SERVICE QUALITY METRICS FOR PASSENGER’S SATISFACTION (A CASE OF PAKISTAN’S AIR INDUSTRY)

Abstract

 Service quality and customer satisfaction are very significant concepts that air
companies must understand to remain competitive in the business. Customer perception can truly
define the level of service quality provided by an airline. The purpose of this study was to investigate
the service quality as perceived by the domestic air passengers to rank out three Pakistani airlines i.e.
air blue, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Shaheen Air International (SAI). Survey
methodology was used to collect the primary data through a quantitative research instrument. A total
sample size of 300 domestic passengers (100 each) were asked to rank out the Pakistani airlines
according to five points Likert’s scale in terms of seven service quality dimensions i.e. reliability,
assurance, facilities, employees, frequency, empathy and responsiveness. Air blue was perceived better
in ‘Reliability’, SAI was better in ‘Assurance’ and PIA was better in ‘Facilities’. Results showed that
the ‘Reliability’was supposed to be a Weapon of Mass Satisfaction (WMS) because it was ranked as
the most important service dimension by the respondents followed by ‘Frequency’ of the flights and
‘Facilities’ offered to the air passengers. ‘Empathy’ and ‘Employees’ were ranked as the least
important service dimensions