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Are low-cost carrier passengers less likely to complain about service quality?

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  • Wittman, Michael D.

Abstract

Complaints made by airline passengers to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) are often used in academic research and in the media as a proxy for the quality of commercial air service in the United States. In this paper, we test whether passengers of network carriers are more likely to make a complaint to the DOT about service quality failures than passengers of low-cost carriers. Through a fixed-effects regression, we find that passengers of low-cost carriers like Southwest Airlines are less likely to complain about service quality than passengers of network carriers like United Airlines, given the same levels of service quality and controlling for yearly fixed effects. This behavior could be explained by price-based expectations of service quality, lack of information about how to complain to the DOT, or qualitative differences in front-line customer service between airlines.

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  • Wittman, Michael D., 2014. "Are low-cost carrier passengers less likely to complain about service quality?," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 64-71.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jaitra:v:35:y:2014:i:c:p:64-71
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jairtraman.2013.11.008
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    Cited by:

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    3. Lee, Won Seok & Tang, Ruohan & Moon, Joonho & Song, Myungkeun, 2022. "The structural relationship between a low-cost carrier’s service experience, corporate social responsibility, brand love, and reuse intention: The case of Southwest Airlines," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    4. Joonho Moon & Won Seok Lee & Jimin Shim, 2022. "Chief Executive Officers and the Value of US Airlines: The Moderating Effect of Carrier Type," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-12, June.
    5. Martin Rüger & Sven Ulrich Maertens, 2022. "The Content Scope of Airline Sustainability Reporting According to the GRI Standards—An Assessment for Europe’s Five Largest Airline Groups," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-23, December.
    6. Tam Thien Vo & Xinning Xiao & Shuk Ying Ho, 2019. "How Does Corporate Social Responsibility Engagement Influence Word of Mouth on Twitter? Evidence from the Airline Industry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(2), pages 525-542, June.
    7. Massoud Moslehpour & Wing-Keung Wong & Yi Hsin Lin & Thi Huyen Nguyen, 2018. "Top purchase intention priorities of Vietnamese low cost carrier passengers: expectations and satisfaction," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 8(4), pages 371-389, December.
    8. Dalalah, Doraid & Ojiako, Udechukwu & Chipulu, Maxwell, 2020. "Voluntary overbooking in commercial airline reservations," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    9. Guo, Xiaolong & Dong, Yufeng & Ling, Liuyi, 2016. "Customer perspective on overbooking: The failure of customers to enjoy their reserved services, accidental or intended?," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 65-72.
    10. Buaphiban, Thapanat & Truong, Dothang, 2017. "Evaluation of passengers' buying behaviors toward low cost carriers in Southeast Asia," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 124-133.
    11. Seo, Kwanglim & Moon, Joonho & Lee, Seoki, 2015. "Synergy of corporate social responsibility and service quality for airlines: The moderating role of carrier type," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 126-134.
    12. Chiu, Su-Chin & Liu, Chih-Hsing & Tu, Jin-Hua, 2016. "The influence of tourists' expectations on purchase intention: Linking marketing strategy for low-cost airlines," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 226-234.
    13. Joyce A. Hunter & Jason R. Lambert, 2016. "Do we feel safer today? The impact of smiling customer service on airline safety perception post 9–11," Journal of Transportation Security, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 35-56, June.

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