cfs aviation industry customer satisfaction survey

8/11/2019 Cfs Aviation Industry Customer Satisfaction Survey

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CFS AVIATION INDUSTRY

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY- 2010


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Executive Summary ......................................................................2

Background ..................................................................................3

Introduction 4

Key Findings .................................................................................7

Conclusion ..................................................................................17

2 | CFS Aviation Industry Customer Satisfaction Survey-2010

TABLE OF CONTENT


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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY


In this report, we present our findings from a customer satisfaction survey of the Nigerian Aviation Industry in

2010. In carrying out the survey, we interviewed and analysed responses from about 3,000 Nigerian air

travellers across three of the busiest airports in Nigeria namely: the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport,

Abuja; Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos and the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa.

The key objective of the survey was to provide industry players with unbiased insights to the demands,

expectations and perceptions of the Nigerian air travellers with a view to enabling airlines position to bettermeet customers' needs.

The study revealed that apart from safety, customer service is the most important factor that determines the

choice of airlines for most Nigerian air travellers. The travellers also identified customer services related issues

such as rowdiness and poor queue management systems as some of the major challenges they encounter at the

airport.

Some of our findings include the following:

Airline travellers predominantly prefer to use travel agents in booking/making reservations for their

travels because of the perceived superior knowledge these agents possess about the available

options in the air travel market. A lot of them also buy their tickets over the counter at the airport

partly because they have to travel impromptu or have had a bad experience with travel agents and/or

internet bookings in the past.

Aero Contractors was adjudged the safest airline in Nigeria, followed closely by Air Nigeria and Arik

Air. The survey revealed that despite the poor level of technology/infrastructure at Nigerian airports

and previous plane crashes in the industry, there is still a certain level of confidence by airlines'

customers about safety and security.

Aero Contractors also stood out as the preferred airline in Nigeria; followed by Arik and Air Nigeria.

The survey revealed that these three airlines control about 70% market share of the aviation industry.

Some industry experts are of the opinion that economic and financial realities in the industry may lead

to consolidation leaving the industry with about 3-4 mega airlines in the near future.


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J

ust like the aviation industries in most other economies of the world especially Europe and

America, the Nigerian aviation industry has been going through a tough phase. The current

banking reforms which has given rise to liquidity concerns for players in the industry coupled

with the rising cost of aviation fuel and other operating expenses is making most Nigerian airlines

rethink their strategies and battling for their very survival in the market.

Thankfully, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has just recently announced a bailout of about N200

billion for the sector. While the debate continues to rage as to how this bailout fund should be

appropriated, one issue which perhaps is not subject to debate is the need for airlines to continue to

offer services that meet/exceed passenger demands and expectations.

So while Nigerian airlines position to benefit from the bailout, it is also imperative that they keep a

listening ear and do not take their eyes off the singular most important person in their business i.e.

the customer. It is important that they listen to what the customer is saying and keep sight of thefactors that influence their flying decisions.

This report puts into perspective the above issues and also highlights the demands, expectations and

perceptions of Nigerian air passengers about Nigerian airlines and the aviation industry in general.

It is our hope that the report will serve as a medium for the voice of the Nigerian airline passenger to

be heard, a strategic and positioning tool for service excellence to Nigerian airliners and a source of

vital information for the general public.


BACKGROUND


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1.1 STUDY OBJECTIVES

1.2 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

1.2.1 Survey Approach

1.2.2 SAMPLE SIZE AND STRUCTURE

In line with our mission creating service champions, Customer Feedback Services (CFS) West Africa carried out

a customer satisfaction survey of the Nigerian aviation industry so as to give industry players unbiased insights

to the demands, expectations and perceptions of their customers (passengers) with a view to enabling the

airlines position to meet customers' needs and become true service champions.

In addition to the above, the specific objectives of the study include:

To measure customer satisfaction in Nigerian Aviation Industry

To identify and track customer satisfaction preferences against typical service standards

To identify key drivers of loyalty

To identify the current trends and forecast the future of the aviation industry

In order to achieve the above study objectives, our experienced field staff using the Simple Random Sampling

technique, randomly intercepted and administered fully structured questionnaires to target respondents at

three of the busiest airports in Nigeria, namely:

Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos,

Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja and

Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa.

