Project Report
TITLE: Customer Satisfaction in Airline Industry United Kingdom (British Airways)
Sharad Ganjihal
Sharad Ganjihal
Abstract
In service industries Customer satisfaction plays a very significant role. Several
authors had believed that Customer satisfaction and service quality are inter-related.
The purpose of this study mainly focuses on the customer satisfaction levels in Airline
sector in context with British Airways Limited in United Kingdom. In order to
determine the satisfaction levels of its customers in British Airways the author in this
thesis work had adopted exploratory method of approach and adopted quantitative
methodology to evaluate the existing relationship between the Customer satisfaction
and service quality measurement in British Airways Limited. The author had gathered
primary data in the form of conducting questionnaires and a survey of travellers
flying through British Airways Limited and also relied on secondary data resources
such as journals, books, articles for the purpose of the research study. Finally the
researcher could establish his aims and objectives in Research findings by applying
Paired Sample test in SPSS application and had concluded his work by mentioning
existing limitations and future recommendations.
Sharad Ganjihal
Acknowledgement
I am grateful to Almighty for his kind blessings on me during my entire MBA
programme.
The thesis work was undertaken by me under the guidance of my supervisor Dr.
James Ogunleye. I would like to extend my heartiest thanks to Dr. James Ogunleye
for his prominent guidance, invaluable inputs and feedbacks, timely support as well as
steady encouragement all through the process of dissertation work.
I also would like to thank my professors for their enormous support during my MBA
programme. I would like to thank my beloved parents, friends and colleagues for their
assistance and kind words during my entire thesis study. Finally I would like to
convey my deepest appreciation to my dear family for their uninterrupted support and
concern.
Sharad Ganjihal
Contents
1. Introduction..........................................................................................................................1
1.1 Aims and Objectives....................................................................................................3
Literature Review.....................................................................................................................4
2. Introduction......................................................................................................................4
2.1 Customer Perceptions.....................................................................................................5
2.2 Customer Satisfaction.....................................................................................................6
2.3 Customer Satisfaction in Airlines Sector United Kingdom.............................................7
2.4 British Airways United Kingdom...................................................................................9
2.4.1 Customer Satisfaction at British Airlines...............................................................10
2.5 Service Quality.............................................................................................................11
2.5.1 Dimensions of Service Quality..............................................................................13
2.5.2 Determinants of Service Quality............................................................................14
2.6 Customer Satisfaction and Service Quality Measurement in British Airways..............15
Methodology..........................................................................................................................16
3. Introduction....................................................................................................................16
3.1 Research Purpose..........................................................................................................16
3.2 Research Design...........................................................................................................17
3.3 Data Collection.............................................................................................................18
3.4 Linking the Aims and Objectives of the Research work with the Methodologies.........21
3.5 Methods of Data collection and Analysis......................................................................22
Research Findings...................................................................................................................23
4. Introduction....................................................................................................................23
4.1 SPSS Application results with total values by T-Test (Paired Sample Statistics).........23
Figure 1: Gender Wise Travel.............................................................................................24
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Figure 2: Gender wise travellers Vs Customer Satisfaction................................................25
Figure 3: Age Group Wise Vs Total Passengers Travel & Satisfied Customers.................26
Table 1: Age Group Wise Vs Total Passengers & Customer Satisfaction..........................27
Figure 4: Passengers Travel by Different Class Vs Customer Satisfaction.........................28
Table 2: Passengers Travel by Different Class Vs Customer Satisfaction..........................29
Figure 5: How often Passengers Travel yearly Vs Customer Satisfaction..........................30
Table 3: How Often Passenger Travel Vs Customer Satisfaction.......................................31
Figure 6: How often Passengers Travel Vs Different Age wise & Passengers satisfaction.32
Table 4: How often Passengers Travel Vs Different Age wise & Passengers satisfaction. .34
Figure 7: How often Passengers Travel Vs Different Class Travel.....................................36
Figure 8: How often Passenger Travel Vs Gender Wise.....................................................37
Figure 9: Occupation Wise Passengers Travel Vs Customer Satisfied...............................37
Table 5: Occupation Wise Passengers Travel Vs Customer Satisfied.................................38
Figure 10: Occupation Wise Passengers Travel Vs How often Passenger Travel...............40
Table 6: Occupation Wise Passengers Travel Vs How often Passenger Travel..................40
Table 6: Occupation Wise Passengers Travel Vs How often Passenger Travel..................40
Table 6: Occupation Wise Passengers Travel Vs How often Passenger Travel..................41
Figure 11: Overall Quality of Service.................................................................................43
Table 7: Overall Quality of Service Vs Total Passengers Travelled...................................44
Figure 12: Overall Quality of Service Vs Gender...............................................................45
Table 8: Overall Quality of Service Vs Gender..................................................................46
Figure 13: Expected anything else form British Airways...................................................47
Figure 14: Suggest British Airways to Others.....................................................................48
5. Conclusion..........................................................................................................................52
6. Limitations of this Research Study.....................................................................................53
7. Future Recommendations...................................................................................................53
References................................................................................................................................. I
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Bibliography............................................................................................................................IV
Appendix I................................................................................................................................V
Appendix II............................................................................................................................VII
Figure 15: The Kano model................................................................................................VII
Figure 16: Five key points of customer feedback...............................................................VII
Figure 16: Most Travelled seating class by UK Business travellers in 2007.....................VIII
Figure 16: Service Quality Ring........................................................................................VIII
Figure 16: Operational improvements must support strengthened customer relations for airline................................................................................................................................... IX
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I. Background
Airline sector is one of the major developing sectors across the World. The sector
contributes revenue to the nation and promotes tourism, foreign direct investment and
trade across nations. British Airways group comprises of British Airways plc and
several alliances with other companies namely in the article 13 and CBI (2009)
British Asia Airways, Deutsche British Airways, British Airways Connect Ltd, and
British Airways Holidays Ltd.
British Airways was initiated in the year 1924 widely known as Imperial airways,
until year 1935, subsequent to its alliance with other medium-level air transport firms
it thus emerged as a major firm popularly known as British Airways Limited. Above
all in the year 1939, British airline was publicly owned to begin the British Overseas
Airways Corporation (BOAC). By (Salamie and Selvaggi, 1995) consequently in the
year 1974 British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and British European
Airways (BEA) both had amalgamated in the British Airways Board and was declared
as British Airways Limited.
“The World’s most preferred Airlines” is the vision of the British airways. The
company wants to accomplish its vision by rendering most excellent service to its
passengers both on board and on the ground.
British Airways Limited is one of the most popular airlines in United Kingdom
catering to the needs of both domestic and International customers. The airline offers
its services in ninety four nations covering one hundred and forty nine destinations
(article 13 and CBI 2006).
As per the records in the year 2004 to 2005, the airlines carried nearly 35 million
passengers all over the world and more than 9 million tonnes of cargo. British
Airlines workforce was approximately 47,500 during that period.
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II. Research Focus
The customer awareness as well as their happiness is the foremost primary factor
influencing the passengers who travelled by British Airways, and the major strategy
of the airline sector is to sustain its growth by providing excellent customer service
and to maintain international standards in terms of service quality and thus strive to
implement innovative measures to retain existing passengers and to attract new
customers. Therefore it is very necessary for the British Airways management to
analyse and understand what customer really wants and expects from the company
and whether the firm is really able to reach up to the expectation of its passengers and
also to analyse the significance of service quality, its dimensions and determinants as
a tool for measuring the customer satisfaction in the service industry.
III. Research Aim and Objectives
The major purpose of this research work is to analyse and determine the customer
satisfaction in the airline industry in context to British Airways Limited United
Kingdom and in this process it is very vital to assess the link between the customer
perceptions and expectations, as meeting customer demands is not a prerequisite but
an essential in this competitive global market. Therefore in this course work the
author strives to assess how the customer perceptions and expectations were measured
from view point of passengers as well as the management and also to signify the role
of service quality in providing the excellent customer satisfaction in airline industry.
IV. Aims and Objectives
The primary aim of this research is to examine the Customer satisfaction levels in
Airline Sector in United Kingdom with reference to British Airways.
To examine customer perceptions and customer expectations in Airline Industry
with reference to British Airways.
To understand and analyse the role of quality of service in affecting customer
satisfaction in Airline Sector in context with British Airways.
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V. Layout of Dissertation Thesis
This dissertation has been divided into 6 chapters and the contents and motives of
each chapter have been discussed below.
This research work has been grouped into six divisions along with the summary of
each section briefly explained.
Chapter 1: Introduction
In this preliminary section the author gathers sufficient data which emphasizes the
awareness and expectation of the customer along with best service quality is the most
fundamental point in all major airline sectors especially in British Airways. Customer
relationship management has a positive impact on a firm’s organizational
performance and its output. The companies formulate resolutions to follow definite
approach to remain aggressive. Therefore as part of thesis the writer will study about
the various concepts in the airlines sector, particularly British Airways Limited. The
author clearly defined various terms such as Customer satisfaction, customer
perceptions, expectations and service quality. The motive of the research has been
identified and above all the aims and objectives of the course work were clearly been
addressed by the researcher.
Chapter 2: Literature Review
In this Section the author gathers vital information about customer satisfaction,
customer perceptions and expectations and role of service quality in improving
customer satisfaction. Further the researcher conducts an in-depth study by referring
various books, journals, articles and magazines to understand the nature of airline
industry and further narrow down his thesis on the British Airways Limited which is
one of the most popular airlines in the United Kingdom catering its services to both
domestic and International passengers across the World. Subsequently, the author also
explores literature to re-examine the dimensions and determinants of service quality.
Thus by conducting further research the author was able to analyse the levels of
customer satisfaction and service quality measurement in British Airways Limited.
