Hassles of cabin crew: An exploratory study

The purpose of this study was to explore the hassles of cabin crew. Based on content analysis, this study extracted four themes of hassles: job hassles, peer interaction hassles, passenger service hassles, and personal hassles. Job hassles come from the gap between work standards and practical operations, inadequate service capacities of aircraft facility, irregular work schedules, and emergencies. Peer interaction hassles include uneven work assignments among cabin crew, poor work cohesion among cabin crew, and poor work cohesion between cockpit crew and cabin crew. Passenger service hassles come from verbal and physical violence toward the cabin crew, sexual harassment toward the cabin crew, theft situations on night flights, and passengers concealing infectious diseases. Personal hassles include work-family conflicts and physical health problems. The findings of this study provided a further understanding on hassle experiences on cabin crew.     

Using structural equation modeling to predict cabin safety outcomes among Taiwanese airlines

The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between safety culture (e.g. management commitment, various work environment factors) and flight attendant safety performance (e.g. rule compliance, crewmember involvement and participation, accident investigation, injury incidence). A comprehensive questionnaire was derived from the Loughborough University “Safety Climate Assessment Toolkit” and several similar surveys. Additional items were designed for an airline cabin work environment. The questionnaire was distributed to four major Taiwanese national airlines and achieved a valid response rate of 84.65%. Structural equation modeling was used to test a hypothesized model concerning safety culture and cabin safety performance. A variety of fit indices confirmed the overall model fit but not all of the paths in the model were statistically significant. The findings show that safety culture was a predictor of cabin safety outcomes. The results indicated that high management commitment was significantly related to high crewmember participation, and that safe cabin work environment was significantly related to crewmember’s individual behavior. However, the findings showed no relationship between management commitment and injury incidence which means injury incidence might not be predicted by management commitment.     

Text mining approach to explore dimensions of airline customer satisfaction using online customer reviews

The airline industry operates in a highly competitive market, in which achieving and maintaining a high level of passenger satisfaction is seen as a key competitive advantage. This study presents a novel framework for measuring customer satisfaction in the airline industry. Using text mining methods we explore Online Customer Reviews (OCRs) to provide guidelines for airlines companies to improve in competitiveness. We analyze a database of more than 55,000 OCRs, covering over 400 airlines and passengers from 170 countries. Using a Latent Dirichlet Allocation model we identified 27 dimensions of satisfaction described by 882 adjectives. Dimensions and adjectives were used to predict airline recommendation by customers, resulting in an accuracy of 79.95%. The most relevant dimensions for airlines' recommendation prediction were calculated. OCRs were stratified according to several variables. Of those, type of passenger impacted the least on the number of dimensions of customer satisfaction, while type of cabin flown impacted the most. Observing results in different publication years we showed airline customer trends through time. Our method showed sensitiveness to identify variations in dimensions distribution according to different passenger characteristics and preferences. Practical implications are that airline service providers aiming at maximizing customer satisfaction should focus their efforts on (i) customer service to first class passengers, (ii) comfort to premium economy passengers, and (iii) checking luggage and waiting time to economy class travelers. Regression analysis revealed cabin staff, onboard service and value for money as top three dimensions of satisfaction to predict the recommendation of airlines. Designing services that excel in those dimensions is likely to improve the company's performance with customers.     

Transport imaginations: Passenger experiences between freedom and constraint

This paper highlights the openness and indeterminacy of passenger experiences by exploring the power of passengers' imaginations in the context of urban railway commuting in Tokyo, Japan. Contrasting with much existing research on the figure of the passenger which has often stressed its intensified management and securitisation through spaces of transit, this paper examines how imagination plays an important but under-acknowledged part in transforming passenger experiences. Drawing upon extensive qualitative fieldwork conducted in Tokyo, it describes how the virtuality of these imagined spaces can work in different ways that can both enable and constrain passengers. Rather than seeing imagination as an internal psychological phenomenon, this paper stresses the relational qualities of imagination. Imagination can enable passengers to creatively travel as they gather references from what they see, hear, smell and feel through their bodily registers. In doing so, this paper argues that imagination is a situational process that materializes through passengers' encounters with a range of sensory stimuli in railway spaces. It also spotlights the specificity of the Japanese context for developing our understanding of power dynamics in research on passenger experiences. Supplementing transport geography's longstanding commitment to tracing the politics of enablement and constraint in terms of accessibility and travel time use, our paper highlights how imagination is an important but overlooked political domain.     

