Ranking airlines' service quality factors using a fuzzy approach: study of the Iranian society

PurposeThis paper seeks to review service quality factors of the airline industry, and to rank these factors in Iranian society. It aims to introduce a fuzzy TOPSIS approach for this purpose.Design/methodology/approachThe research was conducted among graduate students of the University of Tehran, Iran. In order to meet the objectives of the study, Fuzzy TOPSIS approach was used. Required information was gathered through a questionnaire.FindingsThe results show that “Flight safety”, “Good appearance of flight crew” and “Offering highest possible quality services to customers 24 hours a day” are the most important airline service quality factors in the eyes of Iranian customers. Interestingly, “the possibility of checking flight schedule via telephone” has been selected as the least important quality factor by respondents. Research findings also announce that the majority of Iranian potential travellers prefer airplane as their transportation means. However, at the moment, they are mostly using buses as their first choice.Practical limitations/implicationsThe paper considers graduate university students as its sample society. Although university students are a group of airlines' potential customers, the paper findings might not be generalised to all groups of airline customers and further studies might be essential to see if the same ranking of service quality dimensions will be found within other groups of customers having other career backgrounds. The paper will be helpful in enabling airline industry policy makers to identify the key service quality factors in the eyes of Iranian customers.Originality/valueThe concept of ranking airline service quality factors using a Fuzzy TOPSIS is a new approach. The study is the first application of a fuzzy approach to examine and rank customer expectations of airlines' service quality.