CERES :: Browsing by Author "Mason, Keith"

Browsing by Author "Mason, Keith"

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Open Access
A hierarchical spatial and temporal optimisation of the air-high speed rail intermodal network
(Elsevier, 2025-02-01) Lu, Mengyuan; Perez, Edgar Jimenez; Mason, Keith; Li, Max Z.
Spatial and temporal coordination of air-high speed rail (HSR) intermodal networks is important to reduce emission, improve service, enhance efficiency, and reduce costs in the provision of air-HSR integration. This paper constructs a hierarchical optimisation model that first considers a spatial scope to solve the problem of route allocation and frequency choice which minimises total environmental, operational and passenger cost with a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model, based on a demand estimation for passenger trips between city pairs. Then, the second hierarchical level of the model considers a temporal scope to maximise connection opportunities between the resulting air and HSR networks using time windows to adjust frequencies with a Prescriptive Integer Quadratic Programming (PIQP) model. An application to a network of 40 cities in mainland China with both air and HSR transport service shows that the total emission of the network can be reduced by 22 %. Comparative analyses show that optimising for passenger costs favours increased air travel on medium- and long-haul routes, while an emissions-focused approach encourages a shift toward HSR for short and medium distances. Sensitivity analyses on carbon pricing further highlight the potential of gradual price adjustments to incentivise lower-emission modes without requiring additional HSR infrastructure.
Open Access
Airline key change drivers and business environmental analysis in the Southeast Asia: strategic planning perspectives
(Cranfield University, 2010) Kongsamutr, Navatasn; Mason, Keith
This thesis is involved with exploration of key changes drivers and market phenomena in the Southeast Asia and the development of new conceptual frameworks for business environmental analysis of airlines. The research is constructed under the phenomenology paradigm which adopts a coherentism approach and mainly takes airline industry’s publications, statistics, and executives as units of analysis. Hermeneutic phenomenology, a single-embedded case study, concurrent triangulation mixed method, and grounded theory are all used as methodologies. Methods using document reviews, interviews, and questionnaires are applied to surface the key changes drivers, market phenomena and the perceptions of the importance of changes factors. The collected data are analysed by content analysis, thematic analysis, cognitive mapping analysis, constant comparative analysis and descriptive analysis to classify, generalise and develop into proper forms. The research reveals that ‘market’, ‘competition/strategy’, ‘regulation/policy’, ‘infrastructure/resource’, ‘cooperation’, ‘distribution’, ‘technology, and ‘broad’ factors are discovered as key change drivers. Their different importance levels are measured by occurrences, density, centrality, and tail occurrences as root causes of changes. The characteristics of their interrelationships are based on directional and influential dimensions. There are 16 emerged changes/market phenomena and 11 generalised conceptual frameworks and 3 newly developed frameworks for analysing the airline business environment. The quantitative findings from content analysis are evaluated by inter-coder analysis which achieves kappa coefficient = 0.87 indicating high reliability of the analysis. The qualitative findings are qualified through ten criteria assessment of research quality. The deliverables provide both theoretical and methodological contributions. The research limitations are found in some sources of collected data and findings which are caused by scarce data availability and three types of biases. The recommendations for future research into financial performance, changes’ leading indicators and comparative in-depth study in other ASEAN countries and regions are made.
Open Access
Building Airline Passenger Loyalty Through an Understanding of Customer Value: A Relationship Segmentation of Airline Passengers
(Cranfield University, 2007-10) Leick, Ryan; Mason, Keith
This thesis explores means of restoring profitability to the airline industry by cultivating intrinsically motivated brand loyalty between passengers and airlines in today’s fragile environment. The air transport industry is caught up in traditional transaction-based strategies. Airlines rely on archaic frequent flyer programs (FFPs) to maintain loyalty which deter customers from choosing alternative airlines by increasing the cost associated with switching. In contrast, other industries foster loyalty through relationship marketing to increase the customer’s value of the relationship. The objectives of this thesis are to 1) establish the link, if any, between passenger value, loyalty and increased airline profitability as well as 2) develop a competitive strategy for relationship marketing in the airline industry. The methodology comprises a ‘reverse value segmentation’ of passengers on value data collected in the New York – London market. The result is a model which segments customers into value profiles characterised by attitudes and behaviours towards loyalty. This dissertation extends the knowledge of passenger buying behaviour and choice as well as establishing passenger value as a foundation for strengthening industry structure. The results support a shift from the commoditized low-cost, no-frills model to a low-fare, ‘high-value’ model focusing on mass customization through CRM technologies.
