IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jaitra/v55y2016icp139-146.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Baggage fees, operational performance and customer satisfaction in the US air transport industry

Author

Listed:
  • Scotti, Davide
  • Dresner, Martin
  • Martini, Gianmaria

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a “de-bundling†trend in the US airline industry, where specific services that used to be included in a ticket fare are now priced separately. Although a major reason for these fees is to raise revenues for the airlines, the fees may also impact the operations of carriers. Among the new fees implemented by most US carriers is a payment for checked baggage. This paper analyzes the association of baggage fees with airline operational service outcomes, as measured by flight delays, mishandled baggage rates and the rate of customer complaints. Using data from the US domestic air transport market over the period 2004–2012 and estimating a series of equations, our results show that, on average, an increase in baggage fees is associated with a decrease in the mishandled baggage rate and to a reduction in the percentage of delayed flights. No significant association is found between the fees and the rate of customer complaints.

Suggested Citation

  • Scotti, Davide & Dresner, Martin & Martini, Gianmaria, 2016. "Baggage fees, operational performance and customer satisfaction in the US air transport industry," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 139-146.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jaitra:v:55:y:2016:i:c:p:139-146
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jairtraman.2016.05.006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969699716301910
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jairtraman.2016.05.006?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jan K. Brueckner & Darin N. Lee & Pierre M. Picard & Ethan Singer, 2015. "Product Unbundling in the Travel Industry: The Economics of Airline Bag Fees," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 457-484, September.
    2. Kamalini Ramdas & Jonathan Williams & Marc Lipson, 2013. "Can Financial Markets Inform Operational Improvement Efforts? Evidence from the Airline Industry," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 15(3), pages 405-422, July.
    3. Barone, Gerhard J. & Henrickson, Kevin E. & Voy, Annie, 2011. "Baggage Fees and Airline Performance: A Case Study of Initial Investor Misperception," Journal of the Transportation Research Forum, Transportation Research Forum, vol. 51(1).
    4. Scotti, Davide & Dresner, Martin, 2015. "The impact of baggage fees on passenger demand on US air routes," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 4-10.
    5. Wu, Cheng-Lung, 2005. "Inherent delays and operational reliability of airline schedules," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 273-282.
    6. Garrow, Laurie A. & Hotle, Susan & Mumbower, Stacey, 2012. "Assessment of product debundling trends in the US airline industry: Customer service and public policy implications," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 255-268.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jost Daft & Sascha Albers & Sebastian Stabenow, 2021. "From product-oriented flight providers to customer-centric retailers: a dynamic offering framework and implementation guidelines for airlines," Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(6), pages 615-625, December.
    2. Warnock-Smith, David & O'Connell, John F. & Maleki, Mahnaz, 2017. "An analysis of ongoing trends in airline ancillary revenues," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(PA), pages 42-54.
    3. Stacey Mumbower & Susan Hotle & Laurie A. Garrow, 2023. "Highly debated but still unbundled: The evolution of U.S. airline ancillary products and pricing strategies," Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(4), pages 276-293, August.
    4. Cho, Woohyun & Windle, Robert J. & Dresner, Martin E., 2017. "The impact of operational exposure and value-of-time on customer choice: Evidence from the airline industry," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 455-471.
    5. Chiambaretto, Paul, 2021. "Air passengers’ willingness to pay for ancillary services on long-haul flights," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    6. Shaban, I.A. & Wang, Z.X. & Chan, F.T.S. & Chung, S.H. & Eltoukhy, A.E.E. & Qu, T., 2019. "Price setting for extra-baggage service for a combination carrier using the newsvendor setup," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1-14.
    7. Cho, Woohyun & Dresner, Martin E., 2018. "The impact of a baggage fee waiver on airline choice: Evidence from the Washington-Baltimore region," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 4-17.
    8. Rouncivell, Adam & Timmis, Andrew J. & Ison, Stephen G., 2018. "Willingness to pay for preferred seat selection on UK domestic flights," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 57-61.
    9. Yazdi, Amirhossein A. & Dutta, Pritha & Steven, Adams B., 2017. "Airline baggage fees and flight delays: A floor wax and dessert topping?," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 83-96.