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Chapter 3: Research Methodology
In this segment the author will explain the purpose of this research work, the design of
the coursework and the various data types and data collection methods. The author
also conducted study in detail regarding Qualitative and Quantitative research
methods. In this research work the author had adopted both quantitative and
qualitative research method for this thesis work. The quantitative method was applied
by interviewing the passengers of British Airways on important airports in United
Kingdom and Qualitative Research method was executed by conducting a broad
research on British Airway’s performance by referring the annual reports, periodicals
and reviews. Furthermore, in this section the researcher discusses about the various
data collection methods and highlights both its merits and demerits. In this research
work, the researcher had adopted primary data which was collected in the form of
questionnaires with a sample size of 190 was collated from the British Airways
passengers and also explored academic journals, articles and books in the form of
Secondary data to analyse and validate the aims and objectives of this research work.
Chapter 5: Discussion and Findings
In this section the researcher examines and analyses the data obtained from review of
literature and research methodologies. This section is considered as significant as it
assesses and validates the aims and objectives of this research study statistically by
applying SPSS paired sample test.
This is an important chapter which delves to investigate the points emerging from
literature and the objectives of this research. With conclusive evidence and with
support of reliable data compiled in chapter 4 the author will analyze the degree to
which customer expectations are met and what are strategies needs to implement to
retain the customer by British Airways in the competitive market. Also, how far the
two main objectives of the organizations that include expanding their strategic
capabilities and reducing the competition are fulfilled through such cooperative
strategies particularly the airlines and more specifically British Airways in today’s
business environment will be discussed. It will also explain the scope for further
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research. Even author used SPSS application to conclude with ANOVA Test and
pared Sample Test.
Chapter 6: Conclusion and Reflection/Limitations
In this chapter the researcher concludes the aims and objectives of the thesis work
moreover summarises and concludes the purpose of the research study conducting in
various stages and also highlights the scope of further in-depth study as well as
discusses the various limitations of the course work.
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1. Introduction
Aviation sector is one of the major industry sectors in United Kingdom. In a year around two
hundred thirty five million passengers travel by Air. (www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/aviation/). In services,
airline sector plays a predominant role. It promotes tourism, international investments and
globalisation which contribute to the economic growth of a country.
British Airways is one of the popular airlines worldwide catering to the needs of both domestic
and international passenger its operations are headquartered in London United Kingdom and
spread across the World in 72nations covering 149 destinations. As per the recent studies in the
year 2004/2005, British airways stood first in the airline industry in United Kingdom carrying
over 35million passengers and roughly about 0.9 million tonnes of cargo (CBI, 2006).
Many researchers and analysts believed that customer beliefs and awareness play an important
role in Service industry. It is also considered that Service quality is the fundamental aspect of
strategic management and marketing for firms in service sector (Atilgan, et al., 2008). Customer
satisfaction and reliability as a result of high quality, ensures long term growth and success
(Atilgan, et al., 2008). If service sector has to carry on its growth it has to focus on offering
excellent customer service and improve customer satisfaction by analysing their needs,
understanding their perceptions and meeting them. Determining customer demands and
observations in airline industry is really tricky as customer satisfaction is ascertained by several
insubstantial aspects ambiance of the cabin, quality of food served in the flights to name a few.
Customer satisfaction is one of the foremost major processes in aviation industry and is
established as most vital to the success of business competition. The terms customer satisfaction
and service quality have been both explained as meeting the expectation of the service with that
which is really experienced by the end user (Sureshchandar, 2010). As a result, when consumer’s
practices meet or exceed their expectations, the service is observed as a quality service and the
recipients are usually satisfied customers. On the other hand, when the service experienced by
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customers is below than their expectations, the perception of service quality is affected and
customers are usually not satisfied.
According to (Chen & Chang, 2005) in the airline sector, judging what passenger wants and
imagine is necessary to deliver excellent customer service and quality and subsequently to
analyse the firm’s performance standards. Of late, Air travel industry has been in the news very
often for various reasons. As per the recent studies conducted by several researchers, business
analysts, media and top management in aviation sector it is understood that the potential
expansion of airline industry is in risk (Bhatti and Qureshi, 2010). In order to stabilise and
improve the growth of aviation sector it is understood that major focus should be laid on
Customer satisfaction and Customer relationship management.
In recent times, Customer desires and outlook has changed. In the airline sector, assessing what
customers really want is vital to render expected service quality. Hence it is very important for
the top management in airline sector to evaluate the passenger requirements from customers
view point and in several instances it is observed that they focus more on cost cuts which results
in well-organized operations on the contrary it will have an undesirable effect on the satisfaction
levels of the end user (Chen & Chang, 2005). The airline business must aim at satisfying the
customer wants and providing high class customer service by Chitnis (2007). The primary motto
of airline sector is to improve services which catch the attention of and keep passengers who are
happy, faithful and provide good reviews of the airline (Chitnis, 2007).
Customer satisfaction has turn out to be an important goal in service operations as it brings good
reputation to firms in airline sector (Ranaweera and Prabhu, 2003). Dennett and Colgate (2000)
supported that as competition created by deregulation has become more intense, service quality
in the airline industry has also received more attention. (Clemes et al. (2008) stated that in the
airline companies especially meeting excellent level of quality of service became a promotion
activity in the beginning of 1990’s due to high end competition. In service sectors such as the
airlines industry, the unique characteristics of services involve that top management realize what
customer desires and expects, and meets them(Aksoy, et al., 2003).
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In today’s global economy competition has become very severe. According to Hague (2011)
several products and services are facing stiff rivalry from their opponents, while several
organisations try to draw customer’s attention by proposing price discounts and enhancing
customer satisfaction. Of late, in today’s global market, “Customer is treated as King”. The
customer has become vital in making any novel product booming in the market. Customer
perceptions of goods or services are generally assessed by the interests and preferences of the
customers.
The concepts of Customer awareness and customer satisfaction are inter-related. If the goods or
service produced by the organisation is up to the customer reach and expectations which results
in customer happiness and he becomes more faithful to that specific goods or service Garchar
(2010).
1.1 Aims and Objectives
The primary aim of this research is to study the Customer satisfaction levels in Airline
Sector in United Kingdom with reference to British Airways.
To examine customer perceptions and customer expectations in Airline Industry with
reference to British Airways.
To understand and analyse the role of quality of service affecting customer satisfaction in
Airline Sector in the context to British Airways
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Literature Review
2. Introduction
Aviation sector plays crucial role in moving passengers or goods from one place to another either
it may be domestic or international, due to economic globalisation and technical advancements,
the airline industry is facing stiff competition. According to (Atilgan, et al., 2008) in the industry
like airline, quality of service is significant because providing excellent quality of service to
customers is necessary for the continued existence of the sector. Quality of service in airline
industry is the focal point of satisfaction by travellers, traveller’s loyalty, and traveller’s choice
of airline. Therefore, offering better service quality may deliver more customer satisfaction
which will result in attracting more customers and increasing profits in business. Customer
satisfaction is assessed to play a vital role in every business model especially in service
industries such as tourism, hospitality and airlines. Parahoo (2006) said that high level of
customer satisfaction will directly leads to high returns by reducing expenditure like marketing,
and word-of-mouth. Several market researchers and business analysts argued that there exists a
strong connection between customer satisfaction and customer perception (Singh 2006).
According to (Parahoo, 2006) it is clearly evident that customers who are happy and delighted
will attract the new customers by word of mouth; this will impact on increase in sales, thus
resulting in profits to the firm. Hence customer satisfaction proves to be an important aspect in
airlines sector. Customer satisfaction derives from assessing customer perceptions and
performance.
Excellent customer satisfaction may be anticipated to enhance the reliability of the customer,
minimize price flexibility, protect market share from rivals, lesser transaction costs and
advertising, and to enhance organisation’s goodwill in the market place (Parahoo, 2006). In
recent years, customer has wide range of goods or services available in the market thus leading
to high expectations, on the contrary, in service sector in order to get improved results every
company should give more weight to service quality and customer satisfaction. For that reason
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many authors argued that evaluating customer awareness and offering excellent customer
satisfaction is critical for the progress of an organisation (Narasimhan, 2011).
2.1 Customer Perceptions
The choices made by the customers are mainly impacted by their awareness on a specific product
or services, which bring in more customers and improving brand name and reducing marketing
costs.
The optimistic result of customer choices and activities will result in making the customer happy
and contended. Thus, it will lead to higher customer satisfaction. Recently, customer perceptions
have become more important for achieving steady growth (Singh, 2006). Customer perceptions
are extremely vital and by improving the positive link between the company and the customer,
his notions about the organisation and its service delivery and products may vary and as the
customer starts consuming the product more often, he will get more used to the product and once
the customer is attached to that specific product of the firm, his observations will be more
generalised and after some period, the same customer will bring in more customers to the firm
(Giese and Cote, 2002). According to (Hague et al., 2011) it is important to categorize what
exactly the consumer really wants and why he likes a specific firm’s goods or service. The
customer’s wishes and desires will mainly be based on their life style, income and social status.
The choices of the customer vary if there is a change in their earnings or standard of living.
Hence it is very essential for every company to assess and understand how the customer
anticipates their goods or service by (Grayson, 2001). By following this strategy, it will be easy
to meet the customer perceptions with the co-ordination of several resources in the firm. The
feedbacks and surveys conducted by the firms will be critical to gauge the customer emotions,
needs and expectations by (Smith and Wagner, 2003) and further will assist in assessing the
merits and demerits that are contributing to the firm’s continual growth. Additionally, reviews
will also help in understanding the annual earnings, life style, social status, and geographical
location which direct the customer actions and mind-set.
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Of late, it is essential for the business groups to realize and concentrate on how other customers
observe the product or brand in the market. Thus, the theory of customer perception and
customer satisfaction are inter-related. Customer anticipations play a critical role in influencing
customer satisfaction with services.