Paternalistic leadership and cabin crews’ upward safety communication: The motivation of voice behavior

Being the frontline operators in the airline industry, flight attendants constantly obtain and collect first-hand information from their interactions with passengers and other crew members. Their experiences and observations may contribute greatly to airlines' safety management and policy making. It is thus critical to learn how to enhance cabin crews' voice behavior, particularly communicating safety related issues upward through specific leadership styles. The current research aims at the flight attendants working for Taiwanese international airlines. The cabin crew department managers' paternalistic leadership style is adopted to observe how it may trigger cabin crews' different types of voice behavior. This research addresses the following two major questions: 1. What is the motivation for cabin crew to conduct upward safety communication? 2. How does department managers' paternalistic leadership style impact cabin crew's voice behavior? Regression analysis is used to analyze the empirical data collected by the questionnaire survey. The results are applied to provide airlines with practical references for constituting human resource management policies, and the findings also enhance existing literature regarding management applications and employees voice behaviors.     

Examining changes in travel patterns among lower wealth households after BRT investment in Bogotá, Colombia

Bogotá, Colombia's TransMilenio Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system has garnered praise for its beneficial effects on transit ridership, congestion, and air quality, yet there has been little research into the system's impacts on individuals and households, particularly on the city's lower wealth households. These households tend to be located in peripheral neighborhoods and access the BRT system largely via its sprawling network of feeder buses, rather than directly accessing the more central trunk lines. This paper examines the relationship between BRT access—especially feeder-based BRT access—and the degree to which the city's lower wealth households are able meet needs for mobility and out-of-home activity participation by analyzing changes in self-reported travel patterns among lower wealth households from before to after introduction of the BRT system. A secondary aim of this paper is to propose and test the variable ‘travel purpose diversity’ as an indicator of the degree to which households are able to meet their needs for out-of-home activity participation. Further work is needed to improve measurement of mobility in order to assess the household-level impacts of transit investments, particularly on lower wealth households. The results provide preliminary support for the validity of this indicator. Overall, findings suggest that the introduction of the BRT has not had a substantial or significant impact on the ability of Bogotá's lower wealth households to meet daily mobility needs. The paper presents some possible interpretations of these findings and offers suggestions for additional research to help improve our understanding of the impacts of Bogotá's transit investment.     

A new model of luggage storage time while boarding an airplane: An experimental test

The boarding process is on the critical path of the turn-around. Reduction in boarding time can benefit airline carriers and airports and improve passenger satisfaction. However, aisle interference caused by passengers placing their luggage during boarding is a key factor leading to cabin congestion and low boarding efficiency. Therefore, the storage time for the carry-on luggage and its influencing factors is analyzed in this study. An experiment was conducted in a B737-800 model (1/3 size) to explore the factors effecting the time of luggage storage, and a new effective model of luggage storage time is proposed through a significance test and data fitting. The results show that the age of passengers, the type and quantity of luggage, and the existing luggage in the luggage bin have a significant impact on the luggage storage time; the rule of the variation in luggage placing time is similar between young adult passengers and middle aged passengers; the impact of the existing luggage in the overhead bin on the luggage storage time shows a stable trend in the initial period, but with the quantity of the luggage increasing to a certain point, the luggage storage time begins to increase sharply, which is known as a “jump”; and the luggage type has a great influence on the threshold value of jump. The results of the study can provide a reference for airlines to manage cabin luggage to improve boarding efficiency and improve passenger experience.     