Open Access
Creating a framework for community integration of urban air mobility.
(Cranfield University, 2022-03) Organ, Aaron John; Mason, Keith; Rothe, Henrik
Technological advancements in propulsion systems, alternative fuel, battery power and storage, and autonomy have led to the development of a new generation of aircraft. These enabling technologies inclusive of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS), Large Cargo Unmanned Aircraft (LUCA), and electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL) or electric Conventional Take-off and Landing (eCTOL) aircraft fall under the umbrella term of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM). The current literature, in addition to regulators and the industry, is heavily focused on the aircraft and technology integration. This research contributes to a literature gap concerning ground infrastructure and community integration of AAM. The research aims to provide a framework of next steps relevant to state and city planners and policy makers. Subject matter experts from key AAM stakeholder groups were consulted through the execution of semi-structured interviews to produce a rich dataset of the issues and challenges of integrating AAM into the state and city’s transportation systems. The systematic approach of thematic analysis was used to identify top themes and sub-themes. The results identified AAM success keys, potential use cases, anticipated benefits of AAM, anticipated obstacles to AAM adoption, and stakeholder roles at the city, state, and federal level. These results have provided a framework for cities and states of what to do in the initial phases to integrate Advanced Air Mobility technologies into their existing transportations networks for a more sustainable and robust system.
Open Access
Customer Experience – an analysis of the concept and its performance in airline brands
(Elsevier, 2014-06-06) Laming, Calum; Mason, Keith
This paper investigates the application of the concept of customer experience to the airline industry and the extent to which airline brands are delivering customer experience. A review of literature shows that the concept of customer experience is not well understood and has had no clear and consistent definition. The purpose of customer experience was identified as to deliver satisfaction throughout the customer experience that, in turn, leads to brand loyalty and advocacy. The customer experience concept was then applied to the airline industry. In order to measure its performance a study was undertaken using International Air Transport Association (IATA hereafter) data collected over a twelve-month period from a sample size of 18,567 passengers on fifteen major full-service airlines on Europe-Middle East-Asia routes. The elements of the airline passenger journey most strongly related to overall satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy were, for most airlines, cabin features followed by crew (for satisfaction) and inflight food and drink (for loyalty and advocacy). The analysis did not identify strong effects from the impact of airline continent, individual airline and flight class. The relationships between the passengers’ satisfaction ratings for specified elements of the journey and the overall satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy were not moderated by flight class.
Open Access
Development and validation of an airline-specific customer-based brand equity scale
(Cranfield University, 2020-02) Sezgen, Eren; Mason, Keith; Mayer, Robert
A brand is a feature that distinguishes one product or service from another. Having a strong brand can therefore provide competitive advantages to airlines which is key in today’s highly competitive environment to achieve sustainable growth and profit. One of the critical aspects of strategic brand management is the assessment of the health of the brand. Therefore, the brand equity concept introduced the 1980s that, in general represents added value derived from customer perceptions of the brand versus the product/service itself, enables researchers and marketers to evaluate and understand brand successes and failures. However, there is little agreement in the literature on the concept, its measurement or its key dimensions. Having reliable measures is one of the prerequisites in management since it is difficult to manage something without measuring it appropriately. Therefore, the aim of this study is to systematically develop a valid, reliable and parsimonious scale to measure customer-based brand equity of airlines. Following well-established scale development procedures, this study first adopts a range of qualitative studies to construct an airline-specific customer-based brand equity scale. The scale construction established through a review of literature, airline marketing expert interviews, and a data-mining study on passenger reviews. The construction is followed by stepwise passenger surveys to test, validate and to assess its reliability. The results support the validity, reliability and the scale’s predictive capability. Therefore, the result revealed six main dimensions of the ACBBE (Airline Customerbased Brand Equity) scale namely: awareness, service performance (functional and technical performance), credibility, differentiation, value and loyalty (brand intention and brand premium). This study provides a diagnostic tool for the airline marketing professionals to track, audit and assess the performance and health of their brands. The academic contribution of this research is twofold. It introduces a valid, reliable and psychometrically robust measurement tool by considering dynamics of the industry and, therefore, this study may lead as a point of departure to develop more sophisticated airline brand equity valuation methods.
