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Prelims

Airlines and the COVID-19 Pandemic

ISBN: 978-1-80455-505-7, eISBN: 978-1-80455-504-0

ISSN: 2212-1609

Publication date: 4 November 2024

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(2024), "Prelims", McCarthy, P.S. (Ed.) Airlines and the COVID-19 Pandemic (Advances in Airline Economics, Vol. 11), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. i-xxiii. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2212-160920240000011014

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2025 Patrick S. McCarthy. Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited

Half Title Page

Airlines and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Series Title Page

Advances in Airline Economics

Series Editor: James Peoples

Recent Volumes:

Volume 1: Competition Policy and Anti-Trust, Darin Lee
Volume 2: The Economics of Airline Institutions, Operations and Marketing, Darin Lee
Volume 3: Pricing Behaviour and Non-Price Characteristics in the Airline Industry, James Peoples
Volume 4: The Economics of International Airline Transport, James Peoples
Volume 5: Airline Efficiency, John D. Bitzan, James Peoples and Wesley W. Wilson
Volume 6: The Economics of Airport Operations, John D. Bitzan and James Peoples
Volume 7: Airline Economics in Asia, Xiaowen Fu and James Peoples
Volume 8: Airline Economics in Europe, Kevin Cullinane
Volume 9: The International Air Cargo Industry: A Modal Analysis, James Nolan and James Peoples
Volume 10: Airlines and Developing Countries, Kenneth Button

Editorial Advisory Board

Series Editor

James Peoples

  • University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA

Associate Editors

  • John Bitzan

  • North Dakota State University, USA

  • Kevin Cullinane

  • University of Gothenburg, Sweden

  • Xiaowen Fu

  • The University of Sydney, Australia

Board of Editors

  • Volodymyr Bilotkach

  • Newcastle University, UK

  • Jan K. Brueckner

  • University of California, USA

  • Martin Dresner

  • University of Maryland, USA

  • David Gillen

  • University of British Columbia, Canada

  • Timothy J. Hazledine

  • University of Auckland, New Zealand

  • Marc Ivaldi

  • Universit'e Toulouse 1 Capitole, France

  • Theodore E. Keeler

  • University of California, USA

  • Starr McMullen

  • Oregon State University, USA

  • Steven Morrison

  • Northeastern University, USA

  • James Nolan

  • University of Saskatchewan, Canada

  • Claudio Piga

  • Keele University, UK

  • Nicholas G. Rupp

  • East Carolina University, USA

  • Ian Savage

  • Northwestern University, USA

  • Wayne Talley

  • Old Dominion University, USA

  • Wesley W. Wilson

  • University of Oregon, USA

  • Chunyan Yu

  • Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, USA

Title Page

Advances in Airline Economics Volume 11

Airlines and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Edited by

Patrick S. McCarthy

Georgia Institute of Technology, USA

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Emerald Publishing, Floor 5, Northspring, 21-23 Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 4DL

First edition 2025

Editorial matter and selection © 2025 Patrick S. McCarthy.

Individual chapters © 2025 The authors.

Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited.

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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-80455-505-7 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-80455-504-0 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-80455-506-4 (Epub)

ISSN: 2212-1609 (Series)