The respondents were screened to ensure that they were eligible to participate in the survey. All respondents

who participated did so based on:

Their willingness to participate, respond to our questions and proffer their opinion in the

survey

Their claim to use air as a means of transportation and

A confirmation that they have travelled at least once in the last 6 months.

Our field staff administered a total of 3,000 questionnaires via face to face/personal interviews and we

successfully analysed 2,749 of those questionnaires. Using a +/-5% error margin, we targeted and achieved the

following sampling structure:


INTRODUCTION

2n = (1-P)/[e /z+(1-P)/N]Where: Z = Confidence level, P = percentage probability of picking a choice,

expressed as decimal (0.5 used for the required sample size) e = Sampling error, N = Population size


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Figure 2: Location Breakdown

Figure 1: Aviation Survey Sample Size Structure

1.3 SCOPE AND COVERAGE

The distribution of the respondents across these airports is as shown in the schematic below.

Location of Respondents

5| CFS Aviation Industry Customer Satisfaction Survey-2010

Respondents Target SampleSize

Target Sample% Split

Achieved SampleUnit

Achieved Sample% Spilt

Age Range

3,000

600

1,200

900

300

100

20

40

30

10

2,749

493

1230

831

195

100

18

45

30

7

SexFemale

Male

3,0001,500

1,500

10050

50

2,7491232

1517

10045

55

Marital StatusMarried

Single

3,0001,500

1,500

10050

50

2,7491729

1020

10063

37

Occupation

Public Sector

Private Sector

Self Employed

Unemployed

Retired

3,000

600

900

900

300

300

100

20

30

30

10

10

2,749

470

1105

829

305

40

100

17

40

30

11

1

LocationLagos

Port Harcourt

Abuja

3,0001,200

900

900

10040

30

30

2,7491048

834

867

10038

30

32

Total 3,000 100 2749 100


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KEY FINDINGS



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Our key findings from the survey are presented under six (6) main headings namely:

Analysis of Channels for Ticketing/Reservations

Choice of Airline and the Factors that Influence that Choice

Quality of In-flight Services

Check-in and ArrivalSafety and Security

Flight Cancellations and Delays

In this area of assessment, we tried to get customer views on the following:

Preferred Channel for Ticketing/Reservations

Reliability of Service Channels

Challenges with Preferred Channel

Perceived Level of Service for Ticketing/Reservation

Details of our findings are given below.

Our analysis revealed that a majority of Nigerians prefer to make their bookings/reservations either through

travel agents (30%) or over the counter at the airport (29%). Another 21% asserted that they prefer to do this

online while 13% prefer the airlines' ticketing office. Only 3% claimed to prefer making reservations at the bank.

.

2.1 ANALYSIS OF CHANNELS FOR TICKETING/RESERVATIONS

2.1.1 PREFERRED CHANNEL FOR BOOKINGS/RESERVATIONS:

A summary of our finding in this area is presented in the chart below.

Figure 3: Preferred Channel for Ticketing/Reservation

3%

3%

13%

21%

29%

30%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Refused/No Response

Bank

Ticket Office

Internet/Online

Airport Counter

Travel Agent

Preferred Channels for Ticketing/Reservations


2.0 Key Findings


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The preference for travel agents over other channels might not be unconnected with the belief that travel agents

have more knowledge about the various travel options and what is available out there for the traveller. Most of our

respondents seem to be saying I don't know or understand my options whenever I want to travel and I would rather

talk to someone who can do all the searching for me and tell me what is available

The 29% who buy their tickets over the counter mainly do so at the time/day of travel. These are usually travellers

who have to fly impromptu and as such make a quick dash to the airport hoping to catch any available flight to their

destination. For some others in this category, mistrust or a previous bad experience with travel agents and

difficulties in accessing the internet are typical reasons why they mainly prefer to do their ticketing over the

counter.

Interestingly, 21% of Nigerian travellers interviewed prefer and use the internet to make their reservations (i.e.

online bookings). Given that internet penetration in Nigeria as at December 2009 stood at about 16.1%,we can

reasonably conclude that 21% for online bookings is quite encouraging.

Furthermore, when compared with America which has an estimated 77% internet penetration but only about 46%of air travellers made their bookings online in 2009 ( Forrester Research), then we could infer that the Nigerian air

traveller seem to be embracing online technology fairly rapidly.

However, most online users seem to use this channel so as to benefit from the (generous) discounts some Nigerian

airlines now offer flyers for booking in advance online. At a time, from an airline like Aero Contractors, travellers

could enjoy more than 50% discount if they book well ahead of time online.

