A non-additive multiple criteria analysis method for evaluation of airline service quality

Subjective preferences with interactive property are often involved in the evaluation of airline service quality. It may not be possible, however, to correctly evaluate service quality using conventional additive measures. The fuzzy measure, which is a non-additive measure, is more suitable for this situation. Given the presence of arduousness in current fuzzy measure identification and in the calculation of the comprehensive performance values of alternatives in terms of the Choquet integral, this paper proposes the λ_k fuzzy measure and introduces Marichal entropy of the λ_k fuzzy measure to reach a solution. This paper also presents the aggregator Choquet integral with respect to the λ_k fuzzy measure. To verify the method's effectiveness, an application study of the comprehensive performance of 15 US airlines was conducted, using data collected over a 10-year period. Our results show that the proposed method is a suitable multi-criteria analysis method, which can be used to evaluate the performance of airline service quality when man–made interaction phenomena are not existent.     

A combined MCDM model based on DEMATEL and ANP for the selection of airline service quality improvement criteria: A study based on the Taiwanese airline industry

The aim of this study is to select airline service quality improvement criteria for the Taiwanese airline industry. Numerous factors such as low railway prices, the development of high-speed rail, increases in petroleum prices, increases in foreign airline competition, and the recent economic depression have led many airlines in Taiwan to encounter financial difficulties and even closure. Researchers have begun to identify critical service quality improvement criteria with the goal of increasing the competitive advantages of airlines. Most of the selected criteria, however, suffer from a major technical problem: all of the measurement dimensions are independent, leading to inadequate criteria for measuring service quality. Our calculations consider the interrelationships and effects among the evaluation dimensions and criteria to precisely rank and select criteria. The value of this study is that it provides airlines with a direction for measuring and improving their service quality with the goal of developing sustained competitive advantage over the long term.     

A novel interval-valued fuzzy MCDM method for improving airlines’ service quality in Chinese cross-strait airlines

This paper presents an effective approach based on combining VIKOR, GRA, and interval-valued fuzzy sets to evaluate service quality of Chinese cross-strait passenger airlines via customer surveys. The proposed approach can enable decision-makers to understand the gaps between alternatives and aspired levels. An empirical study is used to establish a complete service quality evaluation framework for reducing the gaps to achieve the aspired level. Based on the gaps in priorities, it can help an airline to identify its own strengths and weaknesses in specific areas of passenger service to further improve service quality.     

FIPIA with information entropy: A new hybrid method to assess airline service quality

This study proposes “FIPIA with information entropy” as a new, hybrid method to assess airline service quality by identifying the most important priorities for airline passengers and producing recommendations to airline management for optimal resource allocation to improve service quality and customer satisfaction. The proposed method is an improvement over IPA, IPIA and FIPA methods, through the introduction of information entropy and fuzzy logic to the analysis of importance, performance and impact dimensions of airline service quality to improve interpretability and actionability of analysis results. This study also offers airline managers a list of what they should improve in resource allocation in order to increase service quality considering customer satisfaction and create value by managing the relational capital more effectively. The new hybrid method was field-tested by administering a 26-item questionnaire to passengers of a major airline operator, analyzing the responses using the Importance-Performance-Impact Analysis (IPIA) method, fuzzy logic and information entropy. The analysis revealed four main dimensions of airline service quality, namely reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy and responsiveness with 17 constituent attributes. The case study revealed that (1) resource allocation was adequate only on four attributes; (2) seven service quality attributes were identified as needing further management focus on resource allocation; (3) six service quality attributes received more resources than necessary which should be shifted to other attributes; (4) dimensions of reliability and tangibles needed more focus than others. The proposed hybrid method of FIPIA with information entropy can be employed for any industry where service quality depends on multiple attributes.     

