Low-cost Carriers Research Articles

Impacts of a sustainable aviation fuel mandate on airline competition — Full-service carrier vs. low-cost carrier

The aviation industry has proposed the collective goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. In addition to the existing market-based methods (MBMs), the use of renewable energies, in particular, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), could be one of the most promising means for achieving this long-term target. This paper investigates how an SAF mandate from the government can lead to heterogeneous impacts on two types of airlines, namely, full-service carriers (FSCs) and low-cost carriers (LCCs), that compete in the same markets. A game-theoretic economic model is constructed that accounts for the different service quality levels and cost structures (i.e., fuel efficiency) between FSCs and LCCs. Our analytical results suggest that the SAF mandate favors LCCs over FSCs. The share of SAF blended into fuel raises the airfares of both types of airlines while reducing the traffic and profit of FSCs. The impacts on the LCC traffic and profit depend on its fuel efficiency relative to that of FSC. When LCCs are sufficiently fuel efficient, the SAF mandate can increase their traffic and profit. The government subsidy on airline's SAF use is also analyzed, deriving the optimal subsidy levels for FSC and LCC respectively to achieve pareto-improvement in social welfare and consumer surplus. We also examine how air passengers’ environmental awareness affects the outcomes of SAF mandate implementation. Our economic model also accounts for passengers’ heterogeneous preferences in terms of service quality and price sensitivity.

Persistent and transient inefficiencies in the U.S. airline industry

The competitive advantage of airlines depends on their technical efficiency. Efficiency analysis models now differentiate between persistent and transient inefficiencies. Persistent inefficiencies stem from fundamental flaws in production processes or ongoing managerial shortcomings, requiring long-term strategic interventions. Transient inefficiencies, however, result from irregular setbacks that can be swiftly addressed, causing temporary efficiency dips. Focusing on the decade from 2010 to 2019, we investigated how business models, mergers, and upgauging influence these inefficiencies. Our results reveal that 21.2% of the overall technical inefficiency can be accounted for by persistent inefficiency. Despite the U.S. airline industry improving transient inefficiency during the sample period, prevailing persistent inefficiency hindered any significant rise in overall efficiency. The research shows that full-service airlines (FSA) and low-cost carriers (LCC) often exhibit higher persistent and transient efficiency than ultra-low-cost carriers (ULCC). However, there seem to be no significant differences in transient and persistent inefficiency between FSA and LCC. Additionally, the results suggest that the upgauging and higher ramp-to-ramp hours may lead to higher transient efficiency. Finally, we could not find any influence of mergers and stage length on transient inefficiency.

Impact of operator characteristics on landing gear ground manoeuvre occurrences

Abstract The variability in ground manoeuvre occurrences for aircraft landing gear is intrinsically linked to the airport geometries served by aircraft in-service and consequently, the cyclic loads that landing gear carry are driven by the route network and characteristics of aircraft operators. Currently, assumptions must be made when deriving fatigue load spectra for aircraft landing gear, which may fail to capture the operator characteristics, potentially leading to design conservatism. This paper presents the enhanced characterisation of ground turning manoeuvres within the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) trajectories for six narrow-body aircraft across a full-service carrier (FSC) and a low-cost carrier (LCC) fleet. The methodology presented within this paper employs ADS-B latitude and longitude information to overcome limitations of previous approaches, increasing the rate of correct manoeuvre identification within ADS-B trajectories to 77% of flights from the 50% rate achieved previously. When characterising the ground manoeuvres across 3,000 flights, significant differences in manoeuvre occurrences were observed between individual aircraft within the LCC fleet and between the FSC and LCC fleets. The occurrence of tight and pivot turns were shown to vary across the six aircraft with six and eight fatigue-critical turns being performed by the FSC and LCC fleet for every 10 flights performed. In addition, it was observed that the direction of fatigue critical turns is biased in specific directions, suggesting that individual main landing gear assemblies will accumulate fatigue damage at an increased rate, leading to greater justification for operator-specific spectra and structural health monitoring of aircraft landing gear.

Pengaruh Service Quality terhadap Repurchase Intention melalui Customer Satisfaction: Perspektif Penumpang Lion Air

The development of air transportation in Indonesia is increasingly rapid, and low-cost airlines (low-cost carriers) dominate the market share of domestic airline passengers in Indonesia. Lion Air is one of the leading low-cost airlines (LCC), which has a high number of passengers. This research aims to test the influence of service quality on customer satisfaction, service quality on repurchase intention, and the relationship between service quality on repurchase intention which is mediated by customer satisfaction. The research methodology used is descriptive-quantitative causality. The data analysis technique uses structural equation modeling with partial least squares (SEM-PLS) with SMARTPLS 3 software. The results of hypothesis testing show that service quality (PV, RD, SI) has a statistically significant influence on customer satisfaction and also state that service quality (EC, SA) does not have a significant influence statistically on customer satisfaction. Service quality has a direct impact on the likelihood of customers making repeat purchases, just as customer satisfaction also influences the likelihood of repeat purchases. Customer satisfaction is influenced by service quality, which in turn influences repurchase intentions.

