A voice in the skies: Listening to airline passenger preferences

This study aims to identify the impact levels and priorities in the service expectations that passengers have when identifying a preferred airline. The results are based on probabilities and impacts, and can help airlines to accurately understand the preference criteria of their passengers. The priorities of the passengers may differ according to the airline chosen; therefore, the probabilities shown in this study can inform senior airline managers about the passenger perspective. This study uses the Stochastic Multicriteria Acceptability Analysis-2 (SMAA-2) method. SMAA-2 identifies the priorities and impact levels of passengers’ expectations on airline selection, and the ranking of alternative firms according to the probability. According to the obtained results, Airline 3 (AF₃) is the most preferred airline with the highest confidence rate. This airline operates based on a low-cost model that allows passengers to choose additional services for additional charges. The passenger expectations that have the highest impact on the preference when selecting an airline are 1) ticket prices, 2) punctuality, and 3) booking convenience. Free in-flight food and beverages, the variety and quality of the food and beverages, and voyager miles programs for loyal customers are found to have no impact on the ranking of airlines. The expectations identified by the passengers in this study are related to the outcome quality dimension, with services dominated by flexible features. The findings of this study define the passenger as a rational decision maker who is price sensitive.     

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.     

Antecedents of airline passenger loyalty: Low-cost versus traditional airlines

This study identifies the antecedents of airline user loyalty. A survey is administered to users of three airlines operating Barcelona–London flights. The results show that the principal antecedent of conative loyalty is affective loyalty. The main antecedents of affective loyalty are satisfaction and trust, the latter being revealed as a key variable for guaranteeing the success of relationships between the airline and its users, and also for understanding long term purchasing behavior.     

A non-additive model for evaluating airline service quality

This study develops a non-additive model for evaluating and improving the service quality of airlines and compares its results with the conventional additive method. Service quality is a composite of various attributes and many in a system have inter-dependent characteristics that may not be correctly evaluated using conventional additive measures. A fuzzy integral is thus proposed. Factor analysis is initially used to extract some independent common-factors and fuzzy integral used to integrate the performance ratings of inter-dependent attributes in each common-factor. For the analytic hierarchy process a pair-wise comparative approach is adopted to determine the relative weights linking each independent common-factor. Finally, Grey relation analysis and simple additive weight method are used to find airline service quality. A study of international airlines is conducted for verification. Safety and reliability emerge as the critical factors of service quality.     

A note on how to measure hubbing practices in airline networks

Benefits and costs associated to hubbing practices of airlines are still subject to much debate. In the previous literature, some standard spatial concentration indices have been proposed to measure it. However, we show that these indices are “ill-defined” because they do not take into account the salient characteristic of hubbing: connecting passengers. The purpose of this research is to present a new methodology which avoids the pitfalls of other methods. Our new methodology also analyzes the level of concentration of the connecting passengers studying two different dimensions: hub airports and routes. Finally, we apply our methodology to some US carriers.     

Student’s vacation travel: A reference dependent model of airline fares preferences

This article reports the results of student vacation travel choice analysis using a reference dependent model of airline fare preferences. Findings suggests, as expected, that the preferences/utility decreases with increasing levels of cost. The evaluation of the airfare, however, becomes significantly more critical in the regime were low-fare airlines are more expensive than the regular airlines, meaning that price sensitivity for low-fare airlines is higher in this case. Part-worth utility functions for airfare as part of a more general portfolio model of vacation decisions of students suggest that indeed a reference dependent model captures such regimes in utility space.     

On-time performance,passenger expectations and satisfaction in the Chinese airline industry

Service quality has become an important area for competition among Chinese carriers. This paper focuses on studying the relationship between customer satisfaction measured by customer complaints and their expectation of the on-time performance of Chinese carriers. By using a monthly balanced panel data set covering nine large and medium carriers, the empirical results show that an increase in actual on-time performance reduces customer complaints. However, an increase in expected on-time performance significantly raises customer complaints. In addition, although customer complaints are negatively related to the deviations between actual and expected on-time performance, our Wald tests do not support the model of the deviations between actual and expected on-time performance. Listed carriers receive significantly lower customer complaints compared with non-listed carriers. Furthermore, poor weather also affects customer complaints as an increase in rainfall or a decrease in temperature raises customer complaints.     

