Posted: June 23rd, 2015

The Quality of In-flight Services and Customer Expectations: A comparison between Low-cost and Legacy Airline Companies

The Quality of In-flight Services and Customer Expectations: A comparison between Low-cost and Legacy Airline Companies

Abstract

Once they pick on an airline, customers’ expectations are that they will receive high-quality services and be valued- just by virtue of them choosing to travel with that particular airline company (Alvesson, 2013 pp. 44). Whether the airline is low-cost or Legacy, customers never seem to be so much concerned about the airline designation; to them, what matters is the quality of service they receive. In addition to this, the goal of any business is to satisfy the customers’ needs fully (Bazeley, 2013 pg. 49). Passenger satisfaction service arises when a company can provide passengers with benefits that exceed their expectation, and this is considered as value-added (Bell, 2013 pp.102-103). This research will focus on the above parameters- quality service and customer expectation, in both low-cost and Legacy airlines. It aims to evaluate the quality of in-flight services and customer expectation; a juxtaposition of the low-cost and Legacy airlines within Europe will help in an in-depth analysis and ultimate comprehension of the situation.

 

Introduction

The recent past has seen the European airline industry undergo a myriad of transformations consisting of policy creations and regulations. Apart from government’s intervention, individual industries have stepped up their game amidst increasing competition from other airline companies, low-cost and Legacy airlines alike. These changes primarily target to improve the quality of in-flight services offered. Service quality refers to an approach applied to managing business processes so as to ensure full customer satisfaction, (Bougie, 2013 pg. 77-74). In the long run, this will assist the airline companies develop and enhance their effectiveness as well as competitiveness with regard to quality of their in-flight services, whether legacy or low-cost companies. As earlier mentioned, quality is a critical factor in the aviation industry, particularly for those companies that are intent on expanding their customer bases. Actually, what matters is not whether the airline is low-cost or Legacy, what is important is the quality of in-flight services offered aboard (Bowling, 2010 pp. 234). Quality of service can be measured, for instance, using tools such as the ISO standards. In this case, it is viewed as the combination of characteristics of a product or service (Briony, 2012 pg. 101)

On the same note, customer expectation is concerned with the standard needs and prospects of passengers once they choose an airline company (Bryman, 2011 pg. 22). In this case, both low-cost and Legacy airline companies should be able to satisfy their passengers fully in order to build themselves reputations and attract more customers (Cassell, 2012 pp. 61). Previous researches have shown that customers usually have high expectations for airline companies right before they decide to fly with them (Creswell, 2013 pp. 22). As a result, most of these institutions are disappointed due to over-expectations, particularly in the low-cost airlines (Cronin, 2010 pp. 98). This is because the services offered by low-cost airlines within Europe are commensurate with the travel expenses meted on the passengers. On the contrary, most Legacy airlines in the European countries can fulfil and surpass customer expectations (Denick, 2013 pg. 5). Legacy airlines in return, offer their passengers, state-of-the-art in-flight services that more often than not, supersede customer expectations.

 

 

 

Literature Review

This section intends to examine some of the already existing theoretical frameworks (journals, books, research and verbatim), on the subject of quality of in-flight services and customer expectation, in low-cost and Legacy airlines, specifically within Europe. The section is based on the analysis of previous studies relating to the aviation sector but within the bounds of this research. Owing to the vastness of the air transport sector (Easterbay, 2012 pp. 2) and the criticality of the subject at hand, several previous research-works have been done on the same. However, most of the past research dwelt only on one side of the whole subject; either low-cost airlines or Legacy airlines in Europe. Thus, this research will bridge the left gap by juxtaposing the two European airline statuses, and draw concise conclusions relative to the previous works. Some of them are highlighted below:

International Journal of Management and Strategy, (2012). Title: Customer Satisfaction Measurement In Airline Services: An Empirical Study Of Need –Gap Analysis (Gale, 2014 pp. 67). Authored by Dr Makarand Upadhyaya (an associate professor). This literature focuses on the complaints of customer and the role it plays in the subsequent service improvement. The author concentrated on two complaint types, controlled complaints- those under control for instance flight delays and staff misconducts; uncontrolled complaints like those relating to weather problems and technical faults among others. His recommendation was that trained and experienced members of staff are required in order to solve these issues and enhance customer experience.

