A Study On Customer Satisfaction in Airl [PDF]

Zitiervorschau

A Research Proposal on

A Study on Customer Satisfaction in Airline Industry at LPU Submitted to Dr.Anand Thakur Associate Professor

GROUP WORK FIRST ASSIGNMENT GROUP MEMBERS: REG NO: 1- Abdul Quoduos Rahimi 11312431 2- Mirwias Rahemzoi 11304220 3- Faiz Rahman 11312158 4- Zakria Kishan 11312251 5- Muzamil Haqmal 11312539

ROLL NO: A-21 B-31 B-41 B-44 B-45 0|Page

Table of Contents S.No Topics

Page No

1

Introduction

1-4

2

Literature Review

5-11

3

Need and Significance

12

4

Objectives /Hypothesis

13

5

Research and Methodology

14

6

Framework

15

7

References

16-17

8

Questionnaire

18-20

Page 1

Introduction The aviation sector is a key contributor to the growth and development, employment of Indian economy and development of trade, commerce and tourism in the country. It is a major economic driver for prosperity, development in any country. Rapidly expanding aviation sector in India handles near about 2.7 billion passengers across the world in a year and moves 48 million tonnes (MT) of cargo through 920 airlines, using 4.200 airports and deploying 2700 aircrafts in the world. Today, 89 foreign airlines fly to India and from India five Indian carriers fly to foreign countries. In any kind of business satisfying the customer is the ultimate goal or objective of any marketer. High passenger satisfaction is one of the important assets for air business in today‟s cut-throat competitive environment. The Passenger satisfaction service arises when a company can provide passengers with benefits equal or beyond the passenger‟s expectations and this is considered value-added. If the customers are satisfied with the product or service which the company is providing for them they will buy more or will use services continuously. Customer‟s gratification is an essential goal for each airline providing services for passengers. On the board of experience it is still something special for the customers. The customers have a wide choice to select the suitable airline products according to their requirements and preference. Therefore, Airlines Companies are continuously working on the in-flight products development and innovation to differentiate themselves from their competitors in the market. There are many factors that can guide an Airlines Company to build its customer basis and passenger services and satisfaction can be a determining factor in the success of all operation. Classification of Indian Airline Industry The players in the airline industry can be broadly categorized in three groups: * Public players * Private players * Start up players

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There are three public players in Airline industry: Indian Airlines, Air India and Alliance Air. The private players include Air Sahara, Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, Air Deccan, Spice Jet and many more. Those airline companies who are planning to enter the markets are called starts up players. Some of them are, Magic Air, Omega Air, MDLR Airlines and Premier Star Airline. 1. Air India: India’s Legacy Carrier The history of Air India is the History of Indian Aviation. Air-India began operating in 1932 as Tata Airlines, named after J. R. D. Tata, its founder. Founded as a small private domestic carrier in 1932.Air-India is a government owned Airline Company. It flies only International routes and has negligible presence felt while catering to the domestic traffic. 1. Indian Airlines : With nationalization of Air transport in 1953 via Air Corporation Act 1953. The National Flag carriers of India and Indian & Air India were born. Indian Airlines was born from merger of 8 domestic carriers. It caters to mainly to domestic routes with some presence felt in neighboring nations. Air India it is a full service carrier it is subsidiary is „Alliance Air‟. Its Symbol is Asoka‟s Chakra. The two national carriers enjoyed sole monopoly in the air transport segment as private carriers were barred from entering the segment of airline as per Air Transport Corporation 1953 act. 3. Jet Airways: In 1993 Jet Airways commenced its operations after the ban was lift by the government following the repeal of Air Corporation 1956 act. Jet Airways is being the most preferred domestic Airline in India. It is the automatic first choice carrier for the traveling public and set standards, which it seeks to compete with other airlines. It is the first airline that stood the crunch of late 1990‟s. Jet started its worldwide Operations in 2004 and carries more than 9 million passengers every year. Recently, the company made news when Naresh Goel led Jet Airways took 100 % stake in their arch old opponent Air Sahara in May 2007.