Synthesis of high-efficient low-cost fertilizer carriers based on biodegradable lignin hydrogels

Conventional fertilizers face environmental and economic challenges due to their high solubility, leading to significant losses via runoff and leachate. This study presents a biodegradable hydrogel, synthesized from lignin and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), designed as an eco-friendly carrier for struvite (fertilizer) with controlled phosphate release. The hydrogel was analysed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Furthermore, the prepared hydrogels demonstrated high water absorption capacities (963.4 %, 706.4 %, and 410 % for LH4, LH8, and LH12, respectively) and exhibited Fickian diffusion behaviour. Phosphate release studies showed a gradual release over 6–8 h with concentrations of 20.5 ppm, 19.45 ppm, and 17.85 ppm for St-LH4, St-LH8, and St-LH12. These lignin-based hydrogels offer a promising, cost-effective solution for slow-release fertilizers with high efficiency.

Airline performance measurement using bias-corrected network data envelopment analysis estimates: Evidence from a turbulent era

This study's objective is to estimate airline performance and identify the most resilient business model during periods affected by global crises, including financial crises, natural disasters, pandemics, terrorist attacks, and post-crisis periods. A balanced panel of 80 airlines, classified into full-service carriers (FSC), low-cost carriers (LCC), high perceived quality, and low perceived quality, during 2008–2021 is used in this work. The data is sourced from the ICAO Data+ and Skytrax databases. Following the recent literature on airline efficiency, we consider airlines' internal structure, which unfolds into three stages: (a) operations, (b) services, and (c) sales. Also, we employ a novel three-stage multi-parametric bias correction (MPBC) slacks-based measure (SBM) network data envelopment analysis (NDEA) approach to estimate system- and stage-specific efficiencies. It has been proven that the MPBC estimates are consistent, while the MPBC-SBM-NDEA approach addresses the limitations of conventional NDEA and SBM-NDEA models. This work highlights that airline passengers have become more price-sensitive, selecting value-for-money airline products and services after the Global Financial Crisis. Given this trend and the remainder of the study's findings, LCCs offering value-for-money products and services and operating smaller-scale networks with smaller plane capacities are less vulnerable to external shocks and are easier to rebound during post-crisis periods.

U.S. Airline Customer Complaint Trends: A Decade-Long Analysis (2013-2022) Including COVID-19 Impacts

The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 significantly reshaped the U.S. aviation industry, transitioning from government-controlled pricing and service standards to market-driven dynamics. This shift led to the rise of low-cost carriers, reduced service quality, and increased customer complaints. In response to fluctuating service standards, the Air Travel Consumer Report (ATCR) was introduced in 1987 to provide transparency in airline service quality. This study leverages ATCR data from 2013 to 2022 to analyze trends in customer complaints across major U.S. airlines. The primary objectives are identifying the major customer complaints and determining which airlines received the most complaints during the studied period including the COVID-19 pandemic era. Results indicate that flight problems, refunds, baggage issues, customer service, and reservations/ticketing/boarding are the top complaints, with refunds peaking during the COVID-19 pandemic due to travel restrictions. Airlines such as Frontier, Spirit, and United consistently received higher complaints, while Alaska, Delta, and SkyWest had fewer complaints. The study underscores the importance of service quality in fostering customer satisfaction and loyalty, suggesting that airlines should focus on reducing complaints in key areas to enhance service quality. The findings provide valuable insights for both airlines and consumers, highlighting areas for improvement and aiding consumers in making informed choices. This study also emphasizes the need for comprehensive service quality measures beyond consumer complaints to assess airline performance accurately.

Technology Readiness and Users Satisfaction towards Self-Service Technology at Malaysian Airport

This study examines the relationship between four dimensions of Technology Readiness Index (TR) namely optimism, innovativeness, insecurity, discomfort, and the level of customer’s satisfaction towards the use of self-service technology (SSTs) at the airport. SSTs used by the airport operators or airlines at the terminal for check-in or when performing other transactions includes booking airline ticket online, kiosk check-in and mobile check-in. At the same time, this study also tries to look at whether there is any difference in technology readiness between different demographic groups of Malaysians. Survey questionnaires were distributed to passengers at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia. The result of the analysis shows that innovativeness and optimism have a positive relationship with customer satisfaction. There are also differences in technology readiness among different gender for innovativeness and insecurity index. The implication of the study suggests that Malaysia’s airport or airline providers should increase customer satisfaction especially by introducing new innovative technology at their premises. The findings may also help firms develop their strategy to further increase the customer’s satisfaction when using the self- service technology (SST) at airports in Malaysia.

