Passengers Satisfaction Towards Service Quality in Malindo Airlines

Abstract

The aviation sector has become the predominant segment in the economic development of a nation, and it plays a vital role in transporting people or products from one place to another, either domestically or internationally especially when the distance involved is substantial, and the land journey cannot cover the destination. Presently, most airborne companies concentrate on preserving and refining the quality of their service in such a competitive aviation industry. As the newcomer for Low-Cost Carrier (LCC) in Malaysia, Malindo airline have to face established competitors that have been lobbying in Malaysia earlier. In the past decade, air transportation market has become even more challenging, with many airlines have turned to focus on their service quality to increase passenger satisfaction. Hence, the current research aims to examine the effect of service quality provided by Malindo airline using the SERVQUAL (tangible, reliability, responsiveness, assurances and empathy) instrument on passengers' satisfaction. The five aspects of SERVQUAL which are being tested were tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. A total of 300 questionnaires was distributed among Malindo Airline’s passengers using simple random sampling technique in Subang and KLIA Airport. Results indicated that passenger’s satisfaction straightly affected by the tangible, assurance, and empathy offered by Malindo Airline. Generally, Malindo Airline passengers not only exercise their option by choosing the low-priced ticket but also consider the service qualities offered by the airline company. LCC Airline industry player could benefit from this study by focusing on and enhancing their quality of service delivered in order to maintain customer’s trust and satisfaction.