Perception Mapping of Travelers: Case of Six Indian Domestic Airlines

Problem statement: A comparison of customer satisfaction based on service quality as perceived by air travelers was done among six domestic airlines. Literature review suggested that flying experience has three stages: Pre-flight, in-flight and post-flight and a set of six variables can be used to measure satisfaction. These variables are: Ease of bookings through the website/call center; Hassle free check in/efficient ticketing staff/regular announcements during flight delays at airport; on time performance of flights; in flight experience; baggage handling and value for money. Approach: A questionnaire was designed with above set of variables and responses of 150 fliers of six domestic airlines viz., GoAir, Kingfisher, Jet Airways, Indigo, SpiceJet and Air India (Domestic) was recorded on a five point Likert scale. About 150 respondents were interviewed from different places in NCR: Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Greater Noida and Faridabad. A convenient sampling method was followed. Perceptions of only those travelers were captured who had actually undergone the experience of travelling by an airline. The range for the number of respondents was between 103 (for GoAir) and 133 (for Jet Air). Results: Using one way ANOVA, it was checked whether travelers perceive any significant difference between six airlines for each of the above six identified variables. With Tukey-Kramer test the airlines which are significantly different from the rest were identified. Perceptual maps with combination of up to two variables (attributes) were drawn to infer about the positioning of six different airlines. Conclusion: This study will help marketers of domestic airlines and designers of flight service offerings to enhance the satisfaction level of air travelers.