A Study on the Perception Change of Passengers on Sustainable Air Transport Following COVID-19 Progress

Abstract

We investigate whether air transport passengers changed their perceptions on the resumption of air transport use as the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic have changed. We surveyed 1200 Koreans, and then six months later re-surveyed 840 people among those who participated in the first survey. We built a structural equation model that was configured of five latent variables: COVID-19-related, self-isolation, destination condition, level of preventive measures in the airport/aircraft, and social perception. We performed paired sample t-test, multi-group analysis, and latent mean analysis for two divided groups, based on the survey period. We found that the perception structure on resuming air transportation use over time during the COVID-19 pandemic has not changed, though a significant change has occurred in the responses to the measured and latent variables. In particular, a high variation was found in the awareness of COVID-19-related factors and social perceptions, and we suggest continuous monitoring of the related factors to preemptively respond to the recovery of air transport demand. On the other hand, we propose proactive level setting and the maintaining of sanitary conditions of the destination and preventive measures in the airport/aircraft. We expect that this study will provide effective implications for the recovery of air transport demand during the COVID-19 pandemic.