Greenhouse gas emissions from flying can offset the gain from reduced driving in dense urban areas

Numerous studies have illustrated how denser urban forms lead to smaller greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from passenger transport. Many of these studies have excluded aviation since the association between urban structure and air travel is not as intuitive as it is the case of ground travel. However, several recent studies have concluded that air travel is a significant contributor to the GHGs from passenger transport. Furthermore, even air travel habits depend heavily on lifestyles and socio-economic factors that are related to the urban form. Here we analyse the interactions between urban structure and different transportation modes and their GHG impacts in Finland. The study utilises the data from the Finnish Transportation Agency’s passenger traffic survey from May 2010 to May 2011, which includes over 12 000 people and over 35 000 trips. The survey is based on one-day travel diaries and also includes additional data on long-distance trips from a longer period. Methodologically, the study takes a traveller’s perspective to assess the GHG emissions from passenger transport. We found that (1) air travel breaks the pattern where GHG emissions decrease with increasing density of urban structures, and (2) in the metropolitan region there is a clear trade-off between car-ownership and air travel in the middle income class. The main policy implication of our study is that air travel must be included in GHG assessments and mitigation strategies targeting travel behaviour. In dense urban regions, the emissions of air travel have the potential to offset the gain from reduced private driving.     

The impact of service quality and price on passengers' loyalty towards low-cost airlines: The Southeast Asia perspective

The objective of this study is to examine the impact of service quality by adopting AIRQUAL model and price on passengers' loyalty through the linkage of passengers' satisfaction toward low-cost airlines from the perspective of Southeast Asia. With 200 questionnaires analyzed, the results suggest that service quality and price have a positive significant impact on passenger satisfaction, and as a result lead to passengers’ loyalty. Besides, the findings of this research also confirm the mediating role of customer satisfaction between service quality and loyalty, price and loyalty separately, which implies that customer satisfaction is a vital factor for an LCCs to survive in such a highly competitive aviation market.     

How influential factors affect aviation networks: A Bayesian network analysis

The aviation industry was the catalyst for the economic development of advanced cities, and there has been a close relationship between the development of cities' aviation industries and economic indexes. Researchers have long been interested in investigating which economic factors affect the passenger and cargo volumes of airports. By leveraging statistical analysis, most existing research only indicates the significant factors affecting aviation networks and quantifies the positive or negative relationship between those factors and aviation passenger volume. However, it is difficult to envisage how the degree of changes in economic factors affects aviation networks, especially passenger and cargo volume. This paper utilizes Bayesian network analysis to bridge this gap. The airport-level data collected from OAG was combined with city- or country-level economic data that are exploited to build the Bayesian network. We find that GDP and inflation directly influence passenger and cargo volume, while fuel prices directly influence only cargo volume. Both networks change with time, indicating that evolving external economic factors influence the network. This study is the pioneer in using Bayesian network analysis to analyze aviation networks. We identify how airport passenger and cargo volumes change with respect to different degrees of economic factors change. In addition, the Bayesian network exhibits the output in a probabilistic way to fully address the uncertainty worldwide. The findings could potentially facilitate policymakers’ decisions to improve global aviation network development.     

Effective regulation for sustainable public transport in developing countries

This paper has two key objectives. Firstly, using the findings from case study research undertaken in Colombo (Sri Lanka), Faisalabad (Pakistan) and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), the paper seeks to demonstrate the importance of an appropriate regulatory framework and effective mechanisms of enforcement for sustainable urban transport systems in developing countries. Secondly, the paper highlights the critical importance of communication and co-ordination between stakeholders (defined here as transport users, providers and regulators) if regulation is to be effective. The views of poor and disadvantaged passenger groups—women, children, the elderly and disabled—are used in the paper to illustrate the importance of transport systems to their livelihoods, such as work, education, health and social pursuits. The case studies suggest that in the context of the failure of both the fully regulated public transport sector and the completely deregulated sector self regulation is a potentially useful alternative. In practice, self regulation has been achieved in the case study locations through the formation of cooperatives or associations of stakeholders such as users and operators.In the conclusion, the paper makes two key points. Firstly, that regulation must be open, honest and effective, but not so detailed or ‘heavy’ that it incites the potential for corrupt practices.Secondly, communication and co-ordination between stakeholders is critical if any form of regulation is to be effective—owners', employees' and passengers' associations have a vital role in this regard, as do Transport Forums consisting of all stakeholders. The participation of stakeholders and real and effective consultation are more important in the case of self regulation of public transport service provision than in other regulatory regimes.     

