Retaining Passenger Loyalty through Data Mining: A Case Study of Taiwanese Airlines

Abstract

Abstract Passenger loads on Taiwanese domestic flights have rapidly declined following the launch of the Taiwan High Speed Rail in 2007. Retaining passenger loyalty is thus a crucial challenge facing Taiwan domestic airlines. This study develops a loyal passenger mining process that is used to assess passenger loyalty and extract their information by a data mining technique from a database. Analytical results demonstrate that loyal passengers had high satisfaction in terms of service preferences, including airport service, passenger cabin facilities, information provision and complaint resolution, and flights departing on schedule. Loyal passengers also emphasized luggage services and obtaining airline information without an agency. The suggestions of this study not only provide Taiwanese airlines with a valuable reference for planning database marketing and managing loyal passengers but also expand the applicability of management information systems (MIS) to airline industry research.