The number of passengers transported by air in the world and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on air passenger transport in the USA in terms of economic security

PURPOSE: The ever-growing dynamics of life increases the demand for fast and safe means of transport. One of the most frequently chosen express means of transport is air transport. The aim of the study is to analyze the number of passengers transported by air in 153 countries in the world between 2010-2018 and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on passenger air transport in the USA in terms of economic security. The subject of the research is 153 countries of the world, and the object of the study is the number of passengers transported by air between 2010-2020.DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: One of the research methods used was literature analysis which concerns issues related to air transport, multidimensional analyzes and security. The research tools used for the study were: categorized line and bar charts and indices of dynamics with a constant base. The use of a multidimensional comparative analysis allowed for the evaluation of the number of passengers transported by passenger air in the continents under consideration, as well as in the USA before and during the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.RESULTS: The world leader in terms of the number of passengers transported is the United States. In 2020, compared to 2019, in the USA, for the identical period from March 1 to October 17, a decrease in the number of passengers transported by 429 141 477 was observed. Thus, there was a decrease in passenger transport by 77,28 percentage points.PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The results obtained from the conducted research indicate a significant weakening of the passenger air transport sector in 2020 and the need for action aimed at its gradual reconstruction.ORIGINALITY: The juxtaposition of many groups of dependent variables in identical time units allowed to observe (emphasize) the similarities and differences between the studied objects and indicated the trend phenomenon and its breakdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.peer-reviewe