Analysing passenger network changes: The case of Hong Kong

Passenger throughput at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) has shown steady growth since its opening. Various aspects relating to HKIA have been studied in prior literature. This paper investigated changes in HKIA's passenger network for the period of 2001–2012 and used the gravity model to examine the key factors explaining its passenger traffic flows. The findings suggested that HKIA's passenger network has changed significantly and expanded to many new different destinations. Two regions (East Asia and Southeast Asia) were the most important markets for HKIA, and most key destinations connected by Hong Kong showed healthy growth. Nine factors could explain passenger traffic flows between Hong Kong and its key destinations: Hong Kong GDP per capita, GDP per capita of destinations connected by HKIA, distance, airport hub status of the destination airport, tourist destinations connected by HKIA, numbers of passenger airlines in service, bilateral trade flows, speaking a common language and having strong cultural/colonial links with Hong Kong, and the route presence of Cathay Pacific.     

Passengers perceptions of airport branding strategies: The case of Tom Jobim International Airport – RIOgaleão,Brazil

This study examines the passengers perceptions of Tom Jobim International Airport – RIOgaleão branding strategies and its impact to their experiences in light of the airport branding elements proposed by the literature. To achieve these aims it was conducted a semi-structured interview with the airport's branding manager and a questionnaire with the passengers (n = 92). The findings showed that the airport's new management company has been employing tourist branding strategies using a mix of elements, but it is possible that these actions have had the main objective of raising the airport to international service standards, whereby the operation of terminals by large companies is a trend. It was also concluded that some of the airport branding elements (i.e. logos and slogans) are well developed and represent a higher impact on passenger experience, while others (i.e. retail pricing strategies) require further attention and new approaches in order to improve passenger experience in the terminal.     

The role of schedule delays on passengers’ choice of access modes: A case study of Japan’s international hub airports

We empirically study passenger modal-choice behavior to access an international hub airport, by using stated preference (SP) data and by constructing a binomial logit model. We found that passenger modal choice is affected by the service level of the access modes: travel time, travel cost, waiting time, and delay cost. The results also indicate that if passengers choose access mode in advance they consider service frequency: departure timing from home, and the arrival timing at the airport. Moreover, our results indicate that travelers’ willingness to pay for saving time differs by time of a day. They are apt to pay more in the morning than in the afternoon. These outcomes must contribute to improve the access flight service from local to hub airports to handle the needs of passengers.     

Influence of bus stop land use characteristics on passenger waiting time satisfaction ‐ A case study in Guangzhou

Researchers usually conduct a questionnaire survey at bus stops to obtain data regarding the satisfaction of bus passengers with waiting times. The results are affected by many factors. Among them, the land use of the bus stops was proved to have an important impact on the survey results. The main contribution of this paper is the introduction of propensity score matching (PSM) into the evaluation of passenger waiting time satisfaction. By eliminating interference factors, this paper can quantify the impact of the various land use types of bus stops. On this basis, a method to modify the survey results of passenger waiting time satisfaction is proposed. This paper takes data pertaining to passenger satisfaction with bus service quality in Guangzhou City in 2018–2019 as an example, and the findings include that: different land use types of sites have different effects (positive or negative) on passenger waiting time scores. Also, matching propensity scores can balance the distribution of covariates between the treatment and control groups, effectively excluding the interference of other factors. After correcting the original rating results, this study found that 61.84% of the routes' waiting time ratings were overestimated. This finding indicates that data correction is necessary to accurately identify passenger waiting time ratings. The waiting time satisfaction of people using residential stations can best reflect the actual level. Therefore, it is suggested that stations with residential land use in each administrative area should be taken as representatives to conduct a waiting satisfaction survey.     

