A REVIEW OF THE STRATEGIES IMPLEMENTED BY FOREIGN AIRLINES, IN THE FACE OF COVID-19

Abstract

The global COVID – 19 pandemic has impacted the aviation industry disturbingly, causing intense forfeiture in business operations. The situation is abated by aviation industry experts through strategic implications. This study explored the strategic implementations used by foreign airlines to minimize the incurred losses. The study was conducted using 35 secondary research materials such as published journal articles, dissertations, government publications, etc. The secondary data sources were filtered into five sections as financial strategies, human resource strategies, marketing strategies, operation & supply chain strategies, and political strategies. The findings highlight the discrete mechanisms executed by foreign airlines to embrace each strategic implementation. The findings show mitigatory measures of financial strategies to control excessive costs and increase revenue. The human resource strategies are empowered by mitigatory measures to conduct operations with the optimal required resources. The marketing strategies highlight the innovative approaches in transforming the conventional strategies. The operation & supply chain strategies identify the distinct approaches in facing the induced challenges. The mitigatory measures of political strategies accentuate the restructuring options. Moreover, the study provides recommendations of the timely strategies used by airlines to minimize their losses during the COVID – 19 period. To the best of our knowledge, this study is among the first to explore the effect of this historic event on this industry in Sri Lanka.