Assessing airline service inequality through website accessibility

This study evaluates accessibility of airline websites as a proxy for service inequality by analysing services and information provided to persons with disabilities (PwDs) and persons with reduced mobility (PRMs) across 30 listed European airlines. Using automated web accessibility error counts, the number of clicks required to reach assistance information, and web content analysis. The study then constructs normalized composite indicators, including a TOPSIS-based benchmark for comparative assessment. Results reveal substantial disparities: full-service airlines outperform low-cost peers, and assistance content is commonly found only after multiple clicks from the homepage, with variable labels exacerbating informational barriers. These patterns indicate that accessibility reflects managerial priorities within complex regulatory and operational constraints, with implications for inclusion, compliance, and reputation. The study contributes theoretically by validating digital accessibility as an integrative indicator of organizationally produced inequality, and methodologically by offering a transparent, replicable framework for longitudinal benchmarking. In practice, minimizing web accessibility errors, standardizing one-click access to assistance information, adopting person-first taxonomies, and publicizing need-specific services can help mitigate inequality. Achieving full accessibility will require coordinated action among airlines, airports, and authorities under more uniform standards and with improved public reporting.