[01] Samuel Sunday Eleboda, Department of Administration and Management, College of Business and Social Sciences, Crawford University, Faith City, Nigeria.

Service expectationis widely recognized as a key influencer ofcustomer/passenger satisfaction and the formation of customers’ future purchase intentions which have implications for the firm’s bottom lines. Despite this fact, previous studies have largely focused on funding and its utilization in the air transportation sub-sector, coupled with recent and past operational challenges faced by airline operators, and the fear of air transportation by many Nigerians due to previous air crashes, there is the need to gauge the current level of passenger satisfaction vis-à-vis their service expectations as a means towards better performance. This study therefore investigatedthe current level of passenger satisfaction and the impact of expectation on satisfaction. Primary data were used for the study. These were collected through the adaptation of the SERVQUAL instrument. From the targeted population of 302,869 passengers, multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 268 passengers of airlines operating atdomestic terminals of the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos. Of the 268 copies of the questionnaire distributed, 232 (86.6%) were retrieved. Data collected were analyzed using tables, frequencies, percentages, and multiple regression. The study found that that the industry as a whole has 82.61% satisfied passengers, though with varying degrees of satisfaction, while individual airlines ranked as follow: Medview airline, Aero Contractor, Dana Air, Azman Air, Arik Air, Air Peace, First Nation, and Overland. There is alsoa narrow gap between customers’ expectation of service and their level of satisfaction. It also found that expectation has low (about 12%) but significant impact on passenger satisfaction (R²=0.115, p< 0.05). However, not all the dimensions of expectation have significant effect on passenger satisfaction. While Tangible, Reliability, Empathy, and Assurance have significant effect on passenger satisfaction and ranged from Tangible (β = 0.163; P< 0.05) to Assurance (β = 0.204; P< 0.05), Responsiveness has nosignificanteffect on passenger satisfaction (β =0.092; t = 0.763; P > 0.05). The study concluded that passengers are satisfied with the level of services they currently receive from the airline operators and the level of passenger satisfaction is above average. The study recommends that airline managers/operators should pay greatest attention to Assurance because it has the highest contribution to passenger satisfaction. They should also endeavour toinspire trust and confidence in their passengers through the knowledge and courtesy displayed by their employees, which are the key ingredients of the Assurance dimension.

Passenger Satisfaction, Aviation Industry, Air Transportation, Domestic Airlines, Service Quality

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