Open Access
Evaluation of “AIRQUAL” scale for measuring airlines service quality and its effect on customer satisfaction and loyalty
(Cranfield University, 2015-04) Alotaibi, Mishal M.; Mason, Keith
Globalisation and stiff competition have changed the landscape of doing business. Decrease in customer loyalty and increase in customer expectations have challenged businesses to come up with unique methods of enhancing their quality of service. The same is true for airlines industry too. As a result, many airlines have transformed their marketing strategies, especially with regard to service quality, in order to compete efficiently in the global market. The marketing literature has introduced models of service quality, e.g.: SERVQUAL and AIRQUAL to help organisations measure and enhance customer experiences. SERVQUAL has been extensively researched and applied in many industries. Similarly, AIRQUAL, a model for the airline industry, has been developed but applied only in Cyprus. Moreover, the AIRQUAL scale lacks validity, as its development process is incomplete. This research, therefore, adapted 30-items of AIRQUAL and assessed and validated this revised scale. The validated scale was then applied to the airline industry of Saudi Arabia. Further, a comprehensive model is proposed, where the impact of the validated scale of service quality is tested with its impact on customer satisfaction, attitudinal loyalty, word of mouth, repurchase intentions and complaining behaviour. The assessment and validation process is divided into two main stages: first, qualitative; where four focus group interviews were undertaken that generated 46 items for the adapted scale. These items describe the perceptions of airline customers regarding service quality and were classified on the bases of the scheme proposed by Parasuraman et al. (1988). Second, a three-phase two sample, quantitative, research was performed to derive a validated 30-item scale comprising five dimensions: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Further, the improved scale was tested in a new market (Saudi market) in order to assess the service quality of Saudi Airlines. A total of 500 self-administered questionnaires were distributed among airline customers. The returned questionnaires underwent thorough screening and cleaning. The reliability of the scale was tested through Cronbach’s Alpha, followed by exploratory factor analysis (EFA), which emerged with five dimensions. The content, convergent and discriminant validities were established. Further scale confirmation was conducted on a sample of US airline passengers. Finally, the proposed model with nine hypotheses was tested, which resulted in statistically significant results for all the proposed hypotheses.
Open Access
Fractal assessment analysis of China's air-HSR network integration
(Elsevier, 2023-12-28) Lu, Mengyuan; Jimenez Perez, Edgar; Mason, Keith; He, Yin
High-speed rail (HSR) has emerged as a significant mode for intercity transport in several countries, particularly China, setting an environment that may promote integration between air and HSR networks. To better measure the current level of integration of China's air-HSR intermodal network and identify implementation issues, this paper establishes a novel assessment framework that considers three primary areas: service capability, network connectivity and transfer potential. The framework is based on a comprehensive literature review of network measurement and assessment methodologies. Then, fractal theory is used to establish an assessment model that associates the fractal dimension to the level of intermodal integration, which can serve as an important complement to traditional weighting methods. The model and framework are applied to the 10 cities in China with the potential for air-HSR integration. The results show that international hub airports, together with their closest HSR station, do not necessarily perform at a higher integration level than regional hubs. The paper also proposes policy and practical recommendations to enhance air-HSR network integration levels from service supply, network coordination and transfer design perspectives.
Open Access
The impact of climate hazards to airport systems: a synthesis of the implications and risk mitigation trends
(Taylor and Francis, 2023-01-06) Voskaki, Asimina; Budd, Thomas; Mason, Keith
Climate hazards have only fairly recently been acknowledged as key risk factors for airports. While there is a growing body of research examining specific climate change impacts, there is only limited work that combines this literature with overall climate risk. This paper seeks to address this gap in the literature by investigating and synthesising findings from studies relating to historical airport sensitivity to climate hazards and offering insights on the overall climate risk for the global airport system. With airports increasingly needing to become more “climate-resilient” due to projected changes in global climate, airport planners and decision-makers face challenges in terms of identifying key priority areas for resilience planning and investment. The findings of the paper provide insights into these challenges by examining best-applied practices and current levels of vulnerability. The paper supports the wider inclusion of climate risks as a key factor in airports’ planning and operational processes. This will require transforming current management cultures to enhance an airport's operational ability to respond to climate events efficiently and recover quickly in the event of a disruption.
