Customer service in the face of flight delays

Abstract

Despite the increasing informal discussion (Blogs, newspapers and magazines) of the industry-wide tarmac delay phenomena, the extant satisfaction and queuing literature is silent on this rather intense pre-process delay. Further, unlike queues where a customer can leave, these tarmac delays have the added element of entrapment as the travelers cannot extract themselves from the wait. As the FAA tries to establish official limits on these delays, that often mean hours of wasted time, customer satisfaction levels are plummeting. In response to this problem, we explore this unique waiting event by examining the effects of timeliness of information about the duration of the delay and the accuracy of expected wait time on passengers’ attitudes about the airline. Airlines can use our results to form strategies that minimize customer dissatisfaction during tarmac delays.