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4. Air Sahara: Sahara began its operations in 1993 after the domestic Air Market was opened by the government in 1990 and Air Sahara Limited is a leading private airline company in India owned by the diversified Sahara India Parivar group. After series of controversies Air Sahara has been taken over by Jet Airways in the May, 2007. The airline is now changed its name as “Jet Lite”. Jet has intension of converting Air Sahara in sync with LCC model to reach every segment of air customers. 5. Air Deccan: India‟s first budget carrier and the largest flew its first carrier in was in 2003.Headed by Captain Gopinath Air Deccan truly redefined the accessibility to the Indian Skies. It injected competitive spirits into the system and gave common man wings by reducing air fares which matched the first Class Railway Fares. The 3th wedding in skies was marked when Dr Vijay Mallya of Kingfisher Airlines picked up 26 % stake in Air Deccan. 6. Go Air: The most colorful airline in India (comes in 6 colors) started its operations from November, 2005. It belongs to the Wadia group. 7. Indigo:

The airline made heads turn when it placed the ambitious order of 100 aircrafts with airbus. The airline started its operations in India on August 2006. 8. Spice jet:

Spice Jet, a reincarnation of ModiLuft marked its entry in service by offering fares priced at Rs.99 fares for the first 99 days since its inception in the year 2005. The carrier is giving cut-throat competition to Railways. This airline company is known to have had made the least number of mistakes in their operations.

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Literature Review A literature review involves the review of the previous study that has been carried out in the reference to same subject. A literature review can help us in better understanding.

1-Mitra (2010) Examine in her study and she has given importance on healthy relationship between customer and the Airline service provider. The Airlines Industry today should aim not only at delivery of the service to the passengers, but they should also focus on satisfying the passengers with the services. They need to know the customer preferences and should bring changes according to that. Then the customer will be satisfied. Some of the private players are very much concerned about their passengers as well as some of them are implementing low price strategy to attract the passengers. So in this competitive age, the success of Airlines is very much dependent on the passenger service provided at all levels, after and during the journey to make their passengers satisfied. A descriptive research has been conduct with help of personal interview and close ended questionnaire for airline passengers. Data was collected from 250 respondents.

2- Archana and Subha (2011) they have studied the factors which influences on passenger satisfaction. They have identified that Cuisines provided, seat comfort, safety these factors have an important role in customer satisfaction. They have also found that customer satisfaction depends on personal entertainment, which is an important factor in flying decisions of passenger. According to their study online seat booking, call center facilities and reservation/cancellation is highest influencing factor in flying decisions of the passengers. The study covers a sample of 270 respondents and survey was conduct at the Chennai international terminal of Tamil Nadu during May-June 2011.Sampling was done by interviewing randomly selected passengers at different time of a day. A structured questionnaire was used for collecting the data.

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3- Mahajan, Rau (2010) the researcher extensively emphasis on the customer satisfaction is an important tool in developing the customer satisfaction measures and establishing business processes that link quality with customer satisfaction. In recent years, there has been considerable managerial interest in defining, measuring and developing customer satisfaction to meet the competitive challenges among the industries. Airlines also are suffering from such competition, Airlines must understand that customer satisfaction is what guarantees the future of these companies and it is achieved by an adoption of a comparative tool to minimize discrepancies between their services and passenger‟s needs. Various researches are available which clearly depict the satisfaction among the customers. In India low cost airline industry is going through an interesting phase of competition. Layoffs, shut downs and industry consolidation have bettered employee morale and that shows up the negative influence on the satisfaction level of the customers. The methodology is used was based on data collection, primary and secondary data. The researcher found that majority of the customers are satisfied the services offered by Indian Airlines.

4-Wong and Musa (2011) they found that airline industry has undergone through a fast moving ride for the past few years. One of the main developments in the current aviation industry is the growing popularity of low cost airline with high quality service. The competition between Malaysia airlines and Air Pacific has been cut throat as regards to price factor. Both the airlines have different customer base and hence offers different service experience. It is also note able that differentiate in providing higher service quality is the main factor to increase or to attract customers towards them. It has been noticed that customers are getting attracted towards the intangible service where monetary value is less than the services being provided.