List of Figures and Tables

1. Introduction and Overview
Fig. 1. COVID-19 Deaths, by Region, 2020–2024. 2
Fig. 2. Macroeconomic Indicators, End of 2019–End of 2023. 4
Fig. 3. US Airline Carrier Indicators, December 2019–June 2023. 4
2. The Heterodox Economics of Passenger Airlines, Plagues, Pandemics, and Other Unhealthy Occurrences
Fig. 1. The Layers of Economic Institutions. 22
Fig. 2. A Synthesized Path of Epidemics/Pandemics. 25
Fig. 3. Global Scheduled Commercial Airline Flights. 31
3. Nonmarket Strategies of Airlines in a COVID-19 World and Beyond
Fig. 1. Net Profit and Loss of Airlines Worldwide From 2004 to 2022. 51
Fig. 2. Economic Profit/Loss by Subsector in Aviation 2020. 53
Fig. 3. Evolution of Revenue Passenger Kilometers (2017–2022). 53
Fig. 4. Nonmarket Strategic Approaches of Airlines in Response to Governmental COVID-19 Measures. 61
4. COVID-19 Uncertainty and the Cross-Sectional Stock Returns of Airlines
Fig. 1. US Stock Market Return in 2020. 72
Fig. 2. PUI Over January 2020–February 2022. 76
Fig. 3A. PUI and FSCs Over January 2020–February 2022. 77
Fig. 3B. PUI and LCCs Over January 2020–February 2022. 78
Fig. 4A. Scatter Plot of Average Daily Return Against Pandemic Beta, March 2020–May 2020. 80
Fig. 4B. Scatter Plot of Average Daily Return Against Pandemic Beta, March 2020–Feb 2022. 81
Fig. 5. The Coefficient β i m p Across Airlines. 82
Fig. 6A. R-Square of Eq. (3) Over the Sample Period. 83
Fig. 6B. The Coefficient λ pt of Eq. (3) Over the Sample Period. 84
5. COVID-19 and Airlines: A Final Analysis Through the Lens of Complex Networks
Fig. 1. Overview on Historical Aviation Crises. 93
Fig. 2. The Example for Metrics. 98
Fig. 3. Comparison of the Number of Flights in Major Aviation Markets. 102
Fig. 4. Biannual Snapshots of Airline Networks in This Study. 105
Fig. 5. Year-to-Year Changes in the Number of Nodes and Edges. 107
Fig. 6. Three Centrality Metrics and Clustering Coefficient. 108
Fig. 7. Accumulative Percentages of Center and Periphery. 110
Fig. 8. Average Shortest Path Length (ASPL) and Global Efficiency (GE). 111
6. Rebuilding Airline Networks in the Post-COVID-19 Era: New Network Configurations in Europe?
Fig. 1. Variation in Supply (09/2019 vs. 09/2022). 125
Fig. 2. Variation in Frequencies and Aircraft Size (09/2019–09/2022). 126
Fig. 3. Air France Domestic Network 2019 and 2022. 132
Fig. 4. Iberia's OD Not From or to Main Hub in Madrid 2019; 2022. 134
Fig. 5. Wizz Air Nonmonopoly Routes, September 2019 and 2022. 137
7. Competition Between Full-Service Carrier and Low-Cost Carrier and the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence From China
Fig. 1. LCC Penetration in Different Markets Around the World as of March 2022. 154
Fig. 2. Financial Performance for the Big Three Airlines and Spring Airlines (2019–2022, in 100 Million RMB). 158
Fig. 3. Normalized Ratio of Routes Compared to 2019 (Jan 2020 to Dec 2022). 160
Fig. 4. Normalized Ratio of Routes Served by LCCs and FSCs Compared to 2019 (January 2020 to December 2022). 161
Fig. 5. The Ratio of Density1 Routes Served by LCCs and FSCs (January 2020 to December 2022). 165
8. Measuring the Risk of COVID-19 Spread via the US Air Transportation Network
Fig. 1. Confirmed Cases of COVID-19 in the United States – Cases per 100,000 Population on January 8, 2021. 185
Fig. 2. Inbound Passenger Volume per Capita by County in the United States (2020). 186
Fig. 3. Distribution of Destination Counties by Inbound Passengers per Capita Intervals for 2020 and 2021. 186
Fig. 4. COVID-19 Relative Risk to Destination Counties (2020). 187
Fig. 5. Distribution of Destination Counties by COVID-19 Relative Risk Intervals for 2020 and 2021. 187
Fig. 6. Scatter Plot of County-Level Analysis for Relationship Between Population Density and Risk of COVID-19 Importation to Destination (2020–2021). 191
10. COVID-19’s Effect on the Technical Efficiency and Productivity of US Airlines: An Industry Sectoral Analysis
Fig. 1. Graphical Representation of Technical Efficiency and Technical Change. 254