Enhanced luminol chemiluminescence with oxidase-like properties of prussian blue/MXene nanocomposite without H2O2 for the sensitive detection of uric acid

Novel two-dimensional MXene materials as low-cost carriers have received increasing attention in the development of nanozymes with peroxidase or oxidase-like activities. In this study, the novel materials combining Prussian blue and MXene (referred to as PB/MXene) were proposed by a facile method. In this case, MXene acted as reducing agent and nanocarrier. Compared with the single component, the obtained nanocomposites had excellent oxidase activity without foreign oxidant intervention such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Furthermore, the addition of uric acid (UA) solution was able to directly burst the chemiluminescence (CL) intensity of the constructed PB/MXene-luminol platform. Based on the above process, we developed PB/MXene nanocomposites with oxidase activity as the CL biosensors for detecting UA, displaying good linearity with UA concentration (0.2–30 μM) and low detection limit (0.19 μM). This work not only provided novel biosensors for the detection of UA but also significantly expanded the potential applications of MXene-based functional materials in the fields of biological monitoring and clinical diagnosis.

A Fuzzy Inference System for Predicting Air Traffic Demand based on Socioeconomic Drivers

The past ten years have seen significant expansion in the aviation sector, which during the previous five years has steadily pushed emerging countries closer to economic independence. It is crucial to accurately forecast the potential demand for air travel to make long-term financial plans. To forecast market demand for low-cost passenger carriers, this study suggests working with low-cost airlines, airports, consultancies, and governmental institutions' strategic planning divisions. The study aims to develop an artificial intelligence-based methods, notably fuzzy inference systems (FIS), to determine the most accurate forecasting technique for domestic low-cost carrier demand in Bangladesh. To give end users real-world applications, the study includes nine variables, two sub-FIS, and one final Mamdani Fuzzy Inference System utilizing a Graphical User Interface (GUI) made with the app designer tool. The evaluation criteria used in this inquiry included mean square error (MSE), accuracy, precision, sensitivity, and specificity. The effectiveness of the developed Air Passenger Demand Prediction FIS is assessed using 240 data sets, and the accuracy, precision, sensitivity, specificity, and MSE values are 90.83%, 91.09%, 90.77%, and 2.09%, respectively.

Examining the determinants of Indian airlines’ revenues

The Indian aviation sector has undergone remarkable growth, driven by the emergence of low-cost carriers and diverse business models. This has resulted in a surge in passenger numbers and aircraft orders, establishing India as a vibrant global aviation market. However, this rapid expansion is accompanied by significant financial challenges, leading to distress and insolvency among numerous airlines. Despite optimistic growth forecasts, high operating costs and relatively low revenue returns pose substantial hurdles. Motivated by these challenges, this study aims to uncover the key factors influencing revenue generation in the Indian aviation industry by analysing expenditure components and their impacts on costs. The objective of this study is to address the research gap stemming from the lack of previous studies on Indian airlines that address endogeneity issues related to airline expenditures. By utilising data from 2007 to 2022 sourced from the audited annual reports of each airline, we aim to provide essential insights into the revenue dynamics of Indian airlines through the application of various econometric models including instrumental variables (IV) regression and generalised method of moments (GMM) models for improving causality and addressing endogeneity. Our findings reveal a positive correlation between unit revenue and factors such as unit expenditure, staff numbers, and passenger volume, while also highlighting the positive impacts of airline alliances and regional connectivity schemes. This research not only sheds light on industry intricacies but also underscores the imperative to address key variables to enhance the sector's sustainability and resilience in the face of ongoing challenges, offering valuable contributions to both academia and industry stakeholders for informed decision-making and strategic planning.

Characterising the low-cost carrier network in Southeast Asia: a complex network analysis

This study analyses the low-cost carrier network (LCCN) in Southeast Asia using complex network analysis. An analysis is conducted using the data from 2010 to 2018 covering 442 airports connected by 2,296 air routes. The LCCN is a scale-free network with a degree distribution following a power law in which fewer airports have high connectivity. It is a sparse network with a low network density. The network is efficient with a small average shortest path length, but low intra-connectivity amongst airports in the same cluster. This suggests that with good affordability and low costs, low-cost carriers play an important role in providing essential air connectivity to small and distanced destinations. Although low-cost carriers tend to use a point-to-point network instead of a hub-and-spoke network, major airports still play essential roles in shaping network connectivity and performance. Therefore, airports must have ample capacity and good infrastructure to ensure the network’s performance.

