Analysis of the Factors Behind the Value of an Agency for an Airline

Generally, discounted fares are offered for agencies requesting group reservations compared to individual fares. This is because group bookings are seen as a more stable source of revenue for airlines. Especially in the Covid-19 period, the agencies whose business was seriously damaged requested the lowest prices they can get, to be able to find passengers and make a profit. The airlines were also in a financial crisis and must have balanced the prices to make a profit while attracting the agencies. From this perspective, the need for customer segmentation and defining the value of agencies for airlines arises. The purpose of this study is to define “which dynamics, that the agency creates while making business with airlines, will be more important to form its value” by using Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping (FCM), which is one of the decision-making techniques. This study examines which variables might affect the value of agencies to an airline through the weight of these variables in order to create insights into the pricing strategies of airlines to travel agencies.