Customer satisfaction : refunds from European airlines during COVID-19

Abstract

<div lang="en" class="abs"><p class="abs_header">Abstract</p><p>The COVID-19 pandemic has affected most industries globally and has led to many sectors coming to a standstill. One of the major problems it has caused concerns restrictions on movement as well as travel bans. These restrictions have negatively affected the transport industry, and especially aviation, worldwide. This paper analyses reviews given by passengers to different European airlines regarding refunds during the pandemic. The data was extracted during January 2020 and February 2021. According to the results, over 94 per cent of the customers were not satisfied with the services they received. Airline names turned out to be negatively correlated with the final overall ratings of the airlines, indicating that the higher the negative perception of the name, the lower the passengers’ ratings of the airline. Ninety per cent of the passengers concerned flew Economy Class and 27 per cent of them were citizens of the United Kingdom: 88 per cent of them were travelling for “leisure”. The vast majority of flights originated in London (9%), and the busiest route was London to Stockholm. The city with the highest number of layovers was Istanbul.</p></div>