On the selection of aircraft-engine pairs for medium-haul Low-Cost Carriers operations

The selection of aircraft and engine models poses a significant challenge for Low-Cost Carriers (LCCs) striving for profitability. This decision is compounded by numerous subjective and objective variables and the vast array of available aircraft and engine configurations. Current methodologies, utilizing Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) and fuzzy logic, often simplify the problem, neglecting the engine consideration and limiting variables and alternatives. In this paper, we propose a novel methodology that circumvents these simplifications, considering engine configurations within the aircraft selection and addressing this problem for 27 parameters and real 51 selection alternatives. Through the consultation of different experts in the aeronautic field, we establish a comprehensive approach to assess the relative and overall performance of multiple variables, as well as their weights and hierarchy in the selection scheme. We apply this methodology to the aircraft selection problem in the medium-haul market, providing a framework and a solution for this currently unexplored literature domain. The results provide valuable insights for validating the devised methodology and providing relevant insights on the characteristics of the medium-haul market for LCCs.

Airline competition in Indonesian domestic market: Airline-within-airline strategies and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

This study investigates the competition among four carriers from two major airline groups in Indonesia, namely Indonesia group (Garuda Indonesia and Citilink of Garuda), and Lion Air group (Lion Air and Batik Air). An airline route choice econometric model in the spirit of Probit model is constructed and estimated to shed light on the interactions of the four airlines of these two groups. Specifically, our empirical examination accentuates how the two groups utilize the Airline-within-Airline (AWA) strategy, which refers to operating a full-service carrier (FSC) and a low-cost carrier (LCC) at the same time, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our estimation results suggest that the established FSC, Garuda Indonesia, used its LCC subsidiary, Citilink, as a fighting brand against its LCC rivalry, Lion Air. By contrast, Lion Air established a FSC brand, Batik, to broaden the market coverage instead of purely as a fighting brand. This competition structure was however shifted by the COVID-19 pandemic. All carriers became more aggressive to serve the routes involving those major airports in the big cities with more price-inelastic travellers. The overlapping routes between Lion Air and Batik Air have increased during the pandemic. The routes serving the tourism destinations have been cut due to the drop of inbound overseas visitors during the pandemic.

How Has COVID-19 Affected Airline Passenger Satisfaction? Evaluating The Passenger Satisfaction of European Short-Haul Low-Cost Carriers Pre- and Post-COVID-19

This paper investigates whether there has been a change in passenger satisfaction drivers for the three largest short-haul low-cost carriers in Europe before and after COVID-19. User-generated content on the Skytrax platform was used as the data source for passenger satisfaction, and these secondary data were scraped using the Web Scraper tool. Binary logistic regression was used for the classification model related to passenger satisfaction, and ROC analysis was used to evaluate the classification performance of the model. The findings suggested that the service attributes of seat comfort, cabin staff services, and ground services are significant predictors of value for money, and the value for money is a significant determinant of overall satisfaction in both periods. Additionally, it was revealed that ground service is the most important determinant of the value for money perception. The results also indicate that in the post-COVID-19 period, the predictive power of seat comfort has decreased while the predictive power of ground services has increased.

항공사 객실승무원의 직장 내 괴롭힘, 소진, 외상 후 울분장애(PTED) 간의 영향 관계

Cabin crews work in high-stress and high-pressure environments, yet the issue of workplace harassment they face has not been adequately addressed. Workplace harassment causes psychological distress and anxiety, which not only undermine cabin crews' job satisfaction and productivity but also compromise the safety and well-being of both cabin crews and passengers. However, the majority of existing studies on workplace harassment have primarily adopted an organizational perspective, thereby neglecting the individual experiences of cabin crews. This study seeks to address this gap by examining the structural relationships between workplace harassment and its effects on burnout and post-traumatic embitterment disorder (PTED) among cabin crews in both full-service and low-cost carriers in Korea. Survey data were collected from 399 respondents. The results indicate that workplace harassment significantly exacerbates the emotional exhaustion and depersonalization dimensions of burnout, although it does not significantly reduce personal accomplishment. Moreover, both workplace harassment and burnout substantially contribute to PTED, with an average PTED score among participants being 1.746, which indicates a significant level of long-term embitterment. These findings provide foundational data needed in developing intervention programs to enhance the mental health and quality of life of cabin crews and in creating healthier work environments at the corporate level, considering organizational dynamics and service performance.