When respondents were asked which channel for making booking and reservation they find most reliable, the

following results emerged: airport counters (33%), travel agents (27%), internet/online (17%), ticket office (13%)and banks (10%).

The above result seems logical given that face-to-face transactions are generally more reliable than other modes of

transactions. For instance, the authenticity of a ticket or the certainty that a particular trip would be made when a

ticket is purchased from an airline's counter at the airport, would be quite higher than when such a ticket is booked

online or issued by an agent.

2.1.2 RELIABILITY OF SERVICE CHANNELS

10%

13%

17%

27%

33%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Bank

Ticket Office

Internet/Online

Travel Agent

Airport Counter

Most Reliable Service Channels

Figure 4: Reliable Service Delivery Channel


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2.1.3 CHALLENGES WITH PREFERRED SERVICE CHANNEL

The challenges most customers claim to encounter with their preferred ticketing channel ranged from poor queue

management systems to technological issues such as unstable internet connections and inability to make card

payments to tout activities at the airport.

Details of this result are presented in the chart below.

4%

4%

10%

11%

12%

19%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20%

Touts

Incomplete Online

Rowdiness

Inability to Pay with

Slow Connection

Long Queues

Challenges of Service Channels

2.1.4 LEVEL OF SERVICE FOR TICKETING

In terms of the level of customer service for ticketing, 16% of the respondents rated the level of service as verygood, 47% rated it as good, 33% scored it fair while 4% rated overall customer service for ticketing poor. This result

is further presented in the chart below.


Figure 6: Service Rating

Figure 5: Service Channels Challenges


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2.2 CHOICE OF AIRLINE AND FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THAT CHOICE

2.2.1 PREFERRED AIRLINE

In this area, respondents were asked to identify their most preferred airline and provide reasons for their choices.

Our findings are shown below:

Aero Contractors, Arik and Air Nigeria emerged as the three most preferred airlines in the industry with ourth th

respondents scoring them 29%, 25% and 16% respectively. Dana Air (9%) and Chachangi (5%) emerged 4 and 5

respectively.

2.2.2 REASONS FOR PREFERENCE

When asked to mention the factors that influence their choice of which airline to fly with, 37% of the respondents

stated that safety was the most important factor that influences their decision while 29% highlighted service

quality. Price and timeliness recorded 19% and 8% respectively.

10| CFS Aviation Industry Customer Satisfaction Survey-2010

16%

5%

9%

16%

25%

29%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Others

Chachangi

Dana Air

Air Nigeria

Arik

Aero

Preferred Airlines

8%

8%

18%

29%

37%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

No Response

Timelines

Pricing

Service Quality

Safety

Factors that Influence the Choice of Airlines

Figure 7: Preferred Airlines

Figure 8:Reasons for Preferred Airlines


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2.2.3 LEVEL OF EFFICIENCY OF AIRLINE STAFF

In terms of the level of efficiency of airline staff, 15% of respondents rated their preferred airline very good, 60%

rated them good, 22% rated them fair while 3% rated them poor. This result is depicted in the chart below.

2.3 QUALITY OF IN-FLIGHT SERVICES

In-flight service is an important aspect of airline operations and constitutes a potent strategy for retaining

customers and attracting new ones. In-flight service is not simply an intangible product offering but a vital part of

airline operations especially in the context of competition. Our assessment of in-flight services involved five main

areas namely:

Seat comfort

Cabin cleanliness

Rest room

Cabin temperature and

Meals/drinks

Amongst the five assessment areas above, customers seemed to be most satisfied with seat comfort as 60% scored

it very good. In terms of cabin cleanliness, only 48% felt that existing standards are very good. 43% also felt cabin

temperature in most aircrafts is very good and 40% felt the same for the rest rooms on board. Meals/drinks however

got the poorest rating with only 35% scoring it very good with another 31% rating it as fair and 6% indicating that it is

poor.

3%

22%

60%

15%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Poor

Fair

Good

Very Good

The Level of Efficiency of the Staff of PreferredAirlines


Figure 9: Customer Service Staff Rating


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2.4 CHECK-IN AND ARRIVAL

Under check-in and arrival, the survey evaluated:

The willingness and friendliness of airline staff to assist passengers at thecheck-in and arrival terminals

Ability to keep to time

Our findings revealed that 80% of customers rated airlines as good or very good in

terms of the willingness of their staff to provide assistance during check-in or on

arrival. 19% scored them fair with 1% believing they perform poorly in this service

area.

