An Analysis of the Success Factors for Passenger Boarding Enthusiasm for Low-Cost Regional Airline Routes

Enhou Zu, Shao-Yu Liu, Bi-Min Hsu, Yu-Cheng Wang and Edwin M. Lau
Additional contact information
Enhou Zu: School of Management, Henan University of Science & Technology, Luoyang City, Kaiyuan Avenue, Luoyang 471023, China
Shao-Yu Liu: Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung 80778, Taiwan
Bi-Min Hsu: Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Cheng Shiu University, Kaohsiung City 83347, Taiwan
Yu-Cheng Wang: Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Chaoyang University of Technology, Taichung 41349, Taiwan
Edwin M. Lau: Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Chaoyang University of Technology, Taichung 41349, Taiwan

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 16, 1-26

Abstract: Airports are important air transportation facilities, providing cargo transportation, aircraft takeoff and landing, and passenger services. Trade liberalization and globalization along with shifting economies and trading focuses have led to the rapid growth of airline and cargo transportation in Asia-Pacific regions. Therefore, Asian countries are constantly expanding and improving their airport facilities. Thus, improving and measuring airline service quality has attracted significant research attention in recent years. The Chinese Government has also actively promoted low-cost tourism, although competition in low-cost carrier markets was bound to be fierce. This not only promoted tourism industries but also attracted many foreign visitors to taking low-cost carriers to China for sightseeing. With international oil prices and regional economy issues, full-service carriers face considerable operational pressure on cost and competition. This study used the fuzzy delphi and decision making trial and evaluation laboratory methods to explore and analyze key factors for passengers choosing low-cost airlines. We considered passengers using U Airlines to travel from Shanghai to Taiwan (Taoyuan, Kaohsiung Far) and investigated service quality, low-price strategies, switching costs, and boarding willingness factors. We found that boarding willingness and service quality were strongly relevant to passenger satisfaction. Service quality should be prioritized, followed by switching cost, to enhance passenger boarding willingness. Low-cost regional airlines need to prioritize improving service quality empathy and service quality responsiveness with limited resources. Performance indicators such as willingness, service quality assurance, and service quality reliability showed significant benefits for overall service performance and passenger boarding willingness.

Keywords: service quality; switching cost; boarding willingness; fuzzy delphi method; decision making trial and evaluation laboratory method (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/16/6600/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/16/6600/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:16:p:6600-:d:399192

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().