IMPACT OF SERVICE QUALITY, SATISFACTION AND PASSENGERS BEHAVIOUR OF FULL-SERVICE AIRLINES OPERATING IN THAILAND

Abstract


 Airline companies today are faced with various challenges such as cutting price, managing fluctuating demand, and meeting quality requirements. In addition to these issues, intense competition in the global airline industry has intensified the importance of customer perception of service quality. Numerous studies demonstrate the dependence of airline’s market share, revenues, positive word of mouth, and customer retention on consumer perception of service quality, and in turn, on customer satisfaction and loyalty. This paper explains the relationship between service quality, satisfaction and passenger behavior for full-services airlines operating in Thailand. The survey questionnaire was designed and administered to 110 respondents who all were passengers of these airlines. Our four hypotheses concerned such variables as service quality and passenger satisfaction, satisfaction and word of mouth, satisfaction and repurchase intention, and satisfaction and feedback. SERVPERF was used as the key instrument in our analysis. Top managers of full-service airlines often tend to disregard high priority of quality components. Thus, they should be more aware of the importance of service quality and passenger’s satisfaction in determining the behavioral intentions of passengers.