In terms of their ability to keep to departure/arrival time, 16% seemed to be very

satisfied with the airlines as they scored them very good in this area. 40% scored

them good, 39% scored them fair while 5% scored them poor.

A summary is provided in the charts below.

The charts below provide the detailed scores for each assessment area under in-flight services.

60%

48%

40%

43%

35%

34%

38%

32%

38%

27%

6%

14%

27%

18%

31%

1%

1%

1%

6%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%

Seat Comfort

Cabin cleanliness

Rest room

Cabin temperature

Meals / Drinks

Kindly tick your rating of the following in the airline you frequently fly?


Figure 10: Rate of In-Flight Services

Figure 11: Rate of Staff Friendliness/Willingness Figure 12: Rate of Airlines Ability To Keep To Time


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2.5 CANCELLATIONS/DELAY

When customers were asked how often they experience flight delays, 54% claimed that sometimes

airlines do not meet up with scheduled timelines while 22% of respondents claimed to have never

experienced flight delays. An insignificant number of 3% of the respondents said that flight delay was

a common experience.

In an attempt to validate the above responses, we further asked the respondents to assess the ability

of airlines to generally keep to time of departure and arrival, and about 52% claimed to be satisfied.

These results are further illustrated in the charts below

In terms of flight cancellations, 38% of the respondents claimed to have never experienced flight

cancellations while 42% claimed that it happens sometimes. When respondents were further asked if

they have ever received compensation for flight cancellations, 51% said Never.

The charts below throw more light on customers' responses/opinions on flight cancellations anddelays.


Figure 15: Customer Cancellation Experience

Figure 13: Customers Experience Of Flight Delays

Figure 16: Frequency Of Compensation

Figure 14: Airlines Ability To Keep To Time


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Those who claimed to have gotten compensation for cancellations where further asked to mention how the

airlines compensated them. 39% stated that they got outright refund, 25% had their flights rebooked by the

airlines, 11% got apologies, 10% got various forms of bonuses, and another 10% got discounts while alternative

arrangements were made for the final 6%.

When asked if they were satisfied with the compensation they received, 71% said yes while 29% said No as

shown in the chart below

The 29% that were not satisfied with the sort of compensation they got, were further asked to state how they

would have preferred to be compensated and the results in the chart below emerged.


Figure 17:Compensation For Flight Cancellation

Figure 18: Rate of Satisfaction


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2.6 SAFETY AND SECURITY

The various plane crash incidents and bomb threats around the world in recent times have ensured thatissues of safety and security aboard aircraft remain a concern for many.

When respondents were asked to identify the safest airline in Nigeria, the following results emerged. 24%

of air travellers believe that Aero Contractors is the safest airline in Nigeria. Aero was closely followed by

Air Nigeria (20%) and Arik (15%), Chachangi (13%) and Dana (7%).

The above result is further illustrated in the chart below.


Figure 19: Rate Of Compensation Preference

Figure 20: Rate Of Safest Airline


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The result is presented in the chart below


When respondents were further asked to assess the overall level of safety/security in the Nigerian aviation

industry, 34% and 10% rated the industry good and very good respectively in this area. 36% however said it was

fair while 11% rated it as poor.

Figure 20: Overall Perception of Airline Safety and Security


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Conclusion

In spite of the current difficulties plaguingthe aviation industry, the customer stillremains King. Several studies have showna correlation between high customer satisfaction and business success in a recession. It is unlikely

that this trend will be any different for the Nigerian aviation sector.

Our opinion is that only airlines that discern the needs of the customer and continuously adoptcreative strategies and business models that can meet those needs will survive the market in this

trying time.

As this study has shown, apart from safety, air travellers identified customer service as the nextmost important factor that determines which airline they fly. Also, customer service issues suchas poor queue management systems resulting in long queues and rowdiness at the airport aresome of the challenges most customers say they face when booking tickets at the airport.

The survey also showed that while face to face transactions are still important, customers are alsoembracing online booking/transactions. We expect that forward looking airlines would payattention to these issues.

33A Bishop Aboyade Cole Street, Victoria Island, Lagos

www.cfs-westafrica.com

+234 1 4627754

cfs aviation industry customer satisfaction survey

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