Navigating Turbulence: The Evolution of British Airways' Business Model in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic put unprecedented pressure on the commercial airline industry. Travel restrictions imposed globally forced airlines to take action, either by receiving financial aid or by adapting and streamlining their operations in a bid for survival. British Airways has seen resurging passenger demand post pandemic, presenting a significant opportunity for success. However, many existing investigations into how BA operate were conducted before the pandemic period, when many airlines saw transformative changes. Therefore, this thesis will investigate the current state of British Airways through the creation of a post pandemic business model canvas, established using the business model navigator framework, involving a combination of PESTLE, Porter’s 5 Forces, VRIO and SWOT analyses. Combining these findings with additional airline-related academic texts, and aligning business model canvas build patterns with published investment plans enables me to construct a current business model canvas for BA. When compared with a pre pandemic business model of the airline, this outcome indicates key areas of change within the airline, which are then validated and concluded with supervisory members of BA staff.