Customer complaints in the airline industry : a case of domestic and international air travellers in South Africa

Abstract: Service failures are inevitable in business. Understanding the nature of service failures that customers experience is critical to ensuring that proper measures are put in place to address them and avoid loss of customers. The study examined the types of customer complaints experienced by domestic and international travellers in South Africa. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire from 300 travellers at selected South African airports. The findings reveal that flight delays, baggage delays and poor food quality were some of the most complaints raised by travellers. Airlines were recommended to avoid those flight delays which are not naturally caused at all cost, and ensure that such delays are not repeated by securing pro-active strategies and that domestic airlines should consider the upgrading of their seats to better quality seats that can result in reduced customer complaints in this area