5-Zahari, Salleh, Kamaruddin and Kutut (2011) Service quality is the essence of airline companies which makes their image differentiate from others and keep their image in the minds of passengers. Many airlines followed the route of higher service quality through on ground and off ground service. Inboard meal is one of the important aspects of the airline operation. Nowadays it became a marketing strategy. This research depicts the reaction of customers through inPage 6

flight meals to see the satisfying level and re flying intention. Food not only sacrifices the inboard customers but also have an effect on flying intention.

6-Kanethe(2012) The Researcher in found that restrictions on foreign ownership and labor laws have kept the aviation industry away from innovating, so instead of prospective measures like, bailout, Survival fund, airlines need to work with government to tackle long-term problems. Missions like bringing low cost carrier for an average income Indian who dreams to travel by air once in his/her life and secondly building more runways, running airports more efficiently and reining in labor cost. The challenges which the companies faced include shortage of workers and professionals, safety concerns, declining returns and the lack of accompanying capacity and infrastructure, Moreover, stiff competition and rising fuel costs are also negatively impacting the industry.

7-Bhuvaneswaran, Vijayranagam,(2013) The author start his research by the sentences that “The World has turned in to global village” and mentioned that India is also that a part of that village and thanked from booming of civil aviation industry which has helped more people in traveling from one place to another place in Tamil Nadu. The international airlines have been carrying on the operation in India mainly because of the fact that they attract people in India largely the business and leisure travelers. Domestic airline within the India remained stagnant over many decades. Deep-rooted bureaucratic policies constrained and development and the state monopolized all the domestic aviation decisions. The survey captured the perceptions of passengers who are now travelling in this rapidly changing environment of freer and more competitive markets. India‟s first low cost carrier, Air India has changed the competitive landscape within India. The survey results confirm the hypothesis that their- exists two distinct markets, one comprising those passengers who choose a full service airline and the other those that select a low cost carrier. The study based on primary data, they have collected through administrative interview schedule to passengers and airline employees and personal observation and discussion with customers and employees.

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8-Shah (2008) this article extensively speaks about the period of grandeur that the aviation sector in India has seen. This growth was an outcome of many Macroeconomic factors such as government reforms and market leads dynamics. Further the article talk about the marketing concept of POD of differentiation which various airlines use in order to attract the customers to fly with them. Airline companies are using different techniques such as multiple pricing policies, where in the prices of the airline ticket change in second and are sold to customers at different prices based on the availability of the seats and the date of travel. All Airlines have to adhere to some bare minimum barriers such as minimum number of fleet size, equity and minimum 5 years of domestic operation to be ale fly internationally. The article also sheds light on popular merger and acquisition that have happened recently in the Indian aviation sector such as: Kingfisher with Air Deccan and Jet Airways with Sahara Airline.

9-Venkatesh & Nargundkar (2006) examined that pricing and service quality are the key variables that decide the brand equity of each player in the airline industry. The article suggests that measurement and management of service quality is the key for survival of airline companies. This research paper examines the service quality delivered by four major airlines in India on the backdrop of stiff competition in the airline service sector. The process of traveling on a domestic airline was divided into pre-flight, in-flight and post flight experiences. A survey was conducted to find out the perceived service quality of frequent fliers on each of the four airlines across a series of services performance variables. The airline brands were positioned in a perceptual space, where the perceived service attributes were also mapped. Clear differences emerged among the airlines, with two of them perceived as being similar to each other, and the other two differing in many aspects. The survey methodology which is used in this research was questionnaire design which target 250 customers of different airlines.

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10-Punitha, Tamilchelvi (2013) Satisfaction is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. Customer satisfaction is what guarantees the future of airlines and it is achievable by an adoption between their service and passenger needs. The study has tried to find out the level of satisfaction on the services offered by domestic airlines in Coimbatore district. Total of 300 respondents have been taken by applying non-probable convenience sampling method and chi-square test is used to test the hypotheses. Findings of the study reveal that the passengers are fairly satisfied with the services offered by domestic airlines.

11-Raj Dutt and Khan,(2012) The paper examines the structure of the aviation industry in India and the entrepreneurial challenges that it has thrown up. It also discusses the sweeping changes that have radically changed the face of the aviation industry, the general economic conditions that have deeply influenced the industry, gradual process of liberalizing of air services, entrepreneurial interest and growth of new airlines, allocation of capacity at airports, reforms in the ground handling markets and other related issues. Further, it describes in detail the new regulatory problems thrown up by liberalization, as well as measures taken byentrepreneurs to overcome them. The authors have also made an attempt to empirically determine passenger satisfaction levels vis-à-vis changes introduced by new airlines in order to reduce flying costs.