A study on the importance of airline selection attributes by airline type: An emphasis on the difference of opinion in between Korean and overseas aviation experts

The main purpose of this research is to understand the relative importance of airline selection attributes that are considered important by passengers when selecting an airline. Specifically, we analyzed how the attribute selections differed based on airline types, a Full Service Carrier (FSC) and a Low Cost Carrier (LCC). For this purpose, a Delphi analysis was performed with 34 Korean aviation experts and 32 overseas aviation experts as the target sample groups. Statistical tests including Mann-Whitney U Test and Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, were used to analyze the selection attributes. In the case of FSCs, safety, flight schedule, cabin interior, and fast check-in processes were considered to be important selection attributes whereas for LCCs, air fare level, flight safety, the convenience of air ticket purchasing procedures, and additional charges were considered to be the important selection attributes. Additionally, there was a difference in the importance of airline selection attributes depending on whether it was a Korean or overseas aviation market. The result of these findings may be utilized as basic data in establishing a marketing strategy for an airline company to attract more passengers.     

Tourism destination preferences of low-cost airline users in the East Midlands

Increasing demand for air travel, associated with the boom in low-cost airlines, has assisted tourism growth. Expanding opportunities from regional airports underpin an increased propensity to fly. This paper examines European tourism destination preferences and price sensitivity to fly by population segment from an air travel household survey in the East Midlands region of the United Kingdom. Of the eight typical low-cost airline destinations presented to respondents cultural locations such as Rome are preferred. Weekend break leisure trips are particularly attractive to those in employment. Price sensitivity, suggests that increasing financial pressures will have an impact upon growth, however demand for an annual holiday is important, particularly for families.     

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.     

The persuasiveness of framed commercial messages: A note on marketing implications for the airline industry

This study uses the concepts of customer segmentation and time pressure to examine the persuasiveness of commercial message framing. It finds positively framed (PF) messages are more persuasive than negatively framed (NF) messages when directed toward intensively involved air travelers under time pressures but that NF messages are more persuasive when directed toward interested air travelers not under any great time constraints. Further, uninterested (minimally involved) air travelers may fail to be persuaded by any message framing regardless of how pressed they are for time.     

Analyzing passenger behavior in airport terminals based on activity preferences

Airport terminals are facilities that provide a variety of activities related to both the preparation of the passengers for their air trip (aeronautical) and their free time inside the terminal (non-aeronautical). In the last years, the number of non-aeronautical activities has substantially increased and significantly diversified both before and after the security checkpoint. The established role of non-aeronautical activities forces planners and managers to better understand passenger behavior. The potential of discrete choice models for the exploration of passenger behavior is analyzed in this paper. For the demonstration of the methodology, Lisbon Humberto Delgado International airport is used as a case study. Data is collected through a revealed and stated preference survey inside the terminal at the area before the security checkpoint. Activity-choice models are developed to identify the factors that affect the choices of the passengers over the area where they conduct non-aeronautical activities. Forecasts show that when increasing the percentage of passengers who conduct the check-in online and have planned their activities before arriving at the airport, the passengers’ preferences to conduct non-aeronautical activities only after the security checkpoint increase. This paper shows the contribution of developing discrete choice models in the better comprehension of passenger decisions over the activities they perform in an airport terminal.     