    10. Asahi, Ryota & Murakami, Hideki, 2017. "Effects of Southwest Airlines' entry and airport dominance," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(PA), pages 86-90.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cho, Woohyun & Dresner, Martin E., 2018. "The impact of a baggage fee waiver on airline choice: Evidence from the Washington-Baltimore region," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 4-17.
    2. Stacey Mumbower & Susan Hotle & Laurie A. Garrow, 2023. "Highly debated but still unbundled: The evolution of U.S. airline ancillary products and pricing strategies," Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(4), pages 276-293, August.
    3. Shaban, I.A. & Wang, Z.X. & Chan, F.T.S. & Chung, S.H. & Eltoukhy, A.E.E. & Qu, T., 2019. "Price setting for extra-baggage service for a combination carrier using the newsvendor setup," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1-14.
    4. Adam Bockelie & Peter Belobaba, 2017. "Incorporating ancillary services in airline passenger choice models," Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 16(6), pages 553-568, December.
    5. Chiambaretto, Paul, 2021. "Air passengers’ willingness to pay for ancillary services on long-haul flights," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    6. Yazdi, Amirhossein A. & Dutta, Pritha & Steven, Adams B., 2017. "Airline baggage fees and flight delays: A floor wax and dessert topping?," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 83-96.
    7. Miyoshi, Chikage & Rubio Molina-Prados, Jesus, 2022. "Measuring the impact of long-haul low-cost carriers on lowering fares: A quasi-experimental design to assess the pre-COVID market," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 52-64.
    8. Scotti, Davide & Dresner, Martin, 2015. "The impact of baggage fees on passenger demand on US air routes," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 4-10.
    9. Botteon Costa, Raone & Ferman, Bruno & Monte, Daniel, 2020. "Baggage fees in airlines: Is this a good idea?," MPRA Paper 101864, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Ren, Xinhui & Pan, Na & Jiang, Hong, 2022. "Differentiated pricing for airline ancillary services considering passenger choice behavior heterogeneity and willingness to pay," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 292-305.
    11. Zhao, Guihong & Cui, Yue & Cheng, Shaoyu, 2021. "Dynamic pricing of ancillary services based on passenger choice behavior," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    12. Ivanov, Nikola & Netjasov, Fedja & Jovanović, Radosav & Starita, Stefano & Strauss, Arne, 2017. "Air Traffic Flow Management slot allocation to minimize propagated delay and improve airport slot adherence," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 183-197.
    13. Diana, Tony, 2009. "Do market-concentrated airports propagate more delays than less concentrated ones? A case study of selected U.S. airports," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 15(6), pages 280-286.
    14. Chen, Lu & Li, Yong-Quan & Liu, Chih-Hsing, 2019. "How airline service quality determines the quantity of repurchase intention - Mediate and moderate effects of brand quality and perceived value," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 185-197.
    15. Cheng-Lung Wu, 2006. "Improving Airline Network Robustness and Operational Reliability by Sequential Optimisation Algorithms," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 235-251, September.
    16. Veronika NOVOTNA & Stanislav SKAPA, 2017. "A Nonlinear Microeconomic Model Of Goods Production And Sale Using Functional Analysis," Proceedings of the INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 11(1), pages 1-8, November.
    17. Wang, Sen & Gao, Yi, 2021. "A literature review and citation analyses of air travel demand studies published between 2010 and 2020," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    18. Mariana Nicolae & Mazhar Arıkan & Vinayak Deshpande & Mark Ferguson, 2017. "Do Bags Fly Free? An Empirical Analysis of the Operational Implications of Airline Baggage Fees," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(10), pages 3187-3206, October.
    19. Michelle Dunbar & Gary Froyland & Cheng-Lung Wu, 2012. "Robust Airline Schedule Planning: Minimizing Propagated Delay in an Integrated Routing and Crewing Framework," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(2), pages 204-216, May.
    20. Myongjin Kim & Qihong Liu & Nicholas G. Rupp, 2023. "When Do Firms Offer Higher Product Quality? Evidence from the Allocation of Inflight Amenities," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 62(2), pages 149-177, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Airline performance; Baggage fees; Customer satisfaction;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L93 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Air Transportation
    • L59 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Other
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jaitra:v:55:y:2016:i:c:p:139-146. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-air-transport-management/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.