2.2 Customer Satisfaction
According to Dahlsten (2003) Customer satisfaction may be described as the notion which
customers may encounter about the products or services of a specific brand or business firm
when the customer expectations have been reached or surpassed the existence of that particular
goods or service. As per (Kotler, 2003) satisfaction is an individual’s feeling of pleasure or
dissatisfaction obtained from comparing a good’s possible outcome in contrast to the customer’s
demands. According to Siadat (2008) an organisation may increase it sales and customer’s
loyalty by offering excellent satisfaction by the customer. Therefore customer satisfaction has
happened to be one of the focal point for all business especially those in service industry.
According to Parahoo (2006) customer satisfaction is gauged to sustain existing customers and
as a result, effectiveness and growth of business.
Benner (2009) argued that to maintain customer expectation and customer loyalty in order to
gain higher long-term performance of the company, customer satisfaction is one of the important
factors. Its certain that customer expectation meets the customer satisfaction, this will be the
driving force to build the strong relationship between client and a company as per Russell (2007)
also supported this will directly lead to more and more profitable to the organization. Parker and
Mathews (2001) argued that there are two key analysis of satisfaction, Satisfaction itself a course
of action as well as an end results.
Customer satisfaction is constantly the outcome of the observation processes. Customer
satisfaction may be implied as a decision relied on the growing practice through a distinct goods
or service relatively than a business event (Hossain, 2006). Customer satisfaction may be
explained as an individual’s complete assessment of the performance of a product or service till
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now. According to Mququ (2005) customer satisfaction as a post purchase thoughts framed
through a rational evaluation of the quality that a customer expected to obtain from an exchange
and the intensity of quality the customer notices actually receiving from the trade. To be specific
it is the state of customer perceptions and expectations. As per (Parahoo, 2006) customer
satisfaction is a fundamental factor in improving production process and end user relationship.
The importance of customer satisfaction and its use for determining the quality from the
customer’s outlook have been highlighted by many researchers in airline industry (Berry, 2005).
Customer contentment is the emotion or outlook of a client towards a goods or service following
it had been consumed. Customer happiness is the significant end result of endorsement activity,
where it operates as a link between various levels of consumer purchasing activities.
Customer satisfaction is the effect of the customer’s awareness, assessment and emotional
reaction to the spending experience with goods or service (Anthony, 2005). The hypothesis of
customer satisfaction has fascinated the interest of intellectuals and research analysts for more
than three decades in the occasion of the fact that clients are the foremost source of most
organisations revenue. Savitz (2009) explained customer satisfaction as an result of obtain and
use as a consequence from the purchasers’ evaluation of the benefits and expenses of the
purchase and utilize drawn from the buyers’ assessment of the payments and expenditure of the
acquisition relative to the probable end results. Many research studies were prevalent on
consumer satisfaction and many analysts had conducted research on the evaluation of quality of
service in airline sector. For the first time in the year 1986 Kearney was the first author who
assessed service quality of airline business with the perspective of airline customers in his
research study by Venkatesh and Nargundkar (2006).
2.3 Customer Satisfaction in Airlines Sector United Kingdom
Airline sector in United Kingdom (UK) is considered to be major industry. In the year 1988, the
sector contributed £10.2 billion to GDP (CBI, 2006). The services offered by the industry are at
par with the international standards catering to the needs of both domestic and international
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passengers. The airline sector is very significant to the United Kingdom’s tourism as 1.8 million
citizens in the country are engaged in this sector report by (CBI, 2006).
Satisfaction of a customer is a purpose of observed quality and notions of degree to which
remarked quality unsuccessful to counterpart customer expectations. Customers will constantly
evaluate the remarked performance of goods or service with little performance mark. Karma
(2004) believed that Consumers will only be contented when the estimated performance is more
than the target; conversely dissatisfaction happens when the performance is below the
expectation. As per Rachel and Andy (2010), those customers are merely satisfied and they find
it simple to shift when other firm is providing a better cost or package while the importance of
customer satisfaction is highlighted in business where competition is severe by the Kotler (2000).
The primary objective of airline sector is to provide excellent service and competency. Rachel
and Andy (2010) argued that excellent service is vital while the number of absolutely contented
customers segment is an important factor as assessed by some analysts for high profits. A
business organization must regularly gauge consumer satisfaction in order to analyse and identify
whether clients were delighted or not. According to Torbica and Storh (2001), particularly in the
airline sector the degree of customer happiness is plainly recognized off late in the process,
whilst the majority of the customers spent the cash by now. When firms study on which
characteristics of a service or products affect consumer satisfaction, their duty is to adapt their
current strategies in a manner that would lead to utmost consumer contentment.
According to the literature, outstanding service is achieved through committed and loyal staff.
To provide a reasonable level of service and quality, Rhoades (2008) stated that a firms approach
should be focused in improving the skills and ensuring efficiency, motivation and commitment
of the employees even supported by (Benner , 2009). As the personnel are vital to service
delivery, there is a necessity to have employment protection, training and dispersed decision
making. According to (Chitnis, 2007) Airline industry should assess and determine the demands
of its passengers and their satisfaction levels. Satisfaction may be described as what the
organisation provided to its customers and whether the company met the customer’s demands
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(EUPAN, 2008). Airline sector may develop the scope of achievements if they allow its
workforce to take individual responsibility and go an extra mile to make the customers happy
and contended (Chitnis, 2007). Customer satisfaction is when the consumer is delighted with the
service delivered by the airline sector that meets the client desires, wants and expects.
In this research, we examine thoroughly about the several segments of expectations. It is been
observed that it costs five times as much to advertise and convince a new client as to retain the
existing one. They should analyse the current market trends, customer preferences and should be
innovative and flexible. Airline industry should focus on making customers happy and should
allocate finances on providing excellent customer service.
2.4 British Airways United Kingdom
In United Kingdom British Airlines is the largest Airlines offering both domestic and
International services and occupies fifth position Worldwide covering 550 destinations. The
company employs 47000 workforce across the World out of which 85 percent of them was based
in United Kingdom generating an annual income of £7.8 billion (www.britishairways.com).
Caleo (2005) believed that “British Airways is popular across the World for their premier service
and World class facilities, having been marked in various articles and feedbacks by airlines as
well as passengers”.
Many believe that British airlines not only provide State of art facilities to its passengers but also
maximises its efforts in providing excellent service by its personnel who are dedicated and
committed (www.thetimes.co.uk). According to Caleo (2005) British airlines was started as
Aircraft Transport and Travel in 1919 with its voyage from Le Bourget to Honslow in August
1919. After its alliance with few other airlines it was known as Imperial Airways operating with
only eighteen crafts and two hundred fifty personnel. The British airways have progressed within
a century and became major flight carrier in Great Britain (www.Britishairways.com). The
British airlines was very popular not only for offering largest international flights but also for
providing excellent facilities such as extensive leg room for passengers in economy class cabins,
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special lounges at par with International standards and excellent onboard catering services
maintaining good hygiene. In addition to this, it offers many value added services for instance,
valet services, online checking, travel advice, online personal bookings, British airways had
introduced e-ticketing system wherein the passenger may provide an evidence for personal
identification and may check-in without holding the air ticket physically. Of late, the company
has introduced one of the excellent services through online mechanism, where flights may be
altered up to thirty minutes prior to exit time Caleo (2005). Consequently, all of these excellent
complimentary services work mutually with great customer service department attributed fame
and glory to the prominent airlines British Airways.
2.4.1 Customer Satisfaction at British Airlines
In United Kingdom British Airways Limited are the most popular airlines as it offers World-
class facilities and excellent customer service to its passengers and it’s the most preferred airlines
in United Kingdom. In the year 2008-2009 British airlines lay down the target to improve
consumer experience, persist to improve business profits by making it cost effective, enhance its
operations and make commercial accountability a major part of the trade. Many business analysts
believed that high fuel costs and the economic slowdown has urged the British Airlines top
management to alter the plans and amend the course of action. Yet, it strived to make
considerable growth against primary objectives, leading to further success. In addition to this, the
galleries lounges at Terminal 5 and 3 had a fabulous reception. They have received record scores
of customer service at Terminal 5 due to their redesigned services related to luggage and
punctuality. The Facilities for premium passengers has been renewed with the new club world
goods in several flights. The British airways intend to offer the excellent connectivity to its
passengers across the world. Apart from their long distance routes from London city to New
York JFK and they are planning to widen their network of flights to Johannesburg, Dubai and
Saudi Arabia. The British Airways is believed to be the World’s most excellent Airlines in the
market and they have a strong base in London as the Heathrow airport provides world class
facilities to both domestic and international passengers. By improving profitability ancillary
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services that provide passengers immense value and strengthen their brand image. Their motive
is to develop their mileage business and increase revenues from outsourced engineering, in-flight
sales, and through their company online website. On their website they have introduced a variety
of great value restaurants and car hire options package with their aircraft.
The British airways have continued to rise inspire of severe competition in the airline industry.
The airlines had initiated new destinations from London to Hyderabad and St.Kitts and in the
year 2008 they launched open skies and auxiliary flying from Europe to North America and
bought L’avion in the year 2008 and in the year 2009 the first flight from city of London to New
York JFK service was commenced.
2.5 Service Quality
In the early 1980s the significance of service quality in goods and services were completely
understood by several companies. The term Service quality is a vital tool in gauging customer
satisfaction. Quality of goods and services may be simply ascertained by customer on the other
hand it is often believed that Service quality is much more complex. According to Lewis and
Booms (1983), Service quality is an evaluation of how good the product or service offered by the
firm matches customer anticipations. Offering excellent service quality means being
conventional to customer expectations on a regular basis. To ensure excellent customer
satisfaction every company should focus on rendering best customer service which may make
the customer contented and cheerful. Therefore many authors believed that the concept of
customer satisfaction if often associated with service quality (Rhoades, 2008). The word service
quality may be cited as the focus on reaching the customer’s desires and needs and how well the
service provided is received by the customers. Berry and Zeithamal (2005) argued that concept
of service quality has been associated to costs, effectiveness, better customer satisfaction,
sustaining existing customers (Parahoo, 206).
