Tourism, the aviation sector and the reflections of Covid-19 A comparative study on airlines in Brazil: Azul, GOL and TAM

Abstract

The economic-financial crisis resulting from the Covid 19 pandemic is far from over and has negatively influenced many sectors and activities. Social isolation implied the cancellation of trips and therefore the act of canceling airline tickets. During this period, which started in March 2020, large airlines had to resort to using third-party capital to face the severe crisis in their operations. Thus, the issue of this research was based on the investigation of the financial reality experienced at this time by airlines. The general objective was to verify whether the largest airlines were impacted by relevant effects regarding the financial crisis arising from the pandemic. The methodological proposal was developed through content analysis with a quantitative-comparative approach on financial information for the years 2019 (before the pandemic) and 2020. The results show that the companies analyzed were negatively impacted by the pandemic and that this circumstance justifies the need to seek third-party capital. As a contribution, the study validates the reality experienced by airlines in facing the crisis, promoting reflection on planning assertive actions to recover these impacts.