The effect of airline services and catering on customer loyalty and satisfaction

The aviation sector has become one of the main structures of the country's economic development. It plays an important role in the transportation of people or products on domestic or international roads, especially when the distances are long. Providing quality service to passengers in a fierce competitive environment is the most important competitive advantage for an airline's profitability and sustainable growth. Flight catering starts with understanding the number of passengers and their needs. In some cases, there are also recommendations from suppliers and caterers. In today's competitive market, the inability to perceive the views of the target audience makes it difficult for manufacturers to continue their activities. In the new marketing approach, the customer is prioritized and ways to develop a high customer base are sought. That's why today's competitive market is more about keeping existing customers than gaining new ones. In this study; While determining the preferences of customers in airline services and catering, it is aimed to determine the effects of demographic characteristics, customer expectations, perceptions and opinions about the brand. In the research, the scanning model was used in order to determine the opinions of customers on airline services and catering, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Convenience sampling method, one of the non-probability sampling methods, was used in the research. According to the convenience sampling method, the most easily accessible people in the target audience were determined and the questionnaire was shared with these people. Thus, 440 airline customers who received flight service at Istanbul Airport participated in the research. According to the results of the research, it has been determined that airline services and catering have a positive and significant effect on customer loyalty, and airline services and catering have a positive and significant effect on customer satisfaction.