The concept of Service Quality has been termed as a tool of customer satisfaction. Customer
happiness is a feeling or mindset of a client towards a particular product or service after it is been
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consumed. A satisfied buyer helps in promotion of sales of goods, hence customer satisfaction
acts as an inter-link between several stages of behaviour of prospective clients. For instance, a
customer may repurchase a product if he is more satisfied with that. The brand or image of an
organisation is often improved based on the number of satisfied customers because a satisfied
customer may bring in new customers. Customer satisfaction may be measured by significant
customer perceptions of service quality, fondness and prospects (Godwin and Petter, 2010). To
be precise satisfaction or dissatisfaction is the difference between how a customer expects to be
concerned and how he or she thinks being cared for. Ayob (2005) states service quality as “the
level to which the service, the service procedure and the service establishment can meet the
outlook of the user. Some popular definitions include “suitability to utilize” (Rhoades, 2008), or
“one that pleases the customer” (Kandampully, 2008).
Firm’s produces goods and offer services to its customers such as space storage, distribution,
product insurance, customer service and promotion. A production unit has both tangible and
intangible aspects. Service quality has more intangible factors than produced goods. The term
service quality may be distinctive as the focal point on meeting the customer’s wants and desires,
and how well the service delivered reaches the customers (Anthony, 2005). Service quality may
be stated as customer perception of how better a service reaches or go beyond their expectations
(Godwin and Petter, 2010). The service activities are really critical for the financial system to
function and to improve the quality of our life. The author James Fitzsimmons defines service as
“unpreserved, subtle experience carried out for a customer performing in the role of co-
producer”. Services are often described as ideas and concepts; goods as products or
commodities. Consumers experience physical products such as talcum powder and leather goods
which is different than intangible service such as air travel. Buyers may physically experience
the features of talcum powder and leather products whereas the services are generally subtle.
Services are widely carried out openly for buyers. The study of Service Quality concept is more
complex as it often deals with intangible and consumable elements. Every firm expect their
Motivated and dedicated personnel to make their consumers happy by offering excellent service.
This will result in bringing in new customers. Hence the need to identify and understand the
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distinctive nature of services, its function and impact of its services in our everyday life is very
significant.
It is often argued that there exists ten determinants to gauge service quality but author Savitz
(2009) classified these determinants into five. Firstly Reliability, this entails the stability in
performance and fairness. In simple words, it may be described as acting as per the customer
demands and delivering what is promised by the firm, for example, delivering services to the
customer within the stipulated time. Secondly, Responsiveness means optimistic and enthusiastic
personnel in the organisation ready to provide quick and prompt service to customers. If a
passenger has a problem, how the customer service department staffs attend to his queries and
take necessary action and resolve them with the turnaround time. Here in airline industry the
ability to respond well to the customer is assessed. Thirdly Assurance, it implies that every
organisation should try to attract the customer by its brand value/image; on the contrary it should
win consumers by its honesty and creditability. Next determinant may be explained as Empathy
meaning being polite, thoughtful and friendly to the clients. Every firm expects its workforce to
give respect to its customers. In service industry especially in airline sector every company
expects its staff to be soft-spoken, polite and courteous. Lastly Tangibles as it incorporates the
proof of the service physically in terms of facilities, outer appearance of the staff, the tools and
machinery used to render the service.
2.5.1 Dimensions of Service Quality
Customer satisfaction is also considered as the perceptions of services obtained by the customer.
When customer expectations are surpassed, the quality of service is rated as excellent on the
other way round then it will be rated as very poor. The bridge between actual services delivered
and expected it can be stated as service quality. According to (Sureshchandar, 2010) service
quality process may be divided into diverse aspects, Firstly, technological secondly practical or
process quality.
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Sedatole (2003) believed that there exist three different aspects of service quality which affect
customers awareness which may be studied as mentioned below: Firstly Technical quality,
second one is known as Functional quality and last one is Outcome quality.
Technical quality attributes, firstly the staff should be very much efficient and systems or
procedure should be simple and should provide excellent service to the client as per their
expectations. In airline industry, this aspect plays a vital role as providing safety and excellent
service to all the customers is important as this will be experienced directly and may be reviewed
by the customer. Rhoades (2008) believes that technical quality is a fundamental but not a
suitable provision for higher levels of service quality. Integrative quality deals with how the
various divisions of the service delivery process function collectively. This is fundamental in
airline sector as the passenger ought to have a better flight practice. The third feature is
functional quality which may be determined by the process in which the service is rendered to
the passengers. It may be used to create a cut-throat edge by concentrating on the personal traits
of the service met.
According to (Sureshchandar, 2010) Service Quality is one of the major factors for any airlines
sector. Providing superior service quality has been accepted as the best well-organized method to
make sure that a firm's contributions are exclusively placed in a business consisted with similar
reasonable contributions (Savitz, 2009). As per Narasimhan (2011) supported firms that carry out
a customer focused approach based on quality of service vary typically from especially those
firms that does noting, and it is clear that the previous organisations are generally more booming.
In the airline sector, quality of service is vital as offering excellent service quality to customers is
significant for airlines' existence. Airline quality of service is the main factor of customer
satisfaction, consistency and passenger's preference of airline (Mazzeo, 2011). In the airline
industry, undertaking studies on service quality is ample (Kandampully, 2008). The importance
of different modes of assessing service quality series from standard service ratings by customers
through in-flight reviews to assess appraisals, market revisions, grievance and feedback
monitoring (Russell, 2007).
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2.5.2 Determinants of Service Quality
As studying the literature it is been understood that customers exercise similar criteria in gauging
service quality in service industry. These measures falls fewer than 10 key groups branded as
dimensions of service quality: 1.Consistency: It means steadiness in performance and reliability
2. Approachable: This may be explained as the eagerness and friendly nature of personnel to
offer excellent service. 3. Competencies: Implies term of the requisite skills and information to
carry out the service 4.Convenience: This represents convenience and affability 5.Consideration:
This may be explained as the admiration, politeness, compassion and sociable nature of staff
6.Transparent: Indicate to communicate with passengers in language they can easily understand
to attract diverse customers 7. Reliability: denotes integrity and loyalty 8. Safety: means free
from risk, danger or threat 9. Know your customer: It’s an attempt to identify with the needs and
desires of the consumers 10. Tangible: It deals with the physical circumstances and image of the
product or service.
2.6 Customer Satisfaction and Service Quality Measurement in British Airways
The significance of consumer satisfaction and service quality in airline sector is improving
drastically as it is necessary for its survival in today’s global economy. According to (Sedatole,
2003) quality of service delivered to the customer by any service oriented company is understand
by the customer is feeling superiority or inferiority. Savitz (2009) stated that providing excellent
quality in the service sector has been accepted as the major useful means of guarantying that a
firm’s contributions are outstandingly placed in market packed with similar one. Parahoo (2006)
also explained that firms should be alerted about the service quality problems as these can
decline the customer reliability by twenty percent. Grayson (2001) cited that the SERQUAL
mechanism highlighted the bottom line of what service quality actually signifies, i.e. an
assessment of service excellence by the end user.
British Airways is very popular in providing excellent customer satisfaction among the aviation
sector across the World (www.BBC.com). It is the top rated airlines in United Kingdom. The
Company conducts annual surveys interviewing about one million passengers every year,
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collates all the feedback received and understands and analyses the needs & desires of the
consumers and drafts out action plan accordingly (www.britishairways.com). The business
analysts will use this feedback of customer satisfaction to understand the customer’s
requirements and their preferences. After examining the reports thoroughly it may be understood
that there exists a link between excellent customer service and firm’s fiscal performance and
these may be cited as the critical tools in measuring and improving company’s profits.
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Methodology
3. Introduction
As per Saunders et al (2007) for every research work identifying and adopting a suitable method
is very critical. Here the author arrives at absolute conclusions regarding the research layout,
method, and objective of the thesis as well as key devices applied by him in the research study. A
specific procedure of thesis shall be exercised widely to draw conclusions right through this
section. This section may offer combination of different alternatives in support of every
preference further the author intend to validate the reasons for the implementation of a specific
method and design as the best alternative in this detailed research work and its goals.
3.1 Research Purpose
As per (Saunders et al, 2007) supported in educational research, study on methodology research
principles are classified into three categories popularly known as Descriptive research thereafter
exploratory research and finally explanatory research. The author (Golafshani, 2003) believed
that a specific method of study may incorporate several fundamentals pursuing further preferred
principle. Further towards understanding and adopting specific particular research purpose which
is more suitable and apt to the objective of this course work it is vital to evaluate the each one of
objectives of the study accurately. The descriptive research methodology may be described as the
approach that targets at investigating and sorting the existing data about a specific incident
(Sekaran, 2003). The Explanatory method contains a general revision of many resources required
to ascertain facts about a topic that was studied in depth in the past, thus in-depth examination is
necessary. Descriptive method may be obtained mainly in marketing research study (Malhotra,
2004). As per (Saunders et al, 2007), explanatory research, may be undertaken to have a better
understanding of the link in the course of variables as well as the objectives of understanding the
link between variable. Exploratory theory shall thus happen to offer thorough knowledge of
various concepts which were never analysed by marketing researchers previously. Furthermore
the author in this thesis work the researcher had adopted exploratory method of research
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approach of methodology and descriptive method of approach as the former to be considered to
be highly appropriate to the researcher’s aims and objectives thus understanding the philosophy
of British airways and to determine the satisfaction levels of its passengers.