Fig. 2. Graphical Representation of Technical Efficiency and Technical Change With Increasing Demand for Cargo-Only Service. 256
Fig. 3. Graphical Representation of Technical Efficiency and Technical Change With Decreasing Demand for Passenger Service. 257
Fig. 4. Output-Oriented DEA Based on Similar Representation From Coelli et al. (2005). 269
11. Analysis of the Impacts of COVID-19 on US Airline Schedule Planning and Service Delivery, 2018 to 2022
Fig. 1. Comparison of Monthly Available Departure Seats for Domestic and International Seats, the United States, European Common Aviation Area (ECAA), and China, January 2018–December 2023. The Monthly Available Seats for the Last Month Before and First Month of the Pandemic Are Indicated (in Millions). 285
Fig. 2. Cirium and T-100 Comparison of US Domestic and International Scheduled and Performed Seats and Passengers, January 2018–December 2022. 293
Fig. 3. Monthly Available Departure Seats (Domestic and International) as a Proportion of the Equivalent Month in 2019, for the United States, European Common Aviation Area (ECAA), and China, January 2018–December 2023. 294
Fig. 4. (a) Average Monthly Difference Between US Scheduled and Actual Departures by Hub Type, 2004–2022. (b) Average Monthly Difference Between US Scheduled and Actual Departures by Hub Type, 1/2017–12/2022. (c) Detail for Large Hubs of Total Scheduled and Performed Departures, January 2017–December 2022. 299
Fig. 5. Total Annual Difference Between Scheduled and Performed Departures by Carrier and Hub Type, 2014–2022. 301
Fig. 6. Monthly Difference Between Scheduled and Performed Departures and Load Factors (Bottom Figure) for the Four Largest (Mainline) Airlines, American Airlines (AA), Delta Air Lines (DL), United Airlines (UA), and Southwest Airlines (WN), January 2018 to December 2022. 303
Fig. 7. Monthly Percentage Difference Between Scheduled and Performed Departures for the Three Largest FSCs and Their Regional Affiliates, 2018–2022. 306
Fig. 8. Monthly Load Factors for the Three Largest FSCs and Their Regional Affiliates, 2018–2022. 307
Fig. 9. Average Monthly Percentage Difference Between Actual Schedule and Published Scheduled Seats up to 5 Months Forward, 2021–2023. 309
Fig. 10. Standard Deviation of Monthly Percentage Difference Between Actual and Published Scheduled Seats up to 5 Months Forward, 2021–2023. 309
12. Starting From the Backhaul: Evaluating the Effects of COVID-19 on Airline Traffic Flows
Fig. 1. Mean Fronthaul Load Factors by Carrier Country of Origin. 332
Fig. 2. Mean Backhaul (BH) Load Factors (LF) by Carrier Country of Origin. 333
Fig. 3. Mean Fronthaul (FH) Load Factors (LF) and Stringency Scores by Carrier Country of Origin. 334
Fig. 4. Mean Backhaul (BH) Load Factors (LF) and Stringency Scores by Carrier Country of Origin. 335
13. Global Airline Employment and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Impacts, Comparisons, and Implications for the Future
Fig. 1. Total Passengers Boarded and Metric Tons of Cargo Moved, 2005–2022. 343
Fig. 2. Difference in Airline Year-End Employment 2019–2020 and 2019–2021. 346
Fig. 3. Employees per Departure in 2019, 2020, and 2021 at the Airlines With the Greatest Number of Employees per Departure. 347
Fig. 4. Composition of Global Airline Employment (a) 2019 and (b) 2020. 349
Fig. 5. Results From the Pandemics Impact on Airline Employment Year-over-year Percentage Growth Rate Across Airline Business Models and Regions. 350
Fig. 6. Percent of (a) Total Pandemic Workforce Reductions by Region and (b) Total Government Relief. 352
Fig. 7. Difference (%) in Airline Year-End Employment From 2019 to 2022. 353
Fig. 8. Total Employment, Revenue Passenger Miles (RPM), and Available Seat Miles (ASM) in the US Airline Industry, 1990–2023. 354
Fig. 9. Total Government Support per Employee and per Full-Time Employee (FTE) to Airlines. 357
Fig. 10. Total, Full-Time (FT), and Part-Time (PT) Employment in the US Airline Industry, 1990–2021. 358
Fig. 11. Total Employment in the US Airline Industry for Women and Men, 1990–2021. 359

