The influence of service failure and service recovery on airline passengers’ relationships with domestic airlines : an exploratory study

Abstract

Service failures and the subsequent service recovery eff orts of an organisation can have a profound eff ect on customers’ satisfaction with an organisation as well as on the quality of the relationship with the organisation, despite other eff orts by the organisation to build long-term relationships with its customers. Airlines in particular are faced with several challenges aff ecting their survival, and one such challenge is the fact that they are particularly susceptible to service failures. This study investigates the eff ect of service failures and an airline’s service recovery eff orts on their customer relationships and future patronage of the airline. Data were collected from passengers fl ying with South African domestic passenger airlines departing from OR Tambo International Airport. The fi ndings indicate that customer satisfaction with an airline’s service recovery eff orts signifi cantly infl uences their relationship with the airline as well as their future patronage of the airline. Dissatisfi ed respondents indicated that their relationship with the airline was weakened or broken and that they would fl y less frequently or never again with the airline following the service failure. Satisfi ed respondents’ relationships with the airline were unchanged or strengthened, and they fl ew with the airline all the time or as frequently as before the service failure.