3.2 Research Design
According to Sekaran (2003) the concept of Research design may be little diverse as of research
technique, because it explains fact-finding relatively beside the information gathering tools.
According to (Saunders et al, 2007) there exists two different research designs one is inductive
and other is deductive. As per (Saunders et al, 2007) highlighted a specific study into an issue
that is new, thrilling, and on which there exists a literature, it may be apt to work inductively. As
a result, the need to adopt an inductive mode of approach in the research study to assist in the
presentation of concept out of information obtained to make further research simple. As per
Ryan, (2006) on the other hand deductive approach begins with author selecting a prevalent
assumption which was previously experimented via study of the information collated. Based on
the particular method, the investigation layout may vary. Inductive analysis thus depends on the
perceptions along with the developments from the experimental stage en-route for theoretical
level, Zikmund (2003) while the deductive reasoning surfaces from the theoretical segment of a
set hypothesis also later on evaluating the study based on the experimental stage.
Further author may as well opt towards executing quantitative or qualitative method of study. As
per Hossain (2006) qualitative research, is understood as the best suitable alternative in support
of this specific research work, applying explanatory method to the data collected as well as
understanding the concept and the purpose of the course work delete itself. (Yin, 1993) moreover
selection of qualitative approach need not necessarily in particular determine the relevant
information gathering methodologies. The author explains a specific approach method does not
mean delete specific outline information compiled that may be qualitative or quantitative by.
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3.3 Data Collection
The Data Collection process is a fundamental segment study method. There is numerous
information gathering techniques, having its own merits as well as demerits. Golafshani (2003)
argues that investigation with the utilization of proper methods sincerely boosts the importance
of the course work.
So as to ascertain information compiling strategy, the classification must be done amid diverse
categories of information collected. As per Bryman (2001) primary data are the facts collated
thesis against happening of real incidents. According to Malhotra (2004) primary information
may be gathered each time when the secondary information is unobtainable and insufficient to
respond the author’s problems as well as goals. Primary data collection may be executed via a
range of processes along with questionnaires, discussions, examinations and core groups.
Bryman (2001) states secondary data as the facts gathered from prevailing sources, for instance
books, journals, newspapers and websites. According to (Ryan, 2006) secondary data is the
information collected by different authors, without the intention of the research work in general.
Research is an organized, vital and decisive examination which targets to establish in the
direction of the development of facts and insights (Coleman & Briggs, 2002). Even though there
are several methods of research approach there exists two significant methods one known as
Quantitative and other one as Qualitative approach. According to Easton (2010) quantitative data
may be stated as the statistical information namely figures, the qualitative data may be explained
briefly as the sort of information which is available as transcripts. For example, the information
collated by the author by means of surveys and feedback would be quantitative, on the other
hand data obtained by means of questioning participants may be explained as qualitative.
Subsequently, researcher even utilized the secondary information also for quantitative analysis.
To cite an instance, the secondary data adopted for the study of the literature review in this
research study was qualitative. The statistical data analysis is generally carried out to measure
the link amid variables otherwise revising tendencies in addition to the influencing elements
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(Easton, 2010). (Sekaran, 2003) for qualitative data diverse way of method is required. The event
typically begins through author’s concentration on the information along with ascertaining the
classification of the major facts more over tendencies inside. According to Golafshani (2003)
information has the merits of easy to obtain as well to use and less inexpensive to the author yet
the writer might have easy accessibility to similar information.
Bryman defines qualitative research as the move towards the revision of the communal across
the globe that begins to portray and evaluate the traditions and individual activities from the
perceptive of those being observed. Golafshani (2003) believe that, qualitative research entails
the compilation of a mixture of observed sources for example case studies, individual
experiences, reflective discussions, past interactions, and visual presentations that explain the
regular and challenging instants and significance in personal lives. The intention of qualitative
approach is not to invent a novel concept on the other hand analysing that concept, so qualitative
methodology intends to determine customer perceptions and behaviour (Asutay, 2003).
According to Bryman (2001) qualitative research is a research approach that generally highlights
numbers relatively in the data collation and testing and the approach that is applied is inductive
and dealt with subjective conclusions. Mququ (2005) defines: Qualitative research is explanatory
and the authors intend to analyse what preference public will give to certainty, not to precise,
quantitative research may be understood as sequence of various stages moving from theory to
final conclusions.
Quantitative methodology is primarily based on positivist viewpoint and authors who judge on
positivist philosophy state that there is a real purpose that subsists apart from the anticipations of
those who monitor it therefore the purpose of science is the improved understanding of the real
facts. The function of quantitative methodology is to found proper link between correlated
variables (Asutey, 2003). According to (Bryman, 2001) quantitative research is explained as the
gathering of statistical numbers in addition to displaying an outlook of the link involving the
concepts and course study as deductive and it final achieves intent results. In this research paper,
the author had selected quantitative methodology, as it targets to determine actual relationship
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between the identical elements and also to analyse a particular problem. Additionally, this
research work involves collating facts to conclude the research problem.
The drawbacks to carry out investigations and interviews for corporate which are prevalent
across the World motivated the researcher to engage in a qualitative research. It had been
examined as a time consuming and more cost effective process to contact workforce of corporate
firms. But the interest of the researcher and effective guidance of the tutor motivated the author
to apply both quantitative and qualitative research method for this research work. The
quantitative method was executed by interviewing customers of British airways and other
companies on main airports in United Kingdom.
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3.4 Linking the Aims and Objectives of the Research work with the Methodologies
Aim 1: The primary aim of this research is to study the Customer satisfaction levels in Airline
Sector in United Kingdom with reference to British Airways, in order to achieve the same,
information in the form of customer satisfaction factors such as fare, customer service,
promotion & sales and logistics would be required to be analysed thoroughly. Hence researcher
would undertake a descriptive mode of study and also quantitative research method would be
applied in this dissertation paper.
Objective 2: To examine customer perceptions and customer expectations in Airline Industry
with reference to British Airways: The main purpose of the thesis work is to explore the
customer’s insight and observations of airline sector and customer’s convention preference
which may be considered as an pragmatic investigation, Thus, a quantitative research data
collection method may be applied. The information collated from passengers from diverse age
groups as well as from diverse passenger levels in the form of questionnaires on customer
perception in airline sector would be collected to have an improved understanding on the end-
result and it will help the researcher to draw conclusions appropriately.
Objective 3:To understand and analyse the role of quality of service in affecting customer
satisfaction in Airline Sector in context with British Airways: In order to achieve this objective,
the researcher had done a exploratory study to evaluate the role of service quality in meeting
customer satisfaction and also collected secondary data in the form of Literature from various
data sources such as books, journals, online articles and compiled the data together to develop
theories and expand it further. Existing theories and anticipated models are understood as a
means to highlight their significance in United Kingdom. Additionally, current theories on
service quality and approach are determined to be practical for a broad understanding of the
practices followed by British Airways Limited.
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3.5 Methods of Data collection and Analysis
The data has also been gathered in the form of questionnaires where the sample was collected
from the British airways customer who was developed as a source of prime source to this
research work. The researcher collected feedback from British airways customers at the airport
out of 140 passengers 85 passengers give the feedback about the service provided by the British
airways. In addition to this author interviewed some more passengers at the airport in person
with travellers 45 responded out of 50 travellers. Because of the limited timeframe, researcher
tried to come to the final conclusion with the above sample collected at the airport. The
secondary data applied for this research is derived from academic journals, newspapers and
publications thus moreover from analysing the online data. It is often argued that secondary
research may offer facts and figures with reliable data which are less costly and easy to access
(Blaxter, 2008). The questionnaire was framed in the form of open-end and straight enquiries. To
examine the feedback collected from the questionnaire the researcher has applied the technique
of explanatory figures and uncomplicated interrelationships. In this thesis, explanatory data
method was applied as the opinion poll was conducted on a small scale where the sample count
is relatively less in number. There exists a three different interview techniques namely
structured, semi-structured and non structured the researcher selected the semi-structured method
for this thesis. The motivation for adopting the semi-structured interview was mainly due to the
questions framed to determine the anticipations of British airways as the best airline among the
passengers across the World. The questions posed to the customers had proven to be very useful
in assessing the customer service standards at the British Airways. According to Mququ (2005)
states that the replies to the questionnaire may be accepted as the face value however an answer
to an interview will be clear and accurate. The response to the interviews has been explored by
representing statistics for the surveys.
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Research Findings
4. Introduction
In this chapter author will critically analyse data and information collected. The final results may
be assessed and evaluated with the help of SPSS application moreover will link theoretical aspect
of correlation which was examined in the review of literature chapter to the research findings
based on primary data.
This research requires analysing data collected about the British Airways. Thus, to determine the
purpose of the thesis, various primary statistical information resources were collected from
passengers interviewed at the Manchester, Birmingham Airports United Kingdom.
4.1 SPSS Application results with total values by T-Test (Paired Sample Statistics)
As per Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient will be utilised to assess the relation
among Gender, Age Group, Class travelled, How often they travel, Occupation, Overall Quality
of Service, Expect anything else from British Airways, Suggest British Airways to others. T-Test
will be useful to reach to the final results wherein to be accept or refuse the null hypothesis. The
given below proposition will be obtained in order to study the considerable link among
passengers service provided with satisfaction.
In this dissertation the author tried to evaluate the sample data collected in the form of
questionnaires by conducting interviews to the passengers and analysing the same by means of
tool known as Statistical hypothesis. The hypothesis may be carried out at the 95 percent
confidence level. Generally hypothesis will result in one of the two options (We may accept the
null hypothesis or we reject the null hypothesis). This may be simply explained as accepting the
null hypothesis means hypothesis testing is accurate, conversely, rejecting null hypothesis means
the sample data gathered is inadequate or it is sensible to exercise alternative hypothesis over the
null hypothesis. In this thesis work, the author had highlighted two types of hypothesis:
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Null Hypothesis: The null hypothesis represented by H0, here, hypothesis is that sample
observations resulted directly from change (H0: Pr = .05).