1. Introduction and Overview
Table 1. Cumulative Cases and Deaths (January 5, 2020–February 11, 2024). 2
2. The Heterodox Economics of Passenger Airlines, Plagues, Pandemics, and Other Unhealthy Occurrences
Table 1. Timeline of Major Epidemics and Pandemics Since 1980. 24
Table 2. Comparison of 2017–2018 Seasonal Influenza Season to the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States. 27
Table 3. State Support Rendered to Airlines Between January and August 2020 by Order of Aggregate Amounts. 37
3. Nonmarket Strategies of Airlines in a COVID-19 World and Beyond
Table 1. Selected European Airlines Bankruptcies. 54
Table 2. Financial Support Offered to Select European Airlines. 56
4. COVID-19 Uncertainty and the Cross-Sectional Stock Returns of Airlines
Table 1. Descriptive Statistics on Daily Return. 75
Table 2. Empirical Results of Eq. (1). 79
Table 3. Descriptive Statistics. 85
Table 4. Bivariate Regression of Pandemic Beta on Airline Attributes. 86
Table A1. Empirical Results for Eq. (2). 89
Table A2. Empirical Results for Eq. (3). 90
5. COVID-19 and Airlines: A Final Analysis Through the Lens of Complex Networks
Table 1. The Calculation Process for Betweenness Centrality of Node 1 (j < k) in Fig. 2. 99
Table 2. Top 50 Airlines by Fleet Sizes, Sorted by Regions (Airlines Analyzed in This Study Are Highlighted in Bold). 103
6. Rebuilding Airline Networks in the Post-COVID-19 Era: New Network Configurations in Europe?
Table 1. Variations in Total Seats Offered by Business Model and Type of Operation Between Pre- and Postpandemic Periods (09/2019 vs. 09/2022). 124
Table 2. Variation Number of Competitors per Route (09/2019–09/2022). 128
Table 3. Share of Routes by Period of Operation (09/2019–09/2022). 130
7. Competition Between Full-Service Carrier and Low-Cost Carrier and the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence From China
Table 1. Profile of Current Chinese LCC as of 2023. 150
Table 2. Comparison of Unit Operating Costs Between Spring Airlines and the Big Three Airlines. 151
Table 3. Comparison of Traffic Between Spring Airlines and the Big Three Airlines. 152
Table 4. The Rank of City Air Passenger Traffic. 164
Table 5. The Number of Different Routes Before and After the Pandemic Outbreak. 166
Table 6. The Ratios of Different Types of Routes When Comparing the Level of December 2022 With December 2019. 167
Table 7. Comparison of FSC–LCC Market Contact Before and After the Pandemic. 168
8. Measuring the Risk of COVID-19 Spread via the US Air Transportation Network
Table 1. Descriptive Statistics, 2020. 182
Table 2. Descriptive Statistics, 2021. 183
Table 3. Top 20 at-Risk Destination Counties, 2020 Versus 2021. 188
Table 4. Correlation Table. 190
Table 5. Travel Risk Regression Results Accounting for County- and State-Route Fixed Effects. The Dependent Variable is the Relative Risk at Destination (R j ). 193
Table 6. Travel Risk Log-Log Regression Results Accounting for State-Route Fixed Effects. The Dependent Variable Is Natural Log of Relative Risk at Destination (ln(R j )). 195
Table 7. Travel Risk Regression Results. The Dependent Variable Is the Risk Spread From Origin to Destination Counties (r ij ). 198
Table 8. Travel Risk Regression Results Accounting for County- and State-Route Fixed Effects. The Dependent Variable Is the Risk of COVID-19 Spread From Origin to Destination Counties (r ij ). 200
Table 9. Travel Risk Log-Log Regression Results. The Dependent Variable Is Log of Risk of COVID-19 Spread From Origin to Destination Counties (ln(r ij )). 201
Table 10. Travel Risk Log-Log Regression Results Accounting for County- and State-Route Fixed Effects. The Dependent Variable Is the Natural Log of Risk of COVID-19 Spread From Origin to Destination Counties (ln(r ij )). 203
Table 11. 2SLS Regression Results. The Dependent Variable Is the Relative Risk at Destination (R j ). 206
9. Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Related Policies on Airport Short-Term Costs
Table 1. Descriptive Statistics, 50 US Airports, 2012–2021. 224
Table 2. ITSUR Estimation Results of Translog Cost Function With Negative Attributes, COVID-19 Cases, and Related Policies, 50 US Airports, 2012–2021. 226
Table 3. Characteristics of Representative Airports for Pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 Periods, Full Sample, 2012–2021. 229
Table 4. Decomposition for Percentage Change in Average Variable Costs of Representative Airports for Pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 Periods, Full Sample, 2012–2021. 231
Table 5. Decomposition for Percentage Change in Average Variable Costs of Representative Airports for Pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 Periods, Large Hubs, 2012–2021, Subtotals. 232
Table 6. Decomposition for Percentage Change in Average Variable Costs of Representative Airports for Pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 Periods, Medium Hubs, 2012–2021, Subtotals. 233
Table A1. Airport List. 243
Table A2. Data Sources. 244
Table A3. Characteristics of Representative Airports for Pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 Periods, by hub Size, 2012–2021. 245
10. COVID-19's Effect on the Technical Efficiency and Productivity of US Airlines: An Industry Sectoral Analysis
Table 1. Descriptive Statistics by Service Type From 2006 to 2021, Mean. 260
Table 2. Descriptive Statistics by Service Type During COVID-19 (2020, 2021) and During Pre-COVID-19 (2018, 2019), Mean. 262
Table 3. Descriptive Statistics by Service Type in 2020 and 2021, Mean. 264
Table 4. Technical Efficiency Scores by Carrier. 271
Table 5. Tobit and Fractional Logit Regressions of Technical Efficiency (TE) Scores. 272
Table 6. Total Factor Productivity and Its Components by Service Type. 274
11. Analysis of the Impacts of COVID-19 on US Airline Schedule Planning and Service Delivery, 2018 to 2022
Table 1. Business Resilience Measures for China, ECAA, and the United States. 295
Table 2. Business Resilience Measures for US Airport Categories. 296
Table 3. Business Resilience Measures for Top 10 US Passenger Airlines. 297
Table 4. Monthly Schedule Differences by Airport Category: Summary Metrics. 300
Table 5. Summary and Comparative Statistics for Top Four Airlines, 2018–2022. 304
12. Starting From the Backhaul: Evaluating the Effects of COVID-19 on Airline Traffic Flows
Table 1. Output Measures (RPM and RFTM, in Millions) for Air Carriers by Country. 326
Table 2. Carrier Continent/Country and COVID-19 Travel Restrictions. 330
Table 3. Fronthaul RFTM (in Millions), Air Carriers by Country, and COVID-19 Travel Restrictions. 331
Table 4. Backhaul RFTM (in Millions), Air Carriers by Country, and COVID-19 Travel Restrictions. 331
Table 5. Nonparametric Breakpoints in Fronthaul and Backhaul Load Factors by Carrier Continent. 336
13. Global Airline Employment and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Impacts, Comparisons, and Implications for the Future
Table 1. Change in Total Employment for US airlines From February 2020. 356