Open Access
An investigation of potential brand inconsistencies within airline strategic alliances
(Cranfield University, 2009) Kalligiannis, Konstantinos; Mason, Keith
The globalisation and deregulation in the air transport industry has resulted in a rapid and massive increase in competition. As a consequence, major airlines around the world have responded by forming strategic global alliances in order to be able to compete effectively on a global basis. Airline brand managers of the airlines participating in these alliances now have the additional responsibility to undertake a task that would have seemed almost impossible a few years before; to promote under a single global brand, very distinctive airline brands. This is further complicated with the subdivision of brand responsibility between increasing numbers of individual airline brand managers with varying degrees of autonomy. Although there have been many studies in identifying different forms of impact that airline alliances have on their members, none of them was in terms of branding. This research investigates the impacts of the individual airline brands of airlines that participate in the global alliances and their alliance brands. In order to achieve this aim, the alliances’ and airlinemembers’ branding was initially analysed to identify branding consistencies within each global alliance. The second step was to carry out a survey of the airlines’ marketing departments to identify the airlines’ points of view on the issue. Finally, a survey of passengers identifies their perspective. By comparing the airlines’ points of view on their alliance branding (alliance branding strategy) with their websites’ marketing (branding strategy implementation) and the passengers’ point of view (branding outcome), shortfalls in the alliance branding processes are identified. Moreover, the SERVQUAL model is modified and applied for the airline passenger survey and by carrying out a factor analysis of the survey results, it is identified that the original five dimensions that the items included in the model are designed to correlate with each other are not applicable in the airline industry, but instead the same items are better correlated into four new factors. The key findings of this research are that airline passengers have different service quality expectations among the airlines participating in the same alliances and that their expectations are influenced by the airline that they fly with most regularly. This results in high quality airlines being negatively affected by their lower quality alliance partners.
Open Access
A macro-environment approach to civil aviation strategic planning
(Elsevier, 2014-04-03) Itani, Nadine; O'Connell, John Francis; Mason, Keith
Air transport is considered a cyclical industry sensitive to the macro-environment in which it operates. As aviation policy makers and regulators strategically plan for their future, they need to consider the systematic and synergistic effects of common factors which comprise the operating environment of the industry׳s organisations. Thus, during the process of aviation systems planning governments should perceive the generic conditions which exist in the economy as a whole as equally important to air transport exclusive conditions. This paper highlights the significant impact of the national macro-environment factors on a country׳s air transport sector and it suggests including these elements within the context of civil aviation strategic planning. Country level data is collected on seventeen input variables versus four output variables on a sample of 52 countries. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) is used to identify the descriptors with significant impact on air transport output, namely: passenger traffic, aviation total contribution to GDP, aviation total contribution to employment and air connectivity levels. The identified significant drivers are found to create an enabling environment that determines the capacity of an economy and society to benefit from the air transport system׳s productivity. The results call upon aviation policy makers and regulators to assess the national macro-environment forces during the situation analysis part of the strategic planning process. The identified operating environment conditions act as a framework for providing clear policy orientations and for facilitating the identification of areas where policy intervention could improve air transport sector׳s performance. A well-defined aviation strategy allows aviation policy makers to identify and address nation wide strategic issues and provides aviation industry׳s stake holders with guidelines to help maintain and enhance their competitive position in both domestic and global markets.
