Empirical Investigation of Airline Service Quality and Passenger Satisfaction in India

Service sector has become more relatively important as it has become a most essential part of any economy. One of the industries in this service sector is the Airlines industry. Being one of the modes of transport that propels the economic activity of a Nation, it has become essential to study the quality of service that should be made available to the users by this industry. So far the focus on airline service research has been to identify airline selection criteria and performance rankings. Of late the focus of research efforts has shifted to examine the issues inherent in various passenger segments. Prime objective of this study is to analyze the relationship between air passengers' class of service and their perception of service quality and also purpose of the trip, and satisfaction. This investigation indicates that majority of respondents perceived that responsiveness is most important, followed by tangibility, empathy, assurance and reliability. In contrary, consumer satisfaction level is more for tangibility followed by responsiveness, reliability, empathy and assurance.