Abstract
The airline industry in Thailand has grown enormously over the past decade. Competition among airline companies to reach market share and profit has been intense, requiring strong strategic abilities. To increase the service quality of such companies, identifying factors related to the context of airlines is important for policymakers. Thus, this study aims to present empirical data on structural factors related to the loyalty of domestic airline passengers. Structural equation modeling was used to confirm the proposed model. The questionnaire was used to survey and collect data from 1600 airline passengers. The results indicate that satisfaction, trust, perceived quality, relationship, and image of airlines positively influenced loyalty with a statistical significance of α = 0.05. Moreover, the study found that expectation and perceived quality indirectly influenced loyalty. The findings provide a reference for airline operators to clearly understand the factors that motivate passenger loyalty, which can be used to develop the sustainability of marketing strategies and support competitiveness.
Highlights
Intense competition is the current trend in airline service businesses
We investigated the correlation of factors mentioned by creating a structural model, which is compounded from customer expectation, perceived service quality, perceived value, customer satisfaction, customer trust, customer commitment, attractiveness of competitors, perceived risk, switching costs, airline image, and customer loyalty
The lowest average value was assigned to the perceived risk factor as indicated by “My image can be damaged when I travel with this airline again” (PR4) (M = 3.857, standard deviation (SD) = 1.779)
Summary
Intense competition is the current trend in airline service businesses. The aviation liberalization in Thailand—in accordance with the Open Sky Policy of 2015—has resulted in the steady growth of the aviation industry steadily, as can be seen from the increase in the number of domestic airline passengers from 2017 to 2018, with an average growth rate of 6.1% [1], and the number of foreign tourists visiting Thailand, at a growth rate of 7.54% in 2018 compared to the previous year [2]. Customer loyalty is an important motivation that leads passengers to continue using airline services, which influences a high forereach in competition. Airline market shares are mainly dependent on the airlines’ ability to foster customer loyalty, which leads to reliable profit [3]. This positively affects airline service companies over the lengthy duration of the business cycle. Previous researchers investigated the factors that influence passenger loyalty to understand its effects. Studies that comprehensively evaluated such factors were limited and overlooked the connections among commitment, attractiveness of competitors, and passenger loyalty in the airline context.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