Another similar research entitled, A Comparative Study between Public and Private (Low-cost) Airlines With respect To Their Passenger Service, was authored by Dipa Mitra under The International Review of Business Research Papers. In this study, the author gives the importance of healthy customer-airline relations. She asserts that the airline industry should not only aim to deliver services to the passengers, but also satiate customers based on their services. Also, it is imperative that the airline service provider understands the wants of the customers and know their preferences for efficient service (Gill, 2010 pp. 76).

In addition to the above, there are several other past works which touched on this research topic, for instance, Measuring Customer Expectations of Service Quality: case Airline Industry, research was done by Ekaterina Tolpa in 2012 and, In-flight Meals, Passengers’ Level of Satisfaction and Re-flying Intention, an investigation carried out by Mohd Zahari, M.S, Salleh et.al. Indeed, there are many other similar research, journals, articles and general writings covering some elements of this study.
Research Objectives and Questions

The research objectives in this study include;

• To determine the relationship between customer expectation and quality of service offered by European airlines.
• To compare the quality of in-flight services offered to passengers, between low-cost and Legacy European airlines.
• To find out whether the quality of service provided has any effects on attracting customers and their ultimate retention.
• To investigate the level of customer expectation for both low-cost and Legacy airlines.

On the other hand, the research Questions include:

• How does the quality of in-flight services dictate consumer preference in low-cost airlines within Europe?
• Which in-flight services are offered by Legacy airlines but lack in low-cost airlines in Europe?
• What customer expectations influence their choice of airlines? Why do others choose legacy as others go for low-cost?
• Between price and quality, which one comes first for the European airline customers?
• Finally, how can both low-cost and Legacy airlines in Europe manipulate their quality of in-flight services to suit customer needs?

Research Design

Based on the objectives above, questionnaires will be used to obtain the results. To be more accurate, questionnaires are administered alongside the random sampling method. The variables included in each question in the survey apply the Likert scale: Strongly disagree to strongly agree (Hanlon, 2010 pg. 98). The purpose of using these two variables is to come up with strong opinions from the correspondents; on the in-flight services they are being offered. Before the data is collected, all the variables and items for measuring the set constructs have been presented to airline experts and practitioners for scrutiny to ensure that they are valid in respect to the research area. In each case, the focused sample contains respondents 20 years old and above who also happened to be frequent users of the particular airlines. This research focuses on Europe as the study area while the sample target correspondents consist of both males and females in equal ratio.

 

 

Rationale behind the research Methodology

Questionnaires are efficient data gathering method, which fully takes care of the ‘whats and hows’ of measuring definite variables (Malhotra, 2015 pp. 11). For instance, questionnaires are known to have a very minimal error margin (Berry, 2011 pp. 44); and the fact that several questionnaires can be issued to a large number of correspondents (Ryan, 2012 pp. 12) and the results averaged makes questionnaires more than capable of producing accurate results on this study. Furthermore, interview through whichever means has always proved its ability to draw honest opinions from the correspondents (Petrick, 2011 pg. 67).

Data Collection and Analysis

Here, various methods will be used to collect data- primary sources and secondary sources

Primary Data

Primary data should be arranged in a way that they are able to fulfil the objectives set for this research and by that address the problem in question (Hardy, 2014 pp. 35). The primary data collection method that will be used, in this case, is questionnaires. According to Kotler (2014 pp. 178), primary data refers to the first-hand information obtained by a researcher based on their variables of interest on the particular objectives of the study (Lawton, 2012 pg. 73). Fully structured questionnaires will be given to a randomly sampled group of passengers who just alighted from a low-cost airline plane. The same should be done to passengers in an aircraft belonging to a Legacy airline company. The questionnaire consists of two sections; the first section aims to capture respondents’ expectations towards either the high or low-cost airline company in-flight services. Here, measuring of passenger expectation is to be based on the model developed by Parasuraman & Berry (Lovelock, 2013 pg. 21). The scale dealing with customer expectation consists of among other dimensions; facilities, responsiveness and customisations, employee conduct and reliability of the company. The second sections deal with consumer views on the quality of services provided by low-cost airline carriers and Legacy airline carriers. These two sections contain assorted questions related to the objectives of this research.