Alternative Hypothesis: The alternative hypothesis is signified as H1, here, hypothesis is the
sample annotations which are influenced due to few unsystematic reasons (H1: Pr ≠ 0.05).
Three ways of testing null hypothesis & alternative hypothesis
Two-Tailed Test
H0: Pr = 0
H1: Pr ≠ 0
Note: - Equal hypothesis Vs Not equal Hypothesis
Figure 1: Gender Wise Travel
GenderPassenger
sMale 53Female 32Others 0
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62%
38%
Gender Wise Travel
Male Female Others
Figure 1 depicts that the gender wise travel by passengers. It is been observed that male
travellers are more than female travellers, where as male travellers stand at 62 percent and
female travel by 38 percent. It is also observed that male travellers are nearly double than female
travellers.
Figure 2: Gender wise travellers Vs Customer Satisfaction
GenderPassenger
sTotal Satisfied with
ServiceMale 53 38Female 32 27Others 0 0
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Others Female Male0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Gender Wise Vs Cust Satisfaction
Passengers Total Satisfied with Service
It is clearly evident that from figure 2 out of 32 female travellers 27 passengers were very much
satisfied with the service provided by British Airways, compared with 53 male passengers
commented of which only 38 passengers were happy with the service. It shows 84 percent of
female were satisfied and only 72 percent of male were happy with the British Airways.
Figure 3: Age Group Wise Vs Total Passengers Travel & Satisfied Customers
Age GroupPassenger
s Satisfied< 15 8 7> 15 and < 30 17 14> 30 and < 45 38 24> 45 22 20
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Figure 3 depicts different age wise travel by British Airways and their satisfaction passengers. It
is very clear that passengers travelling under age 15 are very minimum and the highest is age
between 30 and 45, the second highest travel age group is above 45. The important point is age
above 45, are very much happy by 91 percent people. Least satisfied people from age group 30
and 45 with 63 percent. So, British Airways need to concentrate more on 30 to 45 age group
requirement.
Table 1: Age Group Wise Vs Total Passengers & Customer Satisfaction
Paired Samples Statistics
Mean NStd.
DeviationStd. Error
Mean
Pair 1 Passengers (Male / Female)
21.2500 4 12.57975 6.28987
Customer Satisfaction
16.2500 4 7.41058 3.70529
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Paired Samples Correlations
N Correlation Sig.
Pair 1 Passengers (Male / Female)
Customer Satisfaction
4 .947 .053
Paired Samples Test
Paired Differences
t dfSig. (2-tailed)Mean
Std. Deviatio
n
Std. Error Mean
95% Confidence Interval of the
Difference
Lower Upper
Pair 1
Passengers(Male / Female) -
Customer Satisfaction
5.00000
6.05530 3.02765 -4.63533 14.63533 1.651 3 .197
t (4) = 1.651
The data given in the table above may be concluded as higher age group passengers are more
positively correlated. The rate of ‘r’ denotes a very strong positive correlated amid age group
with high satisfaction. The significance of ‘t’ is 1.651 i.e. rating of ‘t’ is falling between -1.960 –
1.960.
Figure 4: Passengers Travel by Different Class Vs Customer Satisfaction
ClassPassenger
s SatisfiedEconomy Class 62 47Premium Class 12 10
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Business Class 7 5First Class 4 3
Economy Class Premium Class Business Class First Class0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Passengers Travel by Different Class Vs Customer Satisfaction
Passengers Satisfied
Figure 4 represents passengers travel in different class and their satisfaction level. Maximum
passengers will travel in economy class and least is first class then followed by business class.
This is because of the high price variance at economy class and all other class. Satisfaction level
shows 100 percent at first class, business class, whereas economy class stands at 69 percent.
Table 2: Passengers Travel by Different Class Vs Customer Satisfaction
Paired Samples Statistics
Mean NStd.
DeviationStd. Error
Mean
Pair 1 Passengers Travel by Different Class
21.2500 4 27.36634 13.68317
Customer Satisfaction
16.2500 4 20.71030 10.35515
Paired Samples Correlations
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Paired Samples Statistics
Mean NStd.
DeviationStd. Error
Mean
Pair 1 Passengers Travel by Different Class
21.2500 4 27.36634 13.68317
N Correlation Sig.
Pair 1 Passengers Travel by Different Class & Customer Satisfaction
4 1.000 .000
Paired Samples Test
Paired Differences
t dfSig. (2-tailed)Mean
Std. Deviatio
n
Std. Error Mean
95% Confidence Interval of the
Difference
Lower Upper
Pair 1
Passengers Travel by Different Class – Customer Satisfaction
5.00000
6.68331 3.34166 -5.63464 15.63464 1.496 3 .231
The table 2 correlation table gives clear picture that ‘r’ co-efficient is positively correlated
with .231 at 4 different class of travel. The rate of‘t’ is 1.496, which is between -1.960 to +1.960.
Out of four group of different class of travelling, major two groups commented as 100 percent
satisfaction and only one group less satisfied i.e. economy class.
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Figure 5: How often Passengers Travel yearly Vs Customer Satisfaction
How Often do you flyPassenger
s SatisfiedMore then 1 21 12More then 3 48 40More then 5 16 13
More than 1 times More than 3 times More than 5 times0
1020304050
How often Passenger Travell Vs Customer Satisfaction
Passengers Satisfied
In this research author is trying to understand nearly how many times each customer will travel
with British Airways and very much satisfied. As per the Figure 5 more than major junk of
travellers get satisfied who are travelling more than 3 times by 84 percent and followed by 81
percent people are satisfied those who are travelling more than 5 times. British Airways need to
concentrate more on the people those who travel first time, as they have more expectations.
Company needs to keep a track on people travelling for the first time or repeatedly travelling.
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Table 3: How Often Passenger Travel Vs Customer Satisfaction
Paired Samples Statistics
Mean NStd.
DeviationStd. Error
Mean
Pair 1 How Often Passengers travel (More than 1/ More than 3 / More than 5)
28.3333 3 17.21434 9.93870
Customer Satisfaction
21.6667 3 15.88500 9.17121
Paired Samples Correlations
N Correlation Sig.
Pair 1 How Often Passengers travel (More than 1/ More than 3/ More than 5) & Customer Satisfaction
3 .984 .113
Paired Samples Test
Paired Differences
T dfSig. (2-tailed)Mean
Std. Deviatio
n
Std. Error Mean
95% Confidence Interval of the
Difference
Lower Upper
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Paired Samples Statistics
Mean NStd.
DeviationStd. Error
Mean
Pair 1 How Often Passengers travel (More than 1/ More than 3 / More than 5)
28.3333 3 17.21434 9.93870
Pair 1
How Often Passengers Travel (More than 1/ More than 3/ More than 5) – Customer Satisfaction
6.66667
3.21455 1.85592 -1.31872 14.65205 3.592 2 .070
Figure 6: How often Passengers Travel Vs Different Age wise & Passengers satisfaction
How Often do you flyPassenger
s Age >15 and < 30 Age > 30 and < 45 Age > 45More then 1 21 7 9 5More then 3 48 2 38 8More then 5 16 1 11 4
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More than 1 times More than 3 times More than 5 times0
102030405060
How often Passengers Travel Vs Diffferent Age Wise & Passengers
Satisfaction
Passengers Age >15 and < 30Age > 30 and < 45 Age > 45
Figure 6 shows clearly that more than 3 times a year travelling passengers are more and with age
group between 30 & 45 falls under this category, those who are more satisfied. Next highest is
more than 1 time travellers of which nearly all the different age group get satisfied with the
service by British by same percentage. The passengers those travel more than 5 times a year, age
between 30 and 45 is better off, but the passengers crossing age 45 are not much satisfied. British
Airways are not able to meet the customer expectation for the old people especially travelling
repeatedly.
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Table 4: How often Passengers Travel Vs Different Age wise & Passengers satisfaction
Paired Samples Statistics
Mean NStd.
DeviationStd. Error
Mean
Pair 1 Total Passengers 28.3333 3 17.21434 9.93870
Age more than 15 less than 30
3.3333 3 3.21455 1.85592
Pair 2 Total Passengers 28.3333 3 17.21434 9.93870
Age more than 30 and less than 45
19.3333 3 16.19671 9.35117
Pair 3 Total Passengers 28.3333 3 17.21434 9.93870
Age more than 45 5.6667 3 2.08167 1.20185
Paired Samples Correlations
N Correlation Sig.
Pair 1 Total Passengers & Age more than 15 less than 30
3 -.220 .859
Pair 2 Total Passengers & Age more than 30 and lessthan45
3 .979 .132
Pair 3 Total Passengers & Agemorethan45
3 .895 .062
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Paired Samples Test
Paired Differences
T dfSig. (2-tailed)
95% Confidence Interval of the
Difference
Mean
Std. Deviatio
n
Std. Error Mean Lower Upper
Pair 1
Total Passengers – Age more than 15 less than 30
25.00000
18.19341
10.50397 -20.19492
70.19492 2.380 2 .140
Pair 2
Total Passengers – Age more than 30 and less than 45
9.00000
3.60555 2.08167 .04331 17.95669 1.323 2 .050
Pair 3
Total Passengers – Age more than 45
22.66667
15.14376
8.74325 -14.95251
60.28584 2.592 2 .122
Age between 15 and 30
t (3) = 2.380
p = 0.140
r = -0.220
Age between 30 and 45
t (3) = 1.323
p = 0.50
r = 0.979
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Age above 45
t (3) = 2.592
p = 0.122
r = 0.895
After carefully analysing the above table for the age between 15 and 30 ‘r’ vale is -0.220 which
is very weak correlation and vale of‘t’ is 2.380 which is beyond -1.960 to +1.960 where null
hypothesis is not accepted. Whereas for the age group between 30 and 45, rate of ‘t’ is 1.323
which is between -1.960 to +1.960, so, null hypothesis is accepted and rate of ‘r’ is 0.979 which
is very nearer to the coefficient 1, which represents very positive correlation among the
variables. Finally for the age group beyond 45 rate of‘t’ is 2.592 which falls beyond -1.960 to
+1.960 so, null hypothesis is not accepted and the rate of ‘r’ is 0.895 is between 0 to 1, so there is
a correlation among the variables.
