An exploration of adjusted flight operations affecting passenger load factors in the post-pandemic recovery

Abstract

This paper explores factors that affected the passenger load factors (PLF) in post-pandemic international flights from Taiwan to leading travel destinations, including Asia (Japan, China, Vietnam, South Korea, Thailand, and Hong Kong) and the Americas (the United States and Canada). Monthly data for outbound flights from 43 airlines were collected between January 2022 and May 2023. A hybrid model combining latent class clustering analysis with multinomial logit models was developed to identify unobserved heterogeneity in variables affecting the PLF. In addition to investigating the impact of factors such as flight frequencies, flight length, aircraft sizes, airline types, alliance members, jet fuel prices, seasonality, travel restrictions, and public health events, findings also revealed other significant impacts on the PLF including arranging connecting flights for transfer at the airport, offering promotional fares, and policy of free baggage allowances using the piece concept. Furthermore, a comparison of flight operations in pre- and post-pandemic found changes in adjusting operating strategies, including legacy airlines using narrow-body aircraft for short-haul flights and offering airfare promotions on long-haul flights are more likely to increase the PLF in the post-COVID-19 recovery phase.