About the Editor

Patrick S. McCarthy is an Emeritus Professor, School of Economics at Georgia Institute of Technology (2021–), Atlanta, GA. His research areas include transportation economics, regulation, and applied microeconometrics. He is the author of Transportation Economics Theory and Practice: A Case Study Approach (Blackwell Publishers, 2001), has published widely in academic journals, served on national committees, and received research funding from the Sloan Foundation, NSF, NIH, the FAA, Georgia DoT, and AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. He has a PhD in Economics from Claremont Graduate University. He has held primary appointments at Concordia University (1976–1978), Purdue University (1978–2000), and Georgia Tech (2000–2020). He has held visiting positions in Singapore, Greece, Germany, and China.

About the Contributors

Yusaf H. Akbar is a Professor of Management at Central European University in Vienna, Austria. He has published widely in peer-reviewed journals and has authored several books. His research interests are located at the intersection of business strategy, public policy, and business model innovation. Current research examines evolving sharing economy business models, non-market strategy, and dynamic capabilities, among others.

Kenneth Button is a University Professor Emeritus at George Mason University, USA. He was previously a Professor of Applied Economics and Transport at Loughborough University in England and has held a variety of visiting academic positions including at the Universities of British Columbia, California at Berkley, Bergamo, and Porto as well as the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, National University of Singapore, and the European University Institute. He was formerly an Editor of the Journal of Air Transport Management and of Transportation Research Series D: Transport and Environment.

Pol Fontanet-Pérez holds a doctoral degree in business strategy from the University of Vigo. His research focuses on air transport, particularly on the evolution of business models in relation to external shocks and climate change. He has experience working for the UN and the airline industry. He has several publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Xiaowen Fu is a Professor at the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His main research areas include engineering management, data analytics, transport and logistics, which cover issues such as competition policy and government regulation, efficiency benchmarking, operation management, transport demand modeling, and industrial organization. He has been the Principal Investigator of more than 20 research grants, the Guest Editor of 7 journal special issues, and the author of more than 100 journal articles. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Case Studies on Transport Policy and has provided advisory and economic modeling services to many organizations such as the Boeing Commercial Aircraft, New Zealand Commerce Commission, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Government of British Columbia in Canada, Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department, Greater Bay Airlines, Japan Rail (East), and OECD. He is the Director of the Behavior and Knowledge Engineering Research Center, Vice President (Research) of the Air Transport Research Society (ATRS), Vice President (Research) of the Institute for Aviation (UK), Founding Chair of the Maritime Economy and Policy stream of the World Transport Convention, and an Honorary Professor of the University of Sydney Business School.