Figure 7: How often Passengers Travel Vs Different Class Travel
How Often do you fly
Passengers Economy Class
Premium Class Business Class
First Class
More then 1 21 20 1 0 0More then 3 48 19 7 13 9More then 5 16 1 2 8 5
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More then 1 times More then 3 times More then 5 times0
5
10
15
20
25
How often Passenger Travel Vs Dif-ferent Class they Travel
Economy Class Premium Class Business Class First Class
The above figure 7 speaks any passengers travelling more than one time contribution goes to
major junk for economy class then very less percentage by premium class. For the passengers
travelling for more than 3 times with British Airways are filled with all the classes. Major
contribution from economy class and then followed by business class then first class. Finally the
passengers travelling for more than 5 times a year are majorly contributed by business class then
first class there after premium class and the least is economy class.
Figure 8: How often Passenger Travel Vs Gender Wise
How Often do you fly
Passengers Male Female
More then 1 21 9 12More then 3 48 31 17More then 5 16 13 3
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More then 1 More then 3 More then 50
10
20
30
40
50
60
How often Passenger Travel Vs Gender Wise
Passengers Male Female
As we have already discussed that male travellers are more than female travellers, but by
observing the given above figure 8 represents, passengers travelling for more than 3 times and
more than 5 times are dominated by male passengers and the passengers travelling for the first
time female travellers are more.
Figure 9: Occupation Wise Passengers Travel Vs Customer Satisfied
OccupationPassenger
s SatisfiedSalaried 42 37Salaried Professional 30 19Self Employed 13 9
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Salaried Salaried Professional Self Employeed0
1020304050607080
Occupation Wise Passengers Travel Vs Customer Satisfied
Passangers Customer Satisfied
The given above figure 9 represents different occupation wise passengers travel by British
Airways compared with satisfaction level of customers. It is plainly evident that salaried
travellers are more compared with salaried professional and self-employed, and even satisfaction
level is also very high by salaried people. The least satisfaction level of passengers where as
salaried professional, as their expectations are high. The least percentage of travellers is self-
employed and their satisfactions from the service provided by British Airways were better off.
Table 5: Occupation Wise Passengers Travel Vs Customer Satisfied
Paired Samples Statistics
Mean NStd.
DeviationStd. Error
Mean
Pair 1 Occupation wise Passengers
28.3333 3 14.57166 8.41295
Customer Satisfaction
21.6667 3 14.18920 8.19214
Paired Samples Correlations
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Paired Samples Statistics
Mean NStd.
DeviationStd. Error
Mean
Pair 1 Occupation wise Passengers
28.3333 3 14.57166 8.41295
N Correlation Sig.
Pair 1 Occupation wise Passengers & Customer Satisfaction
3 .966 .167
Paired Samples Test
Paired Differences
t dfSig. (2-tailed)Mean
Std. Deviatio
n
Std. Error Mean
95% Confidence Interval of the
Difference
Lower Upper
Pair 1
Occupation wise Passengers – Customer Satisfaction
6.66667
3.78594 2.18581 -2.73813 16.07146 3.050 2 .093
t(3) = 3.050
p = 0.093
r = 0.966
The above table speaks the rate of ‘t’ is 3.050 which is beyond the range of -1.960 to +1.960 so,
null hypothesis is not accepted, where as the rate of ‘p’ is 0.093 which is between 0 to 1 so there
is a correlation between the occupation wise passengers with customer satisfaction.
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Figure 10: Occupation Wise Passengers Travel Vs How often Passenger Travel
OccupationPassenger
s
More than 1 time travel
More than 3 time travel
More than 5 time travel
Salaried 42 11 27 4Salaried Professional 30 7 17 6Self Employed 13 3 4 6
Salaried Salaried Professional Self Employeed0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Occupation wise Passenger Travel Vs How often Passenegr Travel
More than 1 time travel More than 3 time travel More than 5 time travel
The above figure describes different occupation wise passengers how often they travel yearly.
Salaried travel more than 3 times a year is the highest then followed by more than 1 time then the
least is more than 5 times. Salaried professional are also travel more than 3 times a year stands
on the top with nearly equal with more than 1 times year and more than 5 times a year. Self
employed speaks differently they travel more than 5 times the maximum and least with more
than 1 time travel a year.
Table 6: Occupation Wise Passengers Travel Vs How often Passenger Travel
Paired Samples Statistics
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Table 6: Occupation Wise Passengers Travel Vs How often Passenger Travel
Paired Samples Statistics
Table 6: Occupation Wise Passengers Travel Vs How often Passenger Travel
Paired Samples Statistics
Mean NStd.
DeviationStd. Error
Mean
Pair 1 Total Passengers 28.3333 3 14.57166 8.41295
More than 1 Time
7.0000 3 4.00000 2.30940
Pair 2 Total Passengers 28.3333 3 14.57166 8.41295
More than 3 times
16.0000 3 11.53256 6.65833
Pair 3 Total Passengers 28.3333 3 14.57166 8.41295
More than 5 times
5.3333 3 1.15470 .66667
Paired Samples Correlations
N Correlation Sig.
Pair 1 Total Passengers & More than 1 Time
3 .995 .063
Pair 2 Total Passengers & More than 3 times
3 1.000 .015
Pair 3 Total Passengers & More than 5 times
3 -.812 .396
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Paired Samples Test
Paired Differences
T DfSig. (2-tailed)
95% Confidence Interval of the
Difference
Mean
Std. Deviatio
n
Std. Error Mean Lower Upper
Pair 1
Total Passengers – More than 1 Time
21.33333
10.59874
6.11919 -4.99540 47.66207 3.486 2 .073
Pair 2
Total Passengers – More than 3 times
12.33333
3.05505 1.76383 4.74417 19.92250 6.992 2 .020
Pair 3
Total Passengers – More than 5 times
23.00000
15.52417
8.96289 -15.56419
61.56419 2.566 2 .124
More than 1 time travel a year
t (3) = 3.486
p = 0.073
r = 0.995
More than 3 times travel a year
t (3) = 6.992
p = 0.020
r = 1.000
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More than 5 times travel a year
t (3) = 2.566
p = 0.124
r = -0.812
Even statistical term SPSS represents all the ‘t’ rate in 3 options more than1 time travel / more
than 3 time travel and more than 5 time travel falls beyond the limit -1.960 to +1.960 so, in all
the three case null hypothesis not acceptable. Whereas the rate of ‘r’ in case of more than 3 time
travel is exactly 1 means it is strongly correlated, in case of more than 1 time travel rate is near to
1 means lightly correlated, but in case of more than 5 times travel a year is negatively correlated
as the rate (-0.812).
Figure 11: Overall Quality of Service
Overall Quality of ServicePassenger
sExcellent 38Good 27Average 8Poor 12
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45%
32%
9%14%
Overall Quality of Service
Excellent Good Average Poor
When we take a feedback from 85 passengers as per their comment the overall quality of service
provided by the British Airways and meeting the customer expectations are representing in the
above table. Out of 85 customers 65 passengers commented excellent and good quality of service
that means overall 45 percent of travellers commented as excellent quality of service then 32
percent said good service provided later 9 percent stands at average service and 14 percent stands
at poor quality of service. The British Airways need to concentrate on converting 14 percent of
poor quality service to at least to good. Now the overall percentage of good and excellent stands
at 76 percent only, to move this 76 percent to above 85 percent which is least amount to maintain
the quality of service; they need to concentrate on 14 percent said as poor service.
Table 7: Overall Quality of Service Vs Total Passengers Travelled
Paired Samples Statistics
Mean NStd.
DeviationStd. Error
Mean
Pair 1 Total Passengers 85.0000 4 .00000 .00000
Overall Quality of Service
21.2500 4 13.84136 6.92068
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Paired Samples Statistics
Mean NStd.
DeviationStd. Error
Mean
Pair 1 Total Passengers 85.0000 4 .00000 .00000
Paired Samples Correlations
N Correlation Sig.
Pair 1 Total Passengers & Overall Quality of Service
4 .535 .
Paired Samples Test
Paired Differences
t dfSig. (2-tailed)Mean
Std. Deviatio
n
Std. Error Mean
95% Confidence Interval of the
Difference
Lower Upper
Pair 1
Total Passengers – Overall Quality of Service
63.75000
13.84136
6.92068 41.72530 85.77470 9.212 3 .003
From the above table the rate of ‘r’ is 0.535 which represents very strong positive correlation.
Since the rate of‘t’ is 9.212 which is beyond -1.960 to +1.960, so it represents null hypothesis is
not accepted.
Figure 12: Overall Quality of Service Vs Gender
Overall Quality of Passenger Male Female
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Service sExcellent 38 23 15Good 27 17 10Average 8 5 3Poor 12 8 4
Excellent Good Average Poor0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Overall Quality of Serive Vs Gender
Passengers Male Female
Figure 12 clearly portray gender wise comments on overall quality of service provided by the
British Airways. Female customers are happier with the quality of service provided, they rated as
highest percentage as “Excellent Service” rather than Male passengers. Quality of service as
“Good “Male passengers rated with highest percentage than Female passengers.
