The first set of variables concerned with the air ticketing purchase decisions presented below.
1. Decision making on purchasing overseas flight air tickets online--attractive fare
2. Decision making on purchasing overseas flight air tickets online fare and flight information available
3. Decision making on purchasing overseas flight air tickets online, easiness of payment
4. Decision making on purchasing overseas flight air tickets online, can reduce the amount of time spent on shopping air tickets
5. Decision making on purchasing overseas flight air tickets online, security and safety 6. Decision making on purchasing overseas flight air tickets online, electronic delivery
The second set of variables dealt with the decision variables for selecting airlines. These variables are listed below.
1. Decision making on selecting airlines, fewer stopovers 2. Decision making on selecting airlines, cheaper fare 3. Decision making on selecting airlines, on time
4. Decision making on selecting airlines, duration of flight
5. Decision making on selecting airlines, on time, 5=strongly agree,1=least agree
6. Decision making on selecting airlines, in flight service, i.e. meal, entertainments, wine, etc.
The respondents were asked to evaluate in term of relative importance of these variables for their air line ticket purchase decisions. Five point Likert scale was applied, with 5=strongly agree, 4=agree, 3=neutral, either agree or disagree, 2=disagree, 1=strongly disagree.
Sampling
The targeted sample respondents were the passengers on route from New York JFK Airport to Beijing Airport in March 2007. The survey questionnaires were distributed to them to obtain the respondents’ opinions. One hundred fifty questionnaires were distributed. Ninety eight questionnaires completed and returned.
FINDINGS
The returned questionnaires represented sixty-seven percent of response rate, and are used for analyses.
Table 3 presents the background information of the respondents.
Table 3: Background information of the respondents
Variables %
Age <25 8
26-35 58
36-45 34
gender male 48
female 52
Approximate family income last year <35k 3
35-50k 35
50-70k 43
75-100k 19
Education high school 6
college 15 graduate 79
Your present marital status married 61
unmarried 39
How many children do you have? 0.00 17
1.00 13
2.00 58
3.00 12
Do you have access to the internet? yes 100
How many hours do you spend on the internet per week? <5 8
5=10 60
10-15 18
>15 14 how many times do you fly oversea last year? 0.00 18
1.00 82
How often do you fly total last year? 1.00 1
2.00 76
3.00 19
4.00 or more 4
Form of tickets Paper tickets 83
e-tickets 17 Where do you purchase your airline tickets, domestic flight? travel agency 12 airline operator 12 online 74 combination 2 Where do you purchase your airline tickets, overseas flight? travel agency 70
airline operator 17
online 4
combination 9
Eight-three percent of the respondents use paper tickets. It is a little surprise to learn that 70% of respondents purchased their overseas airline tickets via travel agencies, while 74% of respondents purchased their domestic airline tickets online.
Table 4 presents other decision making considerations for air ticket purchase decision. It turns out that passengers focus on the air fare as the highest ranking among the variables.
Table 4: The mean ranking of the airline tickets decision making online
Attractive fare 4.17
Fare and flight information available 3.97
easiness of payment 3.74
Can reduce the amount of time spent on shopping air tickets 3.68 Security and safety of online purchase 3.59
Electronic delivery of tickets 3.52
Table 5 presents other related air ticket purchase decision of airline selection. The highest mean ranking goes to trip stopovers.
Table 5 presents other decision making criteria on the airline selection
Fewer stopovers 4.17
On time 3.91
Duration of flight 3.87
Age of aircrafts 3.18
In flight service, i.e. meal, entertainments, meals, etc 3.10
DISCUSSIONS
As one of the largest airlines in the world, Air China does not offer online air ticket purchase, and offers limited e-tickets. This is a far cry after more than 10 years explosion of the online travel industry. Today, US based
airlines principally have discontinued the commissions paid to the travel agencies. They encourage travelers to book tickets directly from them. Prior 1980s, such commission were generally 10% of the face value of the tickets. The commission to the travel agencies started diminishing in late 1990s and early 2000s. Today, travel agencies, even the largest online travel agencies, such as Expedia and Travelocity charge a handling fee for every e-ticket they issue. However, Air China is one of the large airlines continues to rely on many hundreds of travel agencies and continues to pay them fat commissions. Such operation can translate into enormous burden on Air China, even its labor costs are lower than many of its competitors. With the amount of the lost revenue, Air China could have updated its online reservation and ticket system that can handle these tickets electronically.
REFERENCES
Airline companies reports, 2004-2007
http://www.plunkettresearch.com/Industries/TravelAirlineHotelTourism/TravelAirlineHotelTourismTrends/tabid/25 4/Default.aspx.
Lara Williams, Airlines get final call for e-ticket deadline, Computing, 17 Aug 2006 http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2162435/airlines-final-call-ticket
Lawrence F. Cunningham, James H. Gerlach, Michael D. Harper, Clifford E. Young. (2005) Perceived risk and the consumer buying process: internet airline reservations. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 16:4, 357.
Kyle Peterson, Paper airline tickets on verge of extinction, Wed Feb 28, 2007 3:02 PM ET.
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2831591120070228 US Commerce Department Electronic Commerce Report, 1999
Heung, Vincent C.S. Internet usage by international travelers: reasons and barriers, Journal: International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Dec 2003 Volume: 15 Issue: 7 pp. 370 – 378
Lara Williams, Airlines get final call for e-ticket deadline, Computing, 17 Aug 2006 http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2162435/airlines-final-call-ticket
Kyle Peterson, Paper airline tickets on verge of extinction, Wed Feb 28, 2007 3:02 PM ET.
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2831591120070228 http://www.etcnewmedia.com/review/default.asp?SectionID=11&CountryID=43 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2007-03/22/content_834016.htm http://news.sawf.org/Lifestyle/34327.aspx
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2007-03/22/content_834016.htm