The influence of demographic characteristics on passengers' airline choice: A survey with the passengers of international flights from Turkey

This study aims to discover whether demographic variables influence the importance given to the determinants of passengers' airline choice. A survey was conducted among 555 passengers on outgoing international flights from the Milas-Bodrum Airport on the Aegean coast of Turkey. 555 passengers evaluated the importance they gave to the various criteria pertaining to airline travel service in choosing the airline they were to board that day. The demographic variables studied were gender, age, educational level, profession, income level, nationality, travel purpose, flying frequency, and airline travel class. (The behavioral variables of travel purpose, flying frequency, and airline travel class were classified as demographic variables for the purposes of this study.). Data was first analyzed using principal components analysis and then subjected to hypothesis-testing using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U. With the exception of profession and travel purpose, the demographic variables all had a partial influence on the various aspects of airline travel service: operational competence and in-flight comfort, flight safety, supplementary services that facilitate accessing the core product (i.e., airline service), image and reputation, problem-solving effectiveness, in-cabin product quality, and convenience. To determine which groups differed significantly, post-hoc multiple comparisons were conducted, using Mann-Whitney U. Managerial and research implications were discussed.