Measuring airport service quality: A multidimensional approach

Currently, airports are expected to be operated as self-sufficient service organizations providing efficient and high-quality services to a variety of customers. In this context, improving airport service quality (ASQ) has become paramount. However, due to the complexity of the airport service environment, an effective process of measuring and analyzing passenger perceptions of ASQ is not easily achieved. Generic scales for perceived service quality might not cover some particularities of the passenger–airport interaction. Furthermore, while some measurement practices have been developed within the airport industry, there has been only limited consideration for validity and reliability. These concerns are certainly relevant to avoid misinterpreting passenger perceptions. In view of these concerns, this paper has a twofold objective. First, to fit a measurement model for perceived ASQ built on typical service measures within the airport industry. Second, to test for the model's equivalence across groups of passengers. Sample data from an extensive survey applied at a major Brazilian airport was used for confirmatory factor analysis. The results suggested that a six-factor structure provides a meaningful multi-item measurement model for perceived ASQ. The model was validated for international and domestic departing passengers with respect to its factorial structure and metric invariance. The proposed measurement model could be considered an alternative for a multidimensional approach in the context of airport performance measurement regarding service quality. Finally, the findings from this research might contribute to the discussion on passenger perceptions of ASQ, particularly concerning its multidimensionality and the need to review current practices for ASQ analysis.     

Evaluation of passenger satisfaction with service quality: A consecutive method applied to the airline industry

Passengers' dissatisfaction with service quality is one of the crucial factors affecting the market share loss of airlines. This study aims to find out how airlines become capable of satisfying their passengers by considering the diversity of pre-purchase expectations. Therefore, the study proposes a novel model for clustering air passengers to identify passengers with similar expectations. Thus, the passengers' expectations of the service quality attributes in each cluster were measured and converted into quantitative degrees of customer satisfaction by applying the Kano model. Finally, Importance-Satisfaction Analysis (ISA) was employed to finding that which service quality indicators fall into the “Keep up the proper work”,” Concentrate here”,” Possible overkill”, and “Low priority” category for eliciting applicable marketing strategies.     

A hybrid approach based on fuzzy AHP and 2-tuple fuzzy linguistic method for evaluation in-flight service quality

The in-flight service is one of the most important parts in the whole air travel service process. In order to better understand the passengers' preference and obtain their perception for service quality, the paper proposed a hybrid approach based on fuzzy AHP and 2-tuple fuzzy linguistic method to evaluate in-flight service quality. This study is comprised of three stages. In the first stage, the modified version of SERVQUAL instrument was used and a hierarchy of the evaluation index system for in-flight service quality was constructed. In the second stage we use fuzzy AHP to analyze the structure of the in-flight service evaluation problem. Using linguistic variables, pairwise comparisons for evaluation criteria and sub-criteria are made to determine the weights of criteria and sub-criteria. In the third stage, the ratings of sub-criteria are assessed in linguistic values to express the qualitative evaluation of passengers' subjective opinions, and then the linguistic values are transformed into 2-tuples and the 2-tuple linguistic arithmetic mean operator is utilized to obtain the average ratings of 100 respondents. Using the 2-tuple linguistic weighted average operator to compute the aggregated ratings of criteria and the overall in-flight service quality of alternatives. Finally, we demonstrated the validity and feasibility of the proposed approach by conducting an application study of the comprehensive performance of three airlines' in-flight service quality in China.     

Fuzzy ServPerf model combined with ELECTRE III to comparatively evaluate service quality of international airports in Sicily

In this paper a new approach was proposed so as to comparatively evaluate the quality of service alternatives. In particular, a fuzzy extension of the ServPerf service conceptual model was considered to estimate quality scores of fundamental service criteria, whereas the non-compensative multi-criteria decision-making ELECTRE III method was employed to point out the quality ranking of service alternatives on the basis of which the comparative service quality analysis was performed. In order to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach, an empirical study concerning service quality evaluation of the three international airports in Sicily (Italy) was conducted with detailed proposals for passenger service improvement. The results showed that only few key service aspects played a focal role in quality airport service. Moreover, the effects on the evaluation of service quality, arising from customers' uncertainties, were computed, thus demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed approach.