Predictive effect of perceived operational effectiveness on patronage in the Nigerian aviation sector.

The purpose of this study was to empirically assess the effect of perceived airfare fairness on domestic airline Patronage in Nigeria. The study population comprised seventy-five thousand (75,000) passengers of registered and Operational Domestic Airlines operating within the Nigerian airspace and the sample size for the study constituted three hundred and eighty-two (382) passengers of the airlines which was determined using the Krejice and Morgan (1970) table. Furthermore, three hundred and eighty-two (382) copies of a structured questionnaire was distributed to airline passengers at the respective waiting lounges of the airports while three hundred and seventy-seven (377) were retrieved and used for the study. The Pearson Product Moment correlation technique was used in testing the hypothesis postulated in the study. The result of the analysis revealed that perceived operational effectiveness significantly influences customer patronage of domestic airlines in Nigeria. The researchers recommend that a consistent improvement in an airline firm’s operational capabilities and engineering department dexterities will significantly enhance domestic airline patronage in Nigeria