12-Grewal, Citrin, Chandrashekaran(2008) In this article researcher has describe the importance of investment. They have done a research which says that shareholder value and the growth of company depends upon the investment done by the company i.e. in which sector or in which department they has invested its money. In this research they have adopted the view that customer satisfaction is a key marketplace asset, they have tested two conjectures: (a) objective service quality and advertising impact not only the level of customer satisfaction, but also the heterogeneity in this asset get impacted, and (b) Satisfaction heterogeneity will decrease the utility of the satisfaction asset in driving shareholder value, and also influence the contemporaneous volatility in shareholder value. They have done this research using secondary data from diverse sources describing the dynamics within the U.S. Airlines Industry over a 9 year period from 1997- 2005. They come to conclusion that increasing levels of satisfaction heterogeneity serve to reduce the volatility in shareholder value.

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13-Pawar, Ahadmotlaghi(2012).The researcher found that because of immense competition in today‟s business market, the organizations are struggling to apply different marketing strategies and programs to gain more market share and acquire more customers on one hand and to make them satisfies and loyal to their company, on the other hand. Therefore they can ensure long lasting relationship with their customers and create barriers in front of customer‟s brand switch. Application of CRM as continuous marketing program has gained great importance recently. Though application of CRM organizations gain knowledge regarding their customers and transmit this knowledge to company offer to fulfill the needs of customers and satisfy them. Airlines effort to provide better loyalty programs and customization of service besides making relationship with them can help to create customer satisfaction as prerequisite of loyalty.

14-David Mc.A Baker (2013) the purpose of this study was to examine the service quality and customer satisfaction of airlines between 2007- 2011 using data from the Department of Transportation Air Travel Reports. The objectives of this study were to compare customer satisfaction and service quality with respect to airlines quality dimensions and subsequently to determine the relationships between the dimensions of service quality and passengers‟ satisfaction on airlines services. A critical review of the literature revealed that the airline industry has been struggling with many challenges: cutting costs, managing fluctuating demand, keeping up with tight quality requirements while trying to maintain superior services and satisfy the needs of various customer groups. Data were collected from the Department of Transportation's Air Travel Consumer Report on the following measures: percentage of on-time arrival, passengers denied boarding, mishandled baggage and customer complaints. Using a quantitative research method, Microsoft Excel version 2010 was used to analyze the data using percentages, mean and standard deviation. Results indicate that while the traditional carriers are converging toward a higher level of service quality, using the four measures, there continue to be significant variation. In this study, over a five year period 2007 to 2011, the service quality of low cost airlines was generally found to be higher than that of traditional legacy airlines. Implications related to operating costs, market share, infrastructure and customer service were evident.

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15-Arora,Bishnoi,Atray (2009). The researchers found that Due to the rise in income levels, disposable income is increasing which enhanced the number of flyers. Indian tourism is also in the growing stage as a result there has been an increase in the number of international and domestic passengers as well. It will lead to the growth in airlines industry. Although currently there are many challenges which are being faced by the Indian Aviation Industry but the growth prospect is very much high. Government has to take an initiative to improve the Airport infrastructure and to pour in some investments as well. Some steps are already being taken by the government for the development of Aviation Industry. Concluding we can say that apart from all the challenges Aviation Industry's future is very bright in India. The methodology which they used in their research was collection of data from two sources Primary and Secondary sources. They found despite many issues in road of Indian aviation industry. The sector has improved very much and it will have a bright future. The government fulfilled the expectation of domestic and national passengers to high extend.

