Social media as a tool for airline service quality assessment

Abstract

Our study investigates the perception of service quality of 12 airlines by using a mixed-method approach that consists of numerical analysis of key performance indicators (KPIs) and qualitative examination of Twitter customer service. Our findings reveal that Twitter is the most popular social media platform in the airline industry, with U.S.-based airlines being the most active. The analysis of customer feedback on Twitter showed noticeable differences between full-service and low-cost carriers, with the former receiving more complaints regarding booking and in-flightservice quality, and the latter receiving more complaints regarding delayed or cancelled flights and poor customer service. Overall, our research provides valuable insights into the significance of social media as a tool for promotional activities and customer service, while highlighting common issues in service quality perception by airline customers.