Exploring the green image of airlines: Passenger perceptions and airline choice

During the last few years there has been an increasing trend for companies to market their products or services as green or environmentally friendly as part of their corporate social responsibility. Few studies have analyzed the effects of this recent focus on the environment and its impact on airline passengers. Therefore, we examine passengers' general attitudes towards the green image of different airlines, perceived differences in eco-friendliness among these airlines, and effects on airline choice during booking. We also investigate how passengers' recent experiences with an airline affect perceived eco-friendliness of that airline. In addition we compare passenger ratings of airline eco-friendliness to those published by independent 3rd parties. Our findings show that the green image of airlines does influence airline choice during booking. We observed a passenger willingness to pay extra for a green image, however, not as much as their willingness to pay extra for amenities, such as additional legroom.     

A note on the determinants of airline choice: The case of Air Asia and Malaysia Airlines

Logit analysis is employed on primary data from departing air passengers at the Penang International Airport, Malaysia to examine the determinants of airline choice between incumbent Malaysia Airlines and low-cost Air Asia. With the exception of educational level and ethnicity, other socio-demographic characteristics do not play a statistically significant role in determining airline choice. Instead, behavioral factors such as concerns over schedules and fares, routes, booking methods and purpose of journey are found to be predictors of airline carrier choice.     

Customer satisfaction and service quality in the Chinese airline industry

This paper focuses on studying the relationship between customer satisfaction, measured by customer complaints, and the service quality of Chinese carriers. By using a quarterly unbalanced panel data set covering twelve large and small carriers, our fixed effect Tobit analysis shows that customer complaints rise with increases in the number of damaged bags, but at a declining rate. By contrast, the on-time performance of scheduled flights has no significant effect on customer complaints. Furthermore, non-state or privately owned carriers receive significantly more customer complaints compared with state-owned carriers, and the largest number of complaints are made in the third quarter, which covers the high season of the summer holidays.     

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 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.     

Determinants of de novo new entrant survival in the liberalized intra-European scheduled passenger airline industry

This paper analyzes semi-parametrically the survival odds of de novo entrants in the liberalized intra-European scheduled passenger airline industry with respect to three sets of determinants: strategic positioning, inaugural market entry and network economics. Among these determinants, a ‘low-cost’ strategic position does not confer survival benefits to new entrants. Entering markets with different levels of prior concentrations – which economists traditionally relate to different pricing powers – does not significantly affect the survival odds of new entrants. Entering mid-sized markets adversely affects entrant survival, while entering large, small or new markets at inception does not noticeably impact entrant survival. Network economics that corresponds to low operating costs (aircraft size) is a consistent contributor to entrant survival. In addition, new entrants based in France or Ireland are less likely to survive than others, reflecting the strong negative impact of intermodal competition and a strong, entrenched entrant.     

Assessing customer citizenship behaviors in the airline industry: Investigation of service quality and value

Along with the emergence of a new marketing paradigm (service-dominant logic), the post-consumption behavior has been highlighted. Accordingly, the purposes of this study are to identify four types of the consumer citizenship behavior, including advocacy, feedback, helping and tolerance, and to examine two direct and indirect determinants of it. Then, a moderating effect of the air passenger-related factor (domestic vs. international trips) has been assessed on the proposed relationships. The results of this paper suggest decomposing two dimensions of service quality (intangible and tangible resources of airline services) which indirectly affect the consumer citizenship behavior via perceived value. Those passengers who took domestic trips are more likely to have the stronger relationships than travelers who carried out international trips.     

Segmentation of passenger preferences for using digital technologies at airports in Norway

Airports are increasingly focused on implementing digital technologies at key stages of the airport journey to enhance the passenger experience. However, passengers have different preferences. TwoStep Cluster Analysis is used to reveal the presence of distinct segments according to their preferences. The findings are based on a survey of 6082 passengers at airports in Norway. Three distinct segments are identified: those that prefer traditional manual processes, those that prefer automated technology-based processes, and those that prefer more personalised technology-based processes. Significant differences are revealed for each segment according to passenger and trip characteristics and opinions regarding how the use of digital technologies at airports impact on personal privacy and human dignity. The findings contribute to knowledge on passenger preferences at airports and can help to inform airport decision making.