Development of a customised scale to measure service quality in the international airline industry

The services marketing literature focuses on the measurement of service quality and its impact and consequences on businesses. This is important as service quality affects behavioural outcomes such as repeat purchases and loyalty. Research in this respect has been concentrated in the banking, financial, insurance and health care sectors. We examine how service quality can effectively be measured in the international airline industry, which is facing huge competition. Based on data collected from travellers of a major airline company we analysed their perceptions of service quality using a customised scale which had seventy attributes. Factor analysis of these attributes revealed a four factor solution. ‘Service Personnel’ was the most important factor which is not surprising as airlines are highly service-oriented. Airline operators would be well advised to review our customised scale and possibly use the findings to enhancing their service quality and hence their competitive edge. The implications of the results of this study to the services marketing literature in general and to the international airline industry in particular are discussed