The Impact of Airline Services on Customer Loyalty

Every airline service provider desires to offer its customers the best experience that would influence their loyalty (Aziz 86). Despite the efforts, the customers may still report disjointed experiences. One of the problems that have negatively affected the flying experience of the travelers is the charges fee that is due to the high cost of fuel. The cost has caused significant airlines to charge for in-flight snacks, reduce the number of flights to particular destinations, and to pack planes full to overflowing. Other issues include claims of lost luggage and record-setting delays. All these factors make the flying experience untenable, and therefore, customers move away from these airline services. As a marketer, some of the core values that I would employ to attract customers include reliability, responsiveness, and assurance. I would recommend the building of relationships with the company’s customers, put focus across the journey, and create a sense of place.

            It is noted that one of the major challenges is the loss of luggage. Customers should be able to rely on their service providers to safeguard their property on the flight. However, due to the lack of oneness and the disorganization among the employees, this expectation is not met. Many people are working in the aviation industry like handler, police, caterer, immigration, and customs. Therefore, most of the customers may not know how the responsibilities of these workers start and end. When a mistake occurs, it is hard to trace who was responsible if the order of operation was not well synchronized yet the customer only requires the problem solved. Therefore, a company needs to establish solid partnerships to eliminate exhaustion of travelers.

            In-flight snacks are one of the ways of building the customer relationship, and therefore, forbidding this service will make it difficult for passengers to be attracted to the airline. A marketer needs to forge a bond with the customer throughout the journey (Zhang and Hanks 34). The company needs to understand the importance of investing in meeting the wants of the passengers that goes beyond the transactions. A marketer would put the focus on lifetime value with the customer besides the value they inject into the business (Aziz 98). The reason is that as a business organization, your end objective is to become their preferred lifetime flying partner because of the consistent levels of quality service to the travelers and the gained trust.

            The act of reducing the number of flights to a specific destination that many customers could prefer hurts the business as the passengers view it as lack of responsiveness. Customers feel disgruntled when the airline company cannot provide prompt services. As a measure to solve this challenge, a marketer needs to ensure that workers emphasize on promptness and attentiveness when dealing with the customers since passenger satisfaction is critical in business. Responsiveness is assured by creating awareness to the travelers the time they should wait for a next flight, answer their inquiries, and how long they should wait for assistance. The service provider must be flexible and customize their services to fit the needs of the customers.

            Passengers should be assured of their security and that of their baggage. Trust and confidence in a given airline company are lost when there are instances of losses and misplacement of items. A marketer must inspire confidence and trust to the travelers by gaining the knowledge of courtesy since he is the link between the customer and the airline company. This dimension will help increase competitive advantage and achieve loyalty of customers.

            As a marketer, I would recommend some of the ways that I would implement to attract more passengers to the company’s flight services. First, I would place my focus across the journey. The reason is that the journey begins before the customer arrives at the airport and ends after landing. The customer should be engaged before and after physical interactions at the airport and in the plane. I would help the customers to prepare for the time of flight while they are still at home and cater for other specific needs outside the aircraft. This dimension will create service differentiation and increase competitive advantage.

            Secondly, I would create a sense of place. For many customers, airports connect them to new countries they have never been. Airlines always strive to create the excellent representation of new country experience. I suggest a design that would satisfy the customers’ wanderlust and that represent culture, hospitality, and sensibility of the destinations. These experiences build anticipation of customers’ destination and help them reminiscence. Hence, the company creates customer loyalty, and they will associate your organization with positive emotive experiences.

            In wrapping up, lack of customer-centered services in aviation industry causes disjointed experience. This issue causes customers to withdraw their loyalty and move to other competing companies. Among the issues that face the customers are charging of luggage, prohibition of in-flight snacks, and loss of baggage and reduction of the number of flights. A marketer can attract the passengers and restore loyalty by implementing responsiveness, reliability and inspiring trust and confidentiality. Further, I recommend focusing on the welfare of the customer across the journey, and creation of a sense of place that will create reminiscence among travelers. These dimensions will ensure customer loyalty and create a joyful flight experience.

Works Cited

Aziz, Norzalita A. “Customer Perception of Emotional Labor of Airline Service Employees and Customer Loyalty Intention.” 2016.

Zhang, Lu, and Lydia Hanks. ”Airline Customer Service Measure.” PsycTESTS Dataset, 2015.