Airline energy efficiency measurement considering heterogeneity

Characterized by rising labor costs, volatile fuel prices, and a slowdown in the global economy in recent years, the survival and development of airlines are facing a crisis under the influence of this series of internal and external risks. Therefore, it is essential to pay close attention to the efficiency of airlines worldwide. Currently, most studies do not consider the heterogeneity of airlines and treat all types of airlines as homogeneous decision-making units for efficiency evaluation. The results of the airline energy efficiency evaluation are biased. In this study, the meta-frontier model and the Epsilon-Based Measure (EBM) model are combined to measure the efficiency of airlines and, at the same time, open the internal operation process of the airline and analyze the aviation efficiency—three-stage efficiency of company operations, services, and sales. The results show that the efficiency value of the operation stage is the lowest, and the number of high-efficiency airlines in the operation stage is the least. Most airlines' inefficiency comes from the Operations stage. The efficiency under the meta-frontier does not exceed the corresponding efficiency under the group frontier, and ignoring the impact of heterogeneity will bias the airline's energy efficiency evaluation.