Chun-Yu Ho is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Before joining the University at Albany, he was a faculty member at Georgia Institute of Technology and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He also held visiting positions at Bank of Finland (Institute for Economies in Transition), Hong Kong Institute of Monetary Research, Fudan University, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He holds a PhD in Economics from Boston University. His research interests include industrial organization, health economics, and development economics.

Rusudan Kvantaliani is a Research Fellow at the Department of Economics and Business at Central European University in Vienna, Austria. In addition to her doctoral research activities focusing on the relationship between strategy formulation and entrepreneurial founders, she is a Serial Entrepreneur herself and the founder of Sugar Free. She is also a co-founder of Society of Women in Business.

Zoe Laulederkind is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. Her research interests include cost, productivity, and efficiency in the air transportation industry. She has previously coauthored several book chapters including Productivity and Cost-Patterns in the All-Cargo US Airline Sector, Allocative Efficiency in the US Air Cargo Industry, and Plane to See? Empirical Analysis of the 1999–2006 Air Cargo Cartel. Zoe's work on air transportation has been presented to the Transportation and Public Utilities Group, the Transportation Research Forum, and the Transportation Research Board. Additionally, Zoe has served as a reviewer for Research in Transportation Economics. At Rhodes College, she teaches Principles of Economics, Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, and Urban Economics. She also works as a faculty research supervisor to undergraduate students interested in transportation economics. Most recently, Zoe has been examining market concentration in the air cargo sector as well as economies of scope between various air transport services.

Xiaojie Liu is a PhD student of Economics at the University at Albany, State University of New York.

James Nolan (PhD, UC Irvine) is a Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Saskatchewan. For over 25 years, James has published research on a variety of modal transportation issues, covering airlines, maritime shipping, trucking, and railroads. His current focus is on freight and agricultural transportation topics. James was a former Co-Editor of the Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics, he is a past President of the Transportation Research Forum, he is the current Editor of the Journal of the Transportation Research Forum (Elsevier), and is a Topical Editor (agricultural and food transportation) for the Transportation Research Record.

James Peoples is a Professor of Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His research interests include analysis of production efficiency for different modes of freight transportation, as well as analysis of labor market activity in transportation industries. He has served as the President of the Transportation and Public Utilities Group. He is also the Series Editor of Advances in Airline Economics, and Editorial Board Member of the journal Transport Policy.

Aisling J. Reynolds-Feighan is a Full Professor of Transport Economics at University College Dublin, Ireland, where she has been a faculty member since 1989. She returned to Ireland after completing her PhD studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She teaches transportation economics and graduate aviation economics courses at UCD. Aisling's research interests are in the nature and evolution of air and road transport network structures and the spatial, temporal, and industry implications for local, regional, and national economies. Over the last 35 years, she has worked with government agencies in Europe and North America and has been appointed to European Commission expert advisory panels to support evidence-based policy initiatives, reviews, and research. She was appointed by the Irish Government Minister for Tourism to the Tourism Recovery Oversight Group to monitor and advise on the Irish tourism sector's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. She is currently leading a research team on the Transition to Commercial Vehicle Electrification Policy as part of the Next Generation Energy Systems (NexSys) Program. NexSys is an All-Island Science Foundation Ireland Strategic Partnership Program focused upon the transition to a net zero carbon energy system.

Joseph B. Sobieralski is an Associate Professor of Human Resource Management in the College of Business at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He received his PhD in Economics from Southern Illinois University, a Master's in Human Resources and Industrial Relations from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and a BA in Mathematics from Southern Illinois University. He holds an SHRM-CP certification from the Society for Human Resource Management and possesses an FAA Commercial Pilot Certificate with airplane single and multi-engine, instrument ratings, and Boeing 737 type rating. He has also served as an executive board member for an AFT Local Union and as a pilot in the US Air Force. His research focuses on labor, personnel, and sustainability issues in the aviation and transportation industries.

Pere Suau-Sanchez is a Full Professor at the Open University of Catalonia (Spain) and a Senior Lecturer at Cranfield University (UK). His research is focused on air transport strategy and sustainability. He has published academic papers in recognized international peer-reviewed journals, advised governments and leading aviation firms, and contributed to international press and media.

