Economic stability of transport enterprises as an adaptive characteristic of development in crisis conditions

The article provides a theoretical generalization of approaches to interpreting the economic stability of enterprises and justifies the need to rethink them, taking into account the industry specifics of transport. It is shown that in scientific literature, economic stability is mainly considered as financial stability, solvency or the ability to maintain the balance of key performance indicators. Such approaches allow assessing individual aspects of an enterprise's viability, but do not reflect the complexity of the development processes of transport enterprises in a multidimensional crisis environment. Focusing exclusively on financial indicators creates an image of economic stability as a static state fixed at a certain point in time and does not take into account the need for enterprises to constantly adapt to changes in the external environment. he purpose of the article is to substantiate the theoretical foundations of economic stability of transport enterprises in crisis conditions and to clarify its essence as an adaptive characteristic of development in the strategic management system. To achieve this goal, the article uses methods of theoretical generalisation, comparative analysis, systematisation and logical modelling. In the course of the study, the crisis environment in which transport enterprises operate was analysed and the main types of crises affecting their activities were identified. It is substantiated that economic and financial crises affect effective demand and access to financial resources, institutional and regulatory crises change the rules of market functioning, logistical and infrastructural crises disrupt the continuity of transport, and security and social crises significantly increase the level of uncertainty in management decisions. The combination of these factors creates a systemic crisis that cannot be overcome with standard anti-crisis tools. The article pays particular attention to the role of transport companies as elements of critical infrastructure in wartime and post-war recovery. It is argued that under such conditions, economic stability takes on additional meaning and cannot be assessed solely on the basis of financial indicators. The criteria for effective management are the ability of an enterprise to provide socially significant transportation, maintain the mobility of territories, contribute to economic recovery and integrate the national transport system into international logistics networks. The article proves that the economic stability of a transport enterprise is multidimensional and includes financial, operational, infrastructural and strategic dimensions. The financial dimension reflects the enterprise's ability to maintain solvency and manage cash flows. The operational dimension characterises the continuity and reliability of transport operations. The infrastructure dimension is related to the preservation and restoration of the material and technical base. The strategic dimension determines the enterprise's ability to form and implement long-term development goals in conditions of instability.