1-3 Literature Reviews collected by Abdul Quoduos Rahimi 3-6 Literature Reviews collected by Mirwais Rahimzoi 6-9 Literature Reviews collected by Faiz Rahman 9-12 Literature Reviews collected by Zakria Kishan 12-15 Literature Reviews collected by Muzamil Haqmal

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Need and Significance Passenger satisfaction service arises when a company can provide passengers with benefits that exceed passenger‟s expectation and this is considered value-added. If customers are satisfied with the product or service, they will buy more, and do so more often. Passenger gratification is an essential goal for each airline providing passenger services. The on board experience is still something special for the customer. The customer has a wide choice to select the suitable airline product according to their requirements. Therefore, airlines are continuously working on. In-flight and out-flight service product development and innovation to differentiate themselves from competitors. During the last few years a variety of in-flight product innovations have entered into the market. This includes the aircraft seat on long haul flights as an important product element which is continuously being improved and renewed according to its life cycle and changing customer requirements. The current development of business class seat roll-outs shows the significance of this product element which influences the buying decision of the passenger especially on long haul flights. If the passenger is not satisfied, due to the negative experience, the client will reconsider the buying decision for further flights and will probably switch to another airline. This kind of situation belongs to the daily business in the passenger airline industry.

1-Identify the factors those leads to customer satisfaction in Airlines Industry. 2-Passenger complaints on flight problems, ticketing problems, refunds, fares, customer services, advertising and other problems. 3. To examine the level of customer satisfaction in Indian Airline industry.

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Objectives The current study is aimed at evaluating the service quality and customer satisfaction of Airlines in India. The following are the objectives of the study 1- To study the role of service quality in providing the excellent customer satisfaction in Airline industry. 2- To analyze the perception of customers toward Indian Airline. 3- To identify major problems which the Indian Airlines faced.

Hypothesis: H1. Service Quality has a positive influence over the customer‟s decision regarding choosing the airlines to travel.

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Research Methodology Research Design: In order to achieve the above study objectives, we have used the Simple Random Sampling technique, randomly intercepted and administered fully structured questionnaires to target respondents.

Sample: We have targeted the age group of above 20 and who often use flight services. Area of Survey: lovely Professional University Gender: Male and Female both.

Sample Size: 50 10 Students have been selected from Business. 10 Students have been B.Tech Civil. 10 Students have been selected from Pharmacy. 10 Students have been selected from Education. 10 Students have been selected from Journalism.

Data Collection Method: We have collected data through survey method. Survey is done through questionnaire filling.

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Framework Independent Variable

Dependent Variable

Price Customer Satisfaction

Service Quality

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References: 1. Bhagyalakshmi Venkatesh and R.Nargrundkar.(2006). Service Quality Perceptions of Domestic Airline Consumer in India. https://www.scribd.com/doc/37083418/Article-07 2. Dipa,M.(2010).A Comparative Study between Indian Public and Private (Low Cost) Airlines With Respect to their Passenger Service. International Review of Business Research Paper. Volume 6. Number 6. December 2010 Pp.48-65 3. Ehsan Ahadmotlaghi, Dr.Prafullah Pawar.(2012)/ Analysis of CRM Programs Practiced by Passengers. Airline Industry of India and Its Impact on Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty. Researcher World. Journal of Arts, Science and Commerce. ISSN- 2231-4172 4. Kee Mun,Wong and Ghazali, Musa.(2011).Brandin Satisfaction in the Airline Industry. Faculty of Business and Accountancy, University of Malay,50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Accepted 23 March, 2011. 5. Mod Zahari, M.s,Salleh,N,k.Kamaruddin, M.S.Y and Kutut, M.Z.(2011) In-flight Meals Passenger Level of Satisfaction and Re-flying Intention. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology 2011. 6. MC, D. & Baker, A. (2013). Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction in the Airline Industry: A Comparison between Legacy Airlines and Low-Cost Airlines. American Journal of Tourism Research, 2(1), 67-77. 7. Mrs.V.Punitha and Dr.N.Tamilchevli.(2013) A Study on Passenger Satisfaction on the Services Offered by Domestic Airlines with Special Preference to Coimbatore District. International Journal of Scientific Research. Vol.2. Issue: 6 ISSN NO 2277-8179 June 2013. 8. Mohammad Naved Khan and Vippan Raj Dutt .(2013). Entrepreneurial Trends in Liberalized Civil Aviation Sector in India: Paradigm Shifts Beyond 1990s. 9. Aligrah Muslim University, S C Bansal Indian Institute of Management. http://www.ediindia.org/Creed/data%5CVippan%20Raj%20Dutt.htm

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10.

