صدایی در آسمان: گوش دادن به اولویت های مسافر هواپیمایی   A voice in the skies: Listening to airline passenger preferences

1. Introduction In any service company, high-quality service results in the company achieving a core competitive advantage for sustainable improvement and for profitability (Chen, 2008). To achieve a core competitive advantage over their rivals, service managers should listen to their customers’ feedback early in the transaction process, and should effectively and accurately respond to their identified needs (Zeithaml et al., 1996). Customers are generally very aware of service quality, rising costs and competition; this customer sophistication forces company managers to provide distinct and differentiated services from their rivals (Aksoy et al., 2003; Ukpere et al., 2012). Frequently, airlines measure their customers’ perception of the services provided, without having sufficient knowledge about their customers’ expectations (Chen and Chang, 2005). Gilbert and Wong (2003) emphasize the importance of airlines understanding their customers’ expectations of service quality. Hence, how airlines prioritize the expectations that their customers have when determining a preferred airline is very important (Kim and Lee, 2011). Misreading or misevaluating customer expectations may create serious problems in airlines’ resource allocation decisions (Chen and Chang, 2005). This study aims to identify the impact levels and the priority ranks of the service expectations that passengers have when determining a preferred airline. The study results can help airlines to understand the preference criteria of passengers based on different probabilities and impacts. The passengers’ priorities may differ according to the airline that they choose; therefore, the probabilities shown in this study can inform the senior management of such airlines about the passengers’ viewpoint.