Complaint handling in the airline industry: The way to enhance customer loyalty

Abstract

Organizations with effective customer complaints handling enjoy high level of customers' loyalty. Customers decide to continue with an organization according to its ability to offer what customers need and want. This study aims to understand how customer complaints are managed in the airline industry. A case study of Egyptair is used to achieve the research aim. Data are collected from customers and staff responsible for handling customer complaints. The study reports a number of problems with the process of managing complaints in Egyptair. This causes dissatisfaction of customers and makes it difficult to maintain loyalty. The study introduces a process model for a better handling of complaints in Egyptair. Further, the study suggests a number of implementations at different levels of Egyptair to satisfy customers and enhance customer loyalty.