Air-Travelers’ Perceptions of Service Quality during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Tripadvisor Sites

Deniz Sulu, Huseyin Arasli and Mehmet Bahri Saydam
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Deniz Sulu: Department of Civil Aviation Management, Anadolu Bil Vocational School, Istanbul Aydin University, İstanbul 34295, Turkey
Huseyin Arasli: Norwegian School of Hotel Management, University of Stavanger, 4036 Stavanger, Norway
Mehmet Bahri Saydam: Faculty of Tourism, Eastern Mediterranean University, TRNC, Via Mersin 10, Gazimagusa 99628, Turkey

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-24

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted both healthcare and the economy on a global scale. This pandemic has changed consumer habits and behaviors significantly, primarily because of confinement-related issues. While numerous research has been undertaken to study customer satisfaction using surveys and online passenger ratings, the effect of COVID-19 on passenger satisfaction has not been explored. It is vital to assess satisfaction indicators gathered from online consumer reviews to ascertain consumers’ preferences for airline services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of this study is to determine the primary themes that emerged from airline travelers’ internet reviews during the COVID-19 outbreak. Additionally, it attempts to determine which of these themes relate to higher and lower passenger satisfaction. The article uses qualitative (i.e., narratives) analyses to examine the main components of passengers’ subjective experiences of the airline. Data are represented by passenger reviews posted on the TripAdvisor website. The analyses revealed ten themes in descriptions of airline travel experiences. These include “flight”, “service”, “staff”, “food”, “check-in”, “cancellation”, “COVID-19”, “airport”, “class”, and “luggage”. Dissatisfying concepts are linked with the “cancellation”, “check-in”, “refund”, and “airport” concepts.

Keywords: COVID-19 outbreak; online passengers’ reviews; passengers’ satisfaction; Leximancer; airline; TripAdvisor (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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