Xiaoqian Sun is a Full Professor at Beihang University, Beijing, China. Dr Sun has published on various aspects of air transport management, including airline network design/scheduling, multi-modal integration, accessibility, and pandemic-resilient aviation. Currently, she is an Executive Committee member of the Air Transport Research Society (ATRS) and is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Air Transport Research Society (JATRS).

Xosé H. Vázquez is a Full Professor of Management at the University of Vigo and serves as the Head Researcher of REDE, a multidisciplinary research group with interests in innovation, energy, and the environment. His work lies at the intersection of strategy, operations, and climate change and has found outlets such as the Cambridge Journal of Economics, Harvard Business Review, Industrial and Corporate Change, Journal of Manufacturing Systems, Journal of Operations Management, Long Range Planning, Organization Science, Organization Studies, or Research Policy.

Sebastian Wandelt is a Full Professor at Beihang University, Beijing, China. Dr Wandelt has published on the intersection of computer science and intelligent transportation systems, covering areas mainly related to combinatorial optimization, artificial intelligence, and data management.

Kun Wang is an Assistant Professor at Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Before that, he was an Associate Professor in University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, China. He obtained a PhD degree from Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Canada. His research interests include air transport economics and policy, aviation and high-speed rail competition and cooperation, and international shipping investment in emission control and adaptation to climate change-related disaster. Dr Wang is the Editor of Transport Policy, Editorial Board Members of Transportation Research Part A and Part D, Journal of Air Transport Management. He has published more than 80 articles on journals including Transportation Research Part A/B/C/D/E, International Journal of Industrial Organization, Journal of Transport Geography, and Journal of Transport Economics and Policy. He was awarded the “Best Paper Award (Topic Area A)” at the 2019 WCTRS conference at Mumbai and also won the “Best Graduate Student Paper” award at the US Transportation Research Forum (TRF) 58th Annual Meeting in Chicago. Dr Wang has also provided consultancy services for the organizations including Ministry of Transportation of China, Civil Aviation Administration of China, Beijing Municipal Government, Xiamen Airport, Manchester Airport Group, Umetrip, Variflight.

Xiangru Wu is currently a PhD student at the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE), the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She received her Bachelor's degree and Master's degree in Economics from University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, China. Her main research areas include aviation transport management, international service trade, transport intermodal competition, and policy analysis. Her research has been published in journals, including Transport Policy and Journal of Air Transport Research Society. She also attended and presented research work at 2023 Air Transport Research Society (ATRS) Conference and the 14th Workshop on Computational Transportation Science, CTS 2023.

Yushuo Yang is a Senior Affiliate Researcher at CFA Institute. He conducts research in net zero and sustainability investment. Yushuo received a PhD degree in Economics from Georgia Institute of Technology. He received a Bachelor of Economics degree from China and a Master of Arts degree in Economics from Boston University. During his PhD, Yushuo's research fields included industrial organization, transportation economics, applied microeconomics, and econometrics. Yushuo holds Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Financial Risk Manager (FRM) certifications.

Jules O. Yimga is a Fulbright U.S. Scholar and an Associate Professor of Economics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott, where he also serves as the chair of the School of Business. His research interests include competition and policy issues in the airline industry, with emphasis on on-time performance, service quality, code-sharing, pricing strategies, and market power. He has written over 30 journal publications, the majority of which are single-authored. He earned his PhD in Economics from Kansas State University and has held a visiting position in Estonia with the Estonian Aviation Academy as part of the Fulbright U.S. Scholar program. As an aviation consultant, he provides economic modeling services to various organizations. He is the recipient of multiple “Scholar of the Year” awards and “Best Paper” recognitions at academic conferences such as the Air Transport Research Society and the Transportation Research Forum. Currently, he is a member of the Best Paper Award selection committee for the Air Transport Research Society and serves on the Board of Directors of the Arizona Business Aviation Association.

Anming Zhang is a Full Professor in Operations and Logistics and holds Vancouver International Airport Authority Chair Professor in Air Transportation at Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia (UBC). Dr Zhang has published widely in the areas of transportation, logistics, industrial organization, and Chinese economy. Currently, he is the President of the World Air Transport Research Society (ATRS) and is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Transport Economics and Management (TEAM).

Changhong Zheng is a PhD student at Beihang University, Beijing, China. Ms Zheng has published on several aspects of air transportation, including epidemic spreading and urban air mobility.

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