Secondary Data

Additionally, another research method to be used focuses on the analysis and interpretation of various existing secondary sources relating to this area of study. Here, information from different secondary sources are sought, sorted and analysed to find a concurrence, and possible differences in the result obtained via the questionnaires. Secondary data is defined as the information collected by other people who previously conducted research on the same area of study (Noor, 2012 pp. 90).

With the help of secondary data, researchers get a better comprehension and preview of the problem at hand. The most common ways of obtaining secondary data is by searching online databases for any documents relating to that study area. These online documents can be in the form of online journals, articles, written speeches and other relevant materials. To be noted, however, care should be taken by the researcher, not to use out-dated information (Walliam, 2011 pp. 59); online sources of data may be out-dated and, therefore, when used, will lead to wrong results and conclusion. But again, obtaining secondary data from the internet is less time consuming, efficient, cost efficient and requires less effort. The researcher should take advantage of technological advancement to achieve accurate data through this method.

All these data-secondary and primary- have to be accessed through the right channels before being applied. As has been discussed above, access to secondary data sources through the internet is easy and efficient. However, obtaining primary data can be a bit of an uphill task (Sarstedt, 2011 pp.27). The researcher has to put necessary measures in place to mitigate on the possible data collection challenges. Such challenges include, lack of cooperation from the correspondents, restricted access to the research location and lack of proper tools to collect the data (Berry, 2011 pp. 47). For this research however, it is necessary that the aviation company in which the researcher intends to carry out the study be informed prior to the study and their full permission obtained. In addition, it is proper that the researcher liaise with the company management to help in finding suitable corresponds for the study. Finally, all the questionnaires and such like materials are printed earlier in readiness for the study.
Summary

On the whole, this research proposal will act as a proper and useful tool for studying the quality of service and customer expectation between low-cost and Legacy airlines in Europe. With the strategic objectives and precise research questions in this research proposal, the researcher should be able to fulfil satisfactorily and surpass the set goals. This way, a comprehensive and concrete study is carried out which exceeds previous research on the same subject. As well, the data collection methods suggested within, are those that have previously been tested and proved to be beyond effective in any research study. Fitting them in this context give this research a direct head up and due advantage over other past investigations related to this field of study. Lastly, following each and every proposal and suggestion contained in the piece will give the result an astounding success.

Miscellaneous Considerations

In addition to the discussion above, this section looks into other considerations the researcher needs to make before embarking on the mission.

Ethical Considerations

In cases where a research involves an organisation, the researcher has to have a complete preview of the operations of the said organisation. That is, organisational concepts like how the company works, rules of the organisation, company policies regarding research works and even how the company would expect the researcher to conduct themselves around customers. On the whole, the researcher has to strictly follow the organisation’s work ethics. For a fruitful research, these considerations must be taken into account prior to the research; failure to which can lead to acute obstacles to data collection.

Limitations

All these data-secondary and primary- have to be accessed through the right channels before being applied. As has been discussed above, access to secondary data sources through the internet is easy and efficient. However, obtaining primary data can be a bit of an uphill task (Sarstedt, 2011 pp.27). The researcher has to put necessary measures in place to mitigate on the possible data collection challenges. Such challenges include, tool breakdowns, lack of cooperation from the correspondents, restricted access to the research location and lack of proper tools to collect the data (Berry, 2011 pp. 47). For this research therefore, it is necessary that the aviation company in which the researcher intends to carry out the study be informed prior to the study and their full permission obtained. In addition, it is proper that the researcher liaise with the company management to help in finding suitable corresponds for the study. Also, checking and testing research tools for functionality issues will help avert the challenge of tool breakdowns. Finally, all the questionnaires and such like materials are printed earlier in readiness for the study.

 

• Contingency Plan

For a research work this magnitude, failing to draft an alternative plan is a costly mistake; it is paramount that a ‘plan B’ is framed just in case. Before the researcher sets out for the mission, it is worth noting that apart from a complete failure of the research work due to challenges named above, other challenges may pop-up. Besides, in any important mission, an alternative plan has always saved situations that were almost out of hand (Alvesson, 2013 pp.55). In this case, the researcher can have alternative research tools, extra questionnaires in case the others are accidentally torn or destroyed. As well, an alternative organisation should be included in the list for ‘crash-landing’ in case the first organization fails to cooperate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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