CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction
It is believed that the goal of every organization
is to meet the needs and the requirements of its stakeholders. Meeting the
needs and the requirements of the stakeholders will not only ensure the
survival of the organization but also flourish it. Customer is presumed to be
one of the most important stakeholders in any organization because without him,
organizations are not likely to succeed. Travel trade in Nigeria contributes
6.8% of Nigeria’s GDP, INR 2,178.1 Billion to the country’s GDP, USD 18.13 Billion
in foreign exchange earnings, 3.6 % growth is foreign tourists from May 2015,
39.5 million jobs, 7.7% of its total employment. Total travel agents in
Nigeria: 20,000 (approx) doing monthly business.
1.1 Background of the Study
The success of airlines depends majorly on the
ability to identify customers’ wants and needs, and factor it in the quality
service that would meet customers’ satisfaction. Air transport is the
transportation of passengers and cargo by aircraft and helicopters.
Thus, it is a transport mode for the movement or
carriage by air of persons or goods using airplanes and helicopters (Don-
Beliner 1996). The airline industry is a major player in the world economy as
it contributes significantly to the leisure/tourism and is a key element of
international business (Tiernan, Rhodes & Waguespack, 2008), with global
airline revenues exceeding $12.9 billion as at 2006 (IATA, 2007).
The aviation industry in Nigeria is a major player
in the economy owing to its substantial contribution to ease of movement within
the country especially in the face infrastructural decay (poor and insecure
road transport system) in the recent years. Nigerian Airways was established in
October, 1958 as a joint venture between the Nigerian government’s lines and
the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) while the Nigerian Airways took
over the operation of domestic flights from the disbanded West African Airways
Corporation (WAAC) which had been operating commercial aircraft within the
country since 1946 (Filani, 1983). In 1963, the Nigerian Federal Government
bought out the other shareholders and the Nigerian government became the
sole-owner of Nigeria Airways. The airline has monopoly for providing domestic
air services in Nigeria and also the national flag carrier for international
services. According to Filani (1983), in 1976, within Nigeria several charter
companies joined the Nigeria Airways to operate additional flight in small
aircraft from Lagos to the main economic centres in the Southern and Northern
parts of the country. The Nigerian government realizing the role of air
transport in the Nation’s development made significant attempts to develop the
country’s aviation industry. The most massive was the 1975-1980 airport
development programme in which the Murtala Mohammed airport complex was about
complex was about N240 million (Filani, 1983). Six other airports in Kano,
Ilorin, Kaduna, Sokoto, Port Harcourt and Maiduguri were developed to
accommodate large aircrafts. Apart from these airports development programme
the Federal government also intensifies manpower development in the aviation
industry. But due to the efficiency of the sector, the aviation industry was
liberalized to allow private owners to compete favourable in the business.
Port Harcourt International Airport (IATA: PHC,
ICAO: DNPO) is an international airport located in Omagwa, a suburb of Port
Harcourt city in Rivers State, Nigeria. The airport consists of a single
terminal with separate facilities for international and domestic flights. In
2009, the airport served 1,081,587 passengers, making it the third busiest
airport in Nigeria.
This lead increase of number of operators and
perceived frequent flyers in the industry which does the perceived services
value and quality often reflect the customers’ level of satisfaction with the
airline and show intention to repatronize the service (FMA, 2012).
According to Nigerian Airport Authority (FMA, 2012),
from visiting family and friends to shipping high value products, 8.3 million
passengers and 181,000 tonnes of freight travelled to, from and within Nigeria;
domestically, more than 66,800 flights make over 75 million seats available to
passengers, destined to 18 airports as at years 2011 and 2012.
Since success of airlines in Nigeria will be its
ability to identify customers’ wants and needs, gather them up and then come up
with quality service that would meet customers’ satisfaction it important that
researches on assessing the determinant of choice of airline should be
continuous as this will assist all the stakeholders survive in their strive to
supress competition by attempting to bridge the existing gap between customers’
service expectations and the quality of service offered by them to fly within
Nigeria.
In Nigeria, the value of consumer benefit varies
because of how often they fly, and the value a passenger attach to additional
flight will in general fall. This is consonance to the law of diminishing
returns which states that affirming that to continue after a certain level of performance
has been reached, will result in a decline in effectiveness (Case, Karl &
Fair Ray (1999).
1.2 Statement of the Study
Since, the success of airlines depends majorly on
customers’ whereby, without them an organization seize to exist, it is therefore,
importance to identify there wants and needs, and factor it in the quality of
service to be rendered to the customers. A major problem to the aviation
industry in general (Nigeria) is the cost of flight, the route that are
available and the durability of the aircraft in terms of the life span of the
aircraft in use.
Hence, this study examines if the Nigerian
Passengers that fly within Nigeria get the value of the expected fare paid for
the flight, fully satisfied with the services delivered or the air fee exceeds
the perceived value gotten from the flight and with the less value or
satisfaction gotten through air transport.
The quality of service the customers perceived most
time are not the quality of service the customer gets at the end.
Quality of service do not match to the cost of
service.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The objective of the study is therefore to:
1) Investigate the service delivery of Rivers
state Aviation industry if its meets the customers satisfactory and value
2) To identify customer’s perceived value and
needs, his satisfactory level.
3) Examine how the passengers’ socio-economic
status affects choice of airline.
4) Analyze the impact of perceived value on
customer satisfaction in Nigeria Aviation Industry.
5) Analyze the impact of service quality on
customer satisfaction in Nigeria Aviation Industry.
1.4 Research Question(s)
This research addresses the following questions
related to services provided by airline travel agents in Rivers state:
a) Which service quality dimensions are the
best predictors of overall service quality in terms of satisfaction in the
service sector?
b) Do customers perceive value influences their
satisfaction level on the choice of airline
1.5 Research Hypothesis
Consequently the proposed hypothesis of the study
is;
H01: There is no significant relationship between
service quality and satisfaction of air travelers Nigeria.
H1: There is significant relationship between
service quality and satisfaction of air travelers Nigeria.
H02: There is no significant relationship between
perceived value and air travelers’ satisfaction in Nigerian.
H2: There is no significant relationship between
perceived value and air travelers’ satisfaction in Nigeria.
H03: Socio economic attribute of airline travelers
do not influence the choice of airline.
H3: Socio economic attribute of airline travelers
does influence the choice of airline.