What shapes international air transportation in Southern Africa? − The evidence considering the impact of Covid-19

The lack of intra-continental air connectivity in Africa has long been criticized. This paper aims to understand the factors determining intra-regional air transportation in the Southern Africa region and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Firstly, we analyze the geospatial characteristics of the air transport network, airport connectivity, and market structure before and after the pandemic. We also examine the progress of air transport liberalization in Africa and its impact on market structure and airline privatization. We find that the liberalization facilitated market competition and the progress of privatization, but its influence didn’t sustain long. Secondly, based on monthly data at the city level from April 2012 to December 2021, using monthly Total Night-time Light Intensity (TNLI) as a proxy of gross regional product (GRP), we develop a gravity model to empirically investigate the determinants of international air passenger flows within Southern Africa. The analysis shows that the factors promoting air traffic include GRP, air transport liberalization, the presence of low-cost carriers, and airline privatization, while high market concentration and diplomatic disagreements hinder air passenger flows. The pandemic and associated government restriction measures have severely impacted intra-regional air transport connectivity, while the vaccination program has significantly contributed to the recovery of air transportation.

Factors of the Evolution of Air Passenger Segmentation: The Case of the Serbian Air Travel Market

The paper investigates the evolution of air passenger profiles in terms of regulatory environment, competitive landscape, socio-economic and demographic trends. The research is supported by passenger surveys carried out since 2001. The surveys have been designed to provide objective and in-depth insights into the preferences and behaviors of air passengers in the Serbian market. The resulting passenger segments are categorized based on socioeconomic and travel purpose criteria, but the surveys conducted at Serbian airports reveal that competition triggered the service quality to become a major issue in the Serbian market, after the entrance of low-cost carriers. The research of future projections of air passengers in Serbia is based on the Delphi method for two-time horizons (2025 and 2035) and three future scenarios are proposed.

Analysis of Factors Causing Low-Cost Carrier Airlines' Customer Satisfaction at Soekarno Hatta Airport

The scientific literature review article entitled Analysis of Factors Causing Customer Satisfaction of Low-cost Carrier Airlines at Soekarno Hatta Airport is in the domain of marketing management science. The purpose of this article is to formulate a hypothesis regarding the interrelationship of various aspects, which will then be used as a basis for further research in the field of human resource management. This research uses a qualitative descriptive research methodology. The data used in this research comes from previous research which is still relevant to this research. Information is collected from leading scientific online platforms, such as Publish or Perish, Google Scholar, digital reference books, and the journal Sprott. The results obtained from this research are presented as follows: 1) Punctuality of flight times influences customer satisfaction of low-cost carrier airlines at Soekarno Hatta Airport; 2) The service quality of low-cost carrier airlines influences customer satisfaction of low-cost carrier airlines at Soekarno Hatta Airport; and 3) Aviation safety standards influence customer satisfaction of low-cost carrier airlines at Soekarno Hatta Airport.

Performance evaluation of red mud-based oxygen carriers in the chemical looping gasification of wet sludge rich in iron

A high-performance and low-cost oxygen carrier (OC) is the key for industrialization of chemical looping gasification (CLG) technology for sludge treatment. In this work, four OCs (RM_15 %CuO, RM_10 %CuO, RM, RM_POC) were prepared in an industrial-scale granulation equipment. The red mud was composited by mixing with different amounts of CuO and MnO2, then subjecting to different calcination temperatures. Firstly, the oxygen decoupling and oxygen carrying capacities of the OCs were compared using 5% H2 as the reducing agent. RM_15%CuO and RM_POC showed excellent oxygen release capabilities, with oxygen release loss of −1.99 % for RM_15%CuO. The catalytic gasification performances of RM_15%CuO and RM_POC were evaluated in a lab-scale fluidized bed reactor with wet sludge as the feedstock. Both OCs were able to maintain the H2 concentration of over 44.6% and no less than 79.2% sludge gasification efficiency after 30 cycles. However, the H2 content was clearly higher in case of RM_POC. SEM-EDS was used to analyze the influence of sludge ash, rich in Fe, on the performance of two OCs after the fluidized bed operation. The results showed that the sludge ash sample with more than 20% Fe2O3 could transfer its lattice oxygen to assist OC and prevent the in-situ segregation of Fe phase in the POC surface. However, the inhibitory effect of RM_15%CuO was much lower. The degradation performance of RM_POC carrier was slower and thus the H2 content was higher. This performance evaluation provides a theoretical guide for chemical looping gasification of sludge in future with an idea of mixed ratio of recycling sludge ash to the RM_POC.