The Role of Digitalization in the Airline Industry Performance Amid COVID-19 : Evidence From Emirate Airline Balanced Scorecard Performance

A number of studies in the digitalization-organizational performance literature have evaluated airline performance from the traditional performance theory; yet, fewer studies have evaluated the role of digitalization to optimize organizational bottom line performance. In view of the importance of digitalization-organization bottom line performance, this study empirically evaluates the role of digitalization in the airline performance before and during COVID-19 using the balanced scorecard performance model in the sample study, Emirate airline between 2015 and 2020. Importantly, multiple Pearson Product Moment correlation and descriptive statistics methods were used to estimate the relationship among the balanced scorecards performance. Also, the differential impact was used to show the differential impact and recovery period between before-COVID and during COVID-19 on the balanced scorecards performance. The empirical results showed that the role of digitalization practices is more effective in non-financial bottom lines than financial bottom line at both before and during COVID-19 in this study. Further, the study concluded that digitalization practices before COVID-19 enhances non-financial bottom lines than financial bottom lines whereas the role of digitalization practices during COVID-19 enhances neither financial nor non-financial bottom lines in Emirate airline. Therefore, this study recommends the need for Emirate airline management to further intensify and integrate digitalization practices across all the balanced scorecard bottom lines, especially the financial bottom lines such as revenue, operating cost and net debts to remain immune from current and future external shocks as well as become financial and non-financial sustainable