Open Access
A mixed method study of airline brand equity
(Cranfield University, 2012-04) Nakaprasit, Ayudh; Mason, Keith
This research investigates airline brand equity in a sequential, mixed method study. The initial, exploratory study undertaken with the focus groups identified relevant issues that influence airline brand equity. The secondary associations of airline brands are often related to the airlines’ country of origin and culture or the intangible cues that are used in airline advertisements. These intangible cues and secondary associations play an important role in triggering airline brand awareness and the unique brand value proposition of each airline. The questionnaire-based study shows that the structure of airline brand equity is comprised of three factors. The first factor highlights the importance of airlines being able to provide suitable and innovative products and consistently good service. The second factor is a reflection of the first factor, i.e. airlines that can deliver both suitable tangible products and good services will be able to establish a large base of loyal customers. The third factor highlights the importance of establishing brand awareness. Based on the structure of airline brand equity that was found, there are four clusters of airline passengers with similar airline brand perceptions, namely: ‘Loyal customers’; ‘Asking for consistency customers’; ‘Hard to please customers’; and ‘Difficult to talk to customers’. The determinant attribute analysis shows that the determinant for the choice of airline brand is different. Each airline is different in its branding, products and service strategies. This suggests that the ways in which each airline brand can meet the needs of each group of airline passengers will also be different. This research demonstrates that the structure of airline brand equity for fullservice and low-cost carrier brands is different. For full-service carrier brands, it is the delivery of suitable tangible products and services that encourages loyalty. In contrast, when price is the most influential determinant attribute, it is the low-cost carrier brands’ resources and ability to offer consistently low fares that helps them to establish a large base of repeat customers.
Open Access
Policy development framework for aviation strategic planning in developing countries
(Cranfield University, 2015-02) Itani, Nadine M.; O‘Connell, John F.; Mason, Keith
There exists no predefined framework for aviation policy making and development. While aviation policy planning in most developed countries comes as a result of institutional and industry coordination and is embedded within other national policies addressing the welfare and growth of the country, it is found that in many cases in less developed countries (LDCs), aviation policy planning is often influenced by political pressures and the interests of fund donors. The complexity of this situation in the developing countries results in aviation plans that represent stand alone studies and attempt to find solutions to specific problems rather than comprehensive aviation plans which fit well the country‘s competitiveness profile and are properly coordinated with other national policies for achieving medium and long-term objectives. This study provides a three-stage policy development framework for aviation strategic planning based on situational analysis and performance benchmarking practices in order to assemble policy elements and produce a best-fit aviation strategy. The framework builds on study results that indicate an association between air transport sector performance and aviation policy strategies, arguing that it is not sufficient to simply describe performance but also to be able to assess it and understand how policymakers can use strategic planning tools to affect the air transport industry efficiency levels. This can be achieved by recognizing the level of the country‘s stage of development and working on enhancing the policy elements that produce better output and induce more contributions by aviation to the national economic development and connectivity levels. The proposed aviation policy development framework is systematic and continuous. It helps policymakers in LDC to manage uncertainty in complex situations by allowing them to defend, correct and re-examine the policy actions based on a forward thinking approach which incorporates the contingency elements of the policy and tracks the developments that can affect the odds of its success. The framework‘s elements and its flow of process are explained by providing an illustrative example applied to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
Open Access
The role of airports in national civil aviation policies
(Cranfield University, 2016-11) Piyathilake, Darshi; Mason, Keith; Suau-Sanchez, Pere
The concept of a hub airport has evolved widening its scope as a national civil aviation policy-making tool, due to the ability to deliver wider socio-economic benefits to a country. However, not all airports can be converted into hubs. This research proposes a methodological approach to structural analysis of the airport industry, that could be applied to determine the competitive position of an airport in a given aviation network and devise airport strategies and national policy measures to improve the current position of the airport. This study presents a twelve-group taxonomy of airports, which analyses the changing geography of the airport industry in the East (Asia and The Middle East). Multivariate data have been used in a two-step Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering exercise which represents three airport strategies: namely, degree-of-airport-activity (size and intensity of operations), network strategies (international and domestic hub), and the market segmentation strategies (service and destination orientation). Principal Component Analysis has been utilised as a data reduction tool. The study confirms the general hypothesis that a sound macro environment and liberalised approach to economic regulation in the air transport industry are important for successful hub operations. In addition, it sheds light on the fact that while the factors of geographical advantage, economic development, urbanisation, tourism and business attractiveness, physical and intellectual infrastructure, and political and administrative frameworks, are all basic prerequisites (qualifiers) for successful hubbing in the region, those factors would not necessarily guarantee a hub status unless the governments are also committed to develop the sector and take timely decisions (differentiators) to allow airports to benefit from the first mover advantage. Application of the proposed taxonomy was tested on a case study of the major international airport of Sri Lanka, to provide policy inputs to develop the airport that is currently identified as being overshadowed by the mega hubs in the region.

Browsing by Author "Mason, Keith"

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