet, route structure/choice of airports, and employee productivity between low-cost and full-service airlines using data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) from 1998 to 2022.