Customer-Oriented Competitive Advantage in the Airline Industry

Abstract

The competitive environment in the service industry requires firms to constantly improve business practices to be profitable and competitive. The airline industry, characterized by human interaction and delivery of services, is most in need of research in competitive advantage. This research explores and identifies the critical sources of competitive advantage from a customer-oriented perspective in the globalized airline market. The data obtained from semi-structured interviews was analysed using qualitative and inductive reasoning. The research identified critical drivers of customer satisfaction in the airline industry establishing a logical and structured rationale for models of strategy development for competitive advantage.