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Table 8: Overall Quality of Service Vs Gender
Paired Samples Statistics
Mean NStd.
DeviationStd. Error
Mean
Pair 1 Overall Quality of Service
21.2500 4 13.84136 6.92068
Male 13.2500 4 7.93200 3.96600
Pair 2 Overall Quality of Service
21.2500 4 13.84136 6.92068
Female 8.0000 4 7.11805 3.55903
Paired Samples Correlations
N Correlation Sig.
Pair 1 Overall Quality of Service & Male
4 .695 .305
Pair 2 Overall Quality of Service & Female
4 .934 .066
Paired Samples Test
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Paired Samples Statistics
Mean NStd.
DeviationStd. Error
Mean
Pair 1 Overall Quality of Service
21.2500 4 13.84136 6.92068
Male 13.2500 4 7.93200 3.96600
Pair 2 Overall Quality of Service
21.2500 4 13.84136 6.92068
Paired Differences
t dfSig. (2-tailed)
95% Confidence Interval of the
Difference
Mean
Std. Deviatio
n
Std. Error Mean Lower Upper
Pair 1
Overall Quality of Service - Male
8.00000
10.09950 5.04975 -8.07057 24.07057 1.584 3 .211
Pair 2
Overall Quality of Service - Female
13.25000
7.63217 3.81608 1.10552 25.39448 0.472 3 .040
The given above table it is found that overall quality of service is positively correlated with male
and female level of expectation. The rate of ‘r’ is .211 which is very strong positively correlated
for male and for female it’s lightly positively correlated.
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Figure 13: Expected anything else form British Airways
Expect anything else from B.A
Passengers
Yes 28No 57
33%
67%
Expected anything else from B.A
Yes No
Author gathered data from British Airways passengers by analysing it 67 percent of passengers
said they are not expecting anything more or additional service from British Airways, they are
very much satisfied from the service and company met their expectations. On the other hand only
33 percent of customers are still not happy with the service that may mean that British Airways
not able to keep the promises about the services they said nor customer’s still expecting more
and more extra service to be provided.
Figure 14: Suggest British Airways to Others
Suggest B.A to othersPassenger
sYes 47No 38
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55%
45%
Suggest British Airways to others
Yes No
Author asked 85 passengers will they refer British Airways to anybody else of which 55 percent
commented as they will suggest others to travel by British Airways. And only 45 percent
travellers said they will not suggest others about British Airways.
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Discussions
In this research the author is trying to discuss and analyse the customer satisfaction levels
especially in the British Airways Limited United Kingdom. Author is bridging the gap between
customer perceptions, customer expectations and actual quality of service delivered to the
customers.
The primary aim of this research is to understand the up to what level the customers of British
Airways are satisfied with overall service quality delivered. After collecting the customer
feedback, at the Manchester Airport and Birmingham Airport, author consolidate the data come
to the conclusion that out of eighty five passengers feedback sixty five passengers commented
they are very much satisfied with the overall service provided by the British Airways. This is
clearly evident that 76 percent of the passengers said British Airways customer satisfaction is
able to meet up customer perception and expectations.
Secondary objective is to evaluate customer perception and expectation of British Airways.
Author in the research to this secondary objective, prepared questionnaire to identify the how
frequently customer are travelling year wise and different class customer travel and their
feedback, professional and age group. All the different category of people will have different
perceptions and their own expectations as per their situation demands. When author asked “more
than 5 times customer travels in a year”, of which 81 percent of customer said they are highly
satisfied with British Airways for the reason, always they will travel by only British Airways.
“More than 3 times travel a Year” also 83 percent supported positively. When author asked
Business calls travellers they commented as “British Airways is the Best”.
Third objective is “Role of quality of service that will affect the customer satisfaction”. When
author asked the overall quality of service of the British airways with wide range of travellers
they said forty five percent passengers said excellent service, thirty one percent passengers said
“Good Service”.
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The British Airways started conducting different activities to sustain the customer satisfaction or
trying to continual improvement in the quality of service.
First was top management at British Airways measure the satisfaction levels of its passengers on
all major destinations worldwide. Once in a year they conduct surveys on customer satisfaction
and analyse the feedbacks given by the customers and thus bring in changes which will enhance
continual improvement (www.Britishairways.com).
Second was to development in technology has enabled passengers with great power and
convenience as regards to online check in and e-ticketing.
Third was to up gradation has been made on service schedules for flights with long distance
destinations.
Forth was to improvement in quality of food has been made in the customized meal service
preferences on important directions; progress has been made in the process of handling
grievances from travellers for instance resolving the customer complaints within 48hours.
Fifth was to cost effective meal options have been developed. In the year 1999 British airways
has initiated the Language champions plan in London in order to highlight the current
performances between business and schools. They have come up with a unique award known as
British Airways Language Flag to encourage the students to learn different languages. It provides
self-confidence to the undergraduates to widen their capabilities which are necessary to take up
job in just an international organization but also in a firm that facilitates its staff with
Multilingual and multicultural workplace (www.Britishairways.com).
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5. Conclusion
After detailed study, assessment and evaluation of primary and secondary data, it is significant to
underline about how the aims and objectives of the thesis work were analysed. In this section, the
author emphasise on how the specific aims and objectives of the research study were understood
and attempts to provide a response to the research question. The subdivision deals with various
limitations and recommendations of the research work and areas where there is a scope for
further research.
The research study attempts to understand and critically analyse the customer satisfaction in
airline industry with reference to British Airways. Therefore to examine this, the investigation
was executed to identify the main service determinants of British airways and based on these to
gauge the satisfaction levels of the passengers and also to evaluate the customer perception and
quality of service among travellers of British airways United Kingdom and further to emphasize
the several measures taken by them to provide excellent customer service to its customers.
The results of the study based on the in-depth review of literature, primary and secondary
sources of data available indicate that most of the passengers be it British Airways or other
airlines who fly very often and who travel by premium class are likely to travel by the same
airlines due to the excellent service and facilities provided to them. In addition to this, this
section of passengers is more attached to the brand image or reputation, world-class facilities,
better connectivity. It is also clear that these section of passengers are great source of revenue to
any airline company as they travel very often hence it is vital that British Airways focuses more
on these segment of customers to sustain in the business. Further in-depth study revealed that
customers who fly twice yearly were more concerned with the ticket fares and also few
passengers responded that they were worried about the baggage facilities and few of them
expressed security issues as an area of concern.
After closely examining the literature review it is clearly understood that airline passengers judge
the quality of flight services offered to them on the basis of prompt arrivals and departures, air
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fares and then based on the various facilities such as safety, food & beverages, attitude of staff,
baggage to name a few. Overall conclusion may be interpreted from the literature review,
passenger interview, feedbacks and secondary data on airline industry and British airways; it is
evident that in airline industry reaching the customer perceptions and attaining excellent
customer satisfaction is little beyond the reach of a specific airline when the competition is
worldwide. In today’s global economy people are more educated and intend to travel
internationally both for work and leisure purposes than before and they enjoy travelling to more
locations very easily and with better value of money (one world.com, media information, 2009).
Therefore, the passenger insists for better connectivity, reasonable ticket prices and improved
flight services than before. In today’s competitive world with many best alternatives available to
the customers it is very critical for the British Airways to meet the customer perceptions and
offer excellent service to reach great heights in the near future.
6. Limitations of this Research Study
The various aspects namely partial data resources, limited duration and stiff targets restricted the
thorough investigation on the research study. The main constraint of this thesis is its sample size
as the author could interview few participants only; therefore, the output of this research work
does not stand for whole population in United Kingdom.
7. Future Recommendations
In further investigation, it would be more challenging to interview the staff of British Airways to
understand the various steps adopted by them to enhance customer satisfaction and methods of
exception handling and grievances and also the author should concentrate more on the primary
data resources and should strive to gather feedback and opinions from larger population residing
in United Kingdom.
Sharad Ganjihal
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Bibliography
www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/aviation/www.britishairways.com/travel/home/public/en_gb
Sharad Ganjihal
Appendix I
Q1. Give the gender
Mail Female
Q2. Age group
< 15>15 and <30>31 and <45>45
Q3. Which class you normally travel
Economy ClassPremium EconomyBusiness ClassFirst Class
Q4. How often do you fly?
More than once in a Year More than 3 time a Year More than 5 time a year
Q5. Occupation of the passengers
SalariedSalaried professionalSelf Employed
Q6. How did you find the overall quality of services of British Airline?
ExcellentGoodAveragePoor
Q7. Is there anything else you expect from your favourite British airline
Yes
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No
Q8. Will you suggest about British Airline to anybody else
YesNo
Q9. Which airline do you prefer for domestic and for international travel? Please suggest the reasons for choosing a particular airline.
Airline preferred for domestic travel………………………Airline preferred for International travel…………………..
Reason Domestic InternationalAirline company name In flight Services Ticket Price
Customer services (ease of booking, cancellation, refund) Hospitality of crew Food quality & variety Brand Image
Better Connectivity to various destinations Customer loyalty discount programs Special offers/ packages Others
Sharad Ganjihal
Appendix II
Figure 15: The Kano model
Source: www.iiiee.lu.se/publication.nsf
Figure 16: Five key points of customer feedback
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Source: Salvucci and Parker. National Centre for Education Statistics. Customer Satisfaction Report.
Figure 16: Most Travelled seating class by UK Business travellers in 2007
Source : Benner. J., 2009. The Airline Customer Loyalty Model.
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Figure 16: Service Quality Ring
Source : Berry and Zeithaml. Improving Service Quality.
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Figure 16: Operational improvements must support strengthened customer relations for airline.
Source: IBM Institute for Business Value
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