Conceptual Framework for Collecting Online Airline Pricing Data

The Internet provides new opportunities for aviation firms to develop decision support systems that take advantage of the wealth of detailed online pricing and product information. Although the airline industry has been able to incorporate large volumes of these data systematically into its business models, the academic community has generally conducted its analyses on a small set of nonrepresentative markets. The challenges and opportunities facing researchers who want to collect large volumes of data from airline websites and travel agencies are discussed. Several case studies are used to highlight the types of research questions that can be investigated with this type of data, including how average prices and price dispersion evolve in U.S. markets. A new sample design is proposed to enable researchers to investigate effects caused by carriers’ pricing strategies and multiairport competition.

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