Assessing the Performance of Airline Web Sites: The ARTFLY Case

Abstract

This case takes place in the increasingly competitive environment of the airline sector.Airline websites and Internet-based booking systems enable transformation of airline operations and become strategic weapons for the majority of airlines worldwide. Established airlines are attempting to stimulate customers to use the Internet, in response to entry of low cost carriers that capture shares of their market and in order to reduce their sales costs. Nonetheless, the development and maintenance of websites and e-commerce platforms requires substantial investments in capital and labor. Therefore, airlines need to assess the performance of their e-commerce channels in terms of profitability, customer appreciation and volume of sales on a continuous basis. However, the design of an assessment model that can serve the managers of ARTFLY, one of the established airlines in the industry that deals with the recent challenges of the intensifying competition, is open for a wide variety of interpretations and should be determined due to the firm’s nature of operations and due to its aim to increase the volume of its online sales.