Neha.A., Bishoni,K, K. & Atary, S.(2009). Indian Aviation Industry Issues & Challenges. Rajasthan Institute of Engineering and Technology, Jaipur. India

11. Rajdeep Grewal, Alka V.Citrin, Murali Chandrashekaran.(2008) Customer Satisfaction Heterogeneity and Shareholder Value. Journal of Marketing Research October 2008. 12. R.Arachana and Dr.M.V.Suba.(2012). A Study On Service Quality and Passenger Satisfaction. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research. Volume 2, Issue 2. February 2012, ISS N 2231 5780 13. Rajesh U. Kanathe. (2012). Challenges of Indian Aviation Industry in chaotic phase. Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University, IMRDA, SANGLI, India 14. R.Bhuvaneswaran and Dr.D. Vijayarangam. (2013). Service Quality Towards Domestic Airlines and Passenger Perception in Tamil Nadu. Asia Pacific Journal of Research Printed-ISSN-2320-5504. September -2013 15. Rajesh,S.(2008) Growth in Airline Industry. U.S. Realty Consultants, Inc. September 2008. 16. Vaishali.C Mahajan, Rau.S.S (2010). Customer Satisfaction with Domestic Airlines in

India. Researcher Scholar,Sathyabama University , Chennai, India. National Journal on Advance in Computing and Management, Vol.1.No,1 March 2010

.

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Questionnaire Dear Respondent I am a student of lovely Professional University, conducting a study on customer satisfaction in Airline Industry a part of my Bachelor program. You are required to spare some time for the information required in the survey. The information provided by you will be used for academic purpose only. Your Participation is completely voluntary and all responses will be anonymous. Abdul Quoduos Rahimi

A. Demographic Profile 1- Name ………………………………………………… 2- Gender

Male

Female

3- Age

Under (25)

Between(25-35)

4- Your highest qualification? Under graduate

Post Graduate

B. Please select the airline (only one), which you have flown maximum times. 1. Spice Jet 2. Go Air 3. Sahara Airlines 7. Air India

4. Air India Express 5. Jet Airways 6. Indigo 8. Paramount Airways

5- Since how long have you been flying :First Flight 5 – 10 Years

1 – 5 Years More than 10 Years

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C. How you are satisfied with overall performance of the Airline. Regarding to following services; Customer Services

Totally Dissatisfied

Neutral

Totally Satisfied

Cost of Ticket

1

2

3

4

5

Booking System

1

2

3

4

5

Flight Schedule

1

2

3

4

5

4

On time flight

1

2

3

4

5

5

Safety/comfortability

1

2

3

4

5

6

Flight Service and Meals

1

2

3

4

5

7

Employees Attitude towards you

1

2

3

4

5

8

Baggage Delivery Time

1

2

3

4

5

9

No Refund Policy

1

2

3

4

5

10

Overall Satisfaction

1

2

3

4

5

1

2 3

6- Number of domestic Flights in last 1 year :1–5

6 to 10

7-Are you a frequent flyer member of this airline :- Yes

10 to 20

Above 20

No

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D. Please indicate (√) your opinion in case the following alteration in services leads to lower prices of tickets:Acceptable

Customer Services B1

B4 B5

Increase in Minimum Reporting Time

B6

Paid In-Flight Service and Meals

B7

In-Flight Advertisements

B8

Increase in Baggage Delivery Time

B9

Increase in Customer Complaint Handling Time No Frequent Flyer Program

B3

B10 B11 B12

Not Acceptable

Single Class Flight Point to Point Service (Limited Destinations but faster connectivity between stations) More dependency on Internet for ticket sale. Limited number of Travel Agents and Sales Office. Limited Staff & Cabin Crew

B2

Partially Acceptable

Company Web Site as main point of contact No Refund Policy

8- Will you continue flying your airline if the above alterations are made in customer services :Yes No Maybe 9- Rate the satisfaction level of your preference Airline. a) b) c) d) e)

Very satisfied Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied Very Dissatisfied

10- Do you want to continue with the same airline in the future?

Yes

No

Can‟t Say Page 20