What can we learn from the JATM literature for the future of aviation post Covid-19? - A bibliometric and visualization analysis

This paper aims to draw lessons from retrospectively evaluating the evolution of the air transport discipline right up to the COVID-19 outbreak through the Journal of Air Transport Management (JATM), the main scholarly air transportation journal globally. As such, this study deploys a comprehensive bibliometric analysis and graphical mapping of the JATM knowledge body through CiteSpace visualization of 1483 JATM papers from 2001 to 2019. Our results suggest that while the industry has experienced pandemics and economic crises in the past, both were not dominant in influencing JATM literature neither in frequency nor in impact. That said, recovery, crisis and disruption are important key words in JATM papers not just in regard to safety and economic crisis management but increasingly also related to health concerns with recent key papers published in the pandemic and recovery management context which may have helped the industry dealing with the current crisis as well as current JATM papers on this topic assisting with preparing for a transitioning out of COVID-19 world. •Bibliometric analysis and graphical mapping of the evolution of the air transport/JATM knowledge body.•CiteSpace visualization of 1483 JATM papers from 2001 to Covid-19 outbreak (end of 2019).•Pandemics and economic crises not dominant in influencing JATM literature neither in frequency nor in impact.•Recovery, crisis and disruption are important key words in JATM papers but no dominant authors nor institutions.•Recent JATM pandemic and recovery management literature can assist with transitioning out of COVID-19 world.