Managing organizational changes during the COVID-19 pandemic: the case of Lithuanian airports

Abstract

Aviation is one of the most severely affected global industries by the COVID-19 pandemic: the total number of seats offered by airlines in 2020 decreased by about 50%, the number of passengers fell by about 60%, and this resulted in an estimated 371 billion USD loss. Thus, organizations in the aviation sector had to adapt their activities urgently to the changes in the external environment. This study aims to investigate how a state-owned company can adapt to such an extreme situation. In order to find out what measures have been taken to stabilize the situation, the empirical evaluation was carried out while using methods of case study, statistical data analysis, qualitative content analysis, and semi-structured interviews. The research results suggest that the state enterprise Lithuanian Airports has effectively managed organizational changes during the crisis by adapting strategy and everyday processes. The main factors which have helped the organization to adapt were decisive strategic changes and the ability to think outside the box.