Aircraft and passenger recovery during an aircraft’s unexpected unavailability

Airlines design their initial schedules under the assumption that all resources will be available on time and flights will operate as planned. However, some disruptions occur due to mechanical failures and unexpected delays of maintenance, making the aircraft unavailable for a certain period of time. These deviations from the initial plan result in high operational costs in addition to the serious inconveniences experienced by passengers. In order to handle aircraft and passenger recovery problems simultaneously, we work on integrated networks at which aircraft routings and passenger itineraries are superimposed. Consequently, we could calculate the actual profit and cancellation cost by evaluating each passenger itinerary while considering the seat capacity limitations. In our computational results, we use a daily schedule of a major U.S. airline and clearly demonstrate that there is an optimal trade-off between operating and passenger-related costs.     

Assessing the effects of perceived value (utilitarian and hedonic) in LCCs and FSCs: Evidence from South Korea

In the airline industry, passengers choose and buy service based on their perception of which airline delivers better value. Thus, it is important to compare two types of airlines, Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) and Full Service Carriers (FSCs), to measure how much their product or service is worth and the effect of perceived value on passengers' purchase decisions. This study examined the relationship between perceived value, satisfaction, and purchase intention in both FSCs and LCCs. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were performed for data analysis. Our findings reveal that passenger satisfaction in LCCs is affected by hedonic value and utilitarian value, but passengers' future purchase intention is not dependent on satisfaction even when passengers are satisfied. In FSCs, moreover, utilitarian value is not a significant factor for satisfaction and purchase intention. This research provides implications for airline marketers and directions for future research.     

Spatially dispersed employee recovery: An airline case study

Employee recovery addresses either employee well-being or management's practices in aiding employees in recovering themselves following a service failure. This paper surveys the cabin crew at a small, European, low-cost carrier and investigates employees' perceptions of management practices to aid personnel achieve service recovery. Employee recovery within service research often focuses on front-line employees that work in a fixed location, however a contribution to the field is made by investigating the recovery of spatially dispersed personnel, such as operational personnel in the transport sector, who have a work place away from a fixed or central location and have minimal management contact. Results suggest that the support employees receive from management, such as recognition, information sharing, training, and strategic awareness are all important for spatially dispersed front-line employees' satisfaction with management's actions and overall employee recovery.     

Antecedents and consequences of passenger satisfaction with the airport

There is a growing interest in the passenger experience at the airport. Particularly, the relevance of passenger satisfaction has been emphasized. However, although different research approaches have been used, there is still a gap related to understanding the several relationships between aspects associated with passenger satisfaction with the airport. In this study, a comprehensive conceptual model, which includes the relationships between key antecedents and consequences of passenger satisfaction, was developed and examined. Using structural equation modeling analysis, several findings concerning passenger expectations, airport service quality, switching costs for changing airports, and passenger loyalty towards the airport are stressed.     

The determinants of air passenger traffic at Turkish airports

Investigating the determinants of air passenger traffic has become commonplace. In contrast with most previous publications, this paper investigates these determinants in an emerging country, Turkey, at the provincial level between 2004 and 2014. We find that GDP/capita, population, distance to alternative airports, tourism, leading cities, and international migrations all support more air traffic. Furthermore, market concentration is associated with less traffic, and the presence of academics with more traffic. Mapping models' residuals suggest catchment areas, surface transport options, domestic migrations and (geo)politics could also matter. Accordingly, it appears the determinants of Turkey's air passenger traffic do not differ from those of developed economies. The results also suggest new airports should be built based on the aforementioned factors.