Airline Passenger Loyalty

Abstract

The current study contributes to the extant literature by illustrating that airlines can enhance passenger (customer) satisfaction and loyalty by focusing on the enhancement of those aspects of the pre-flight and in-flight service experience over which they have direct control. The results indicate that airline passenger perceived pre-flight service quality and perceived in-flight service quality are distinct aspects of airline service quality that have independent and positive direct effects on airline passenger satisfaction. Moreover, perceived pre-flight service quality had a substantive, positive impact on airline passenger loyalty. Our findings illustrate the importance of airline pre-flight service quality and highlight the focal role that customer perceptions of pre-experience service quality (e.g., pre-experience communication, procedures, and interactions) play in the enhancement of customer satisfaction and fostering customer loyalty.

Airline Service Quality and Passengers’ Loyalty in the Nigerian Civil Aviation Sector

“…This finding is backed by the study of Namukasa (2013), which revealed that pre-flight service quality had a statistically significant effect on passenger satisfaction, which further significantly impacted passenger loyalty as a mediating variable. The finding is also in line with the study of Etemad-Sajadi et al (2016), which revealed that pre-flight service quality had a significant positive effect on passengers' loyalty to airlines. The implication of this finding in the context of this study is that passengers' assessment of airline service quality before actual flight experience could substantially influence their loyalty intentions towards airlines in Nigeria.…”

“…Additionally, the efficiency with which the airline processes check-ins and facilitates on-time departures contributes to passengers' evaluation of the pre-flight service quality, which mirrors the excellence of services provided or experiences presented to passengers prior to their flight (Etemad-Sajadi et al, 2016;. The pre-flight phase represents a juncture where passengers have yet to directly encounter the actual aviation services provided by the airline, particularly for those who are new or flying for the first time (Etemad-Sajadi et al, 2016;. During this phase, passengers' perceptions of the services they anticipate stem from the airline's promotional materials, past travelers' experiences, and personal expectations.…”

“…Once passengers have completed the check-in process and are onboard the plane, the services they encounter during the flight constitute the in-flight service. Therefore, the quality of in-flight airline service pertains to the standard of the services provided to passengers during their flight experience (Etemad-Sajadi et al, 2016;. Passengers anticipate receiving personalized attention from their service providers while on the flight, as a significant portion of their interaction with airlines occurs during the flight itself (Raju & Priya, 2019;.…”

Proceedings of the International Conference of Applied Business and Management (ICABM2020)

“…In testing the structural model fit will be done through an assessment of 3 parts, including the absolute fit measures, the incremental fit measures, and the parsimonious fit measures. The following is a measurement of goodness of fit that has been done: study are also directly proportional to the results of the study proposed by Sajadi (2016) which states that service quality obtained in the pre-flight process has a direct and positive effect on customer satisfaction.…”

“…H1: Pre-flight Employee Service Experience has a significant and positive effect on Customer Satisfaction 2.2. Pre-flight Process Service Experience Many studies have shown that the quality of service perceived by passengers positively influences airline passengers' satisfaction and loyalty (Nadiri, Hussain, Ekiz, & Erdogan, 2008;Park et al, 2006;Saha & Theingi, 2009in Sajadi, 2016, but still little research empirically investigates the direct or indirect effects that are felt from the quality of preflight services and during the flight that is felt on the satisfaction and loyalty of aircraft passengers. Therefore, this research will examine the relationship of Pre-flight Process Service Experience variables with Customer Satisfaction.…”