A combined group decision making based IFCM and SERVQUAL approach for strategic analysis of airline service quality

Abstract

Transportation becomes increasingly important for global trade, mobility, and economies. Passengers expect speed and quality from transportation services. As a result, the demand for air transportation is steadily rising. Higher demand for flights brings along new expectations and competition. In particular, airline companies are focused on service quality, knowing that it is a necessity to survive in a competitive market by meeting customer expectations. Hence, it is aimed that to analyze Airline Service Quality (ASQ) in Turkey. A SERVQUAL based model is developed and the criteria of the model is analyzed using group decision making (GDM) based intuitionistic fuzzy cognitive map (IFCM) approach. A real case is conducted in Turkey airline industry. By considering the hesitation, uncertainty and intuition of decision-making processes and the opinions of the decision makers, classical FCM approach is expanded to IF environment. Decision makers who are experts in Turkey airline industry, evaluate the relationship between the criteria. The importance ratings of the criteria are determined. Thanks to dynamic structure of IFCM, scenario analysis is performed to make strategic decisions. Originality of the paper is that it is the first study dealing with GDM based IFCM and SERVQUAL approach for ASQ in Turkey to the best of our knowledge.