Customer Service Analysis of EasyJet and Ryanair Tourism

Consumerism is claimed to be a major characteristic of the modern society that stands on the infinite cycle of market relations. In the struggle for their competitive position in the market, businesses take efforts to identify and quickly satisfy needs and demands of the consumer population. In the present-day consumer-oriented society, customer service has become a critical issue of concern in terms of organisational management and leadership (Stearns, 2006). Tourism is one of the rapidly growing industries that continuingly expands the scope of services offered to the market. In its consumer-focused approach, tourism industry utilises a differentiated marketing strategy that reflects diversified market conditions. As such, tourism practices an ongoing investigation and analysis of consumer needs and expectations to develop and introduce new solutions and products aimed at ensuring positive customer experience and satisfaction with the services (Ray, 2015). In the context of the inc reased concern for ethnic identity and cultural heritage, tourism trips to historical cities and places has gained popularity in Europe. The airline industry occupies a vital segment in tourism enabling the customer transfer to the desired destination point. The airline industry’s market success depends heavily on the service quality and customer satisfaction. In this domain, carriers’ efficiency is assessed through the incidence of on-time arrivals, mishandled baggage, denied boarding cases and passenger complaints (Baker, 2013). These issues affect customer evaluation of services and satisfaction with them, which, in their turn, influence business outcomes of airline carriers, such as revenue and lost customers. In this respect, the marketing strategy in the airline industry requires the practice of a consumer-oriented marketing strategy (Keiningham et al., 2014). Comparative studies of various carriers showed that low-cost carriers are more focused on improving their customer service (Baker, 2013). In Europe, the market of low-fare carriers is represented by two major providers. Ryanair is the largest provider of low-fare airline services that champions the low-price travelling sector. EasyJet is another strong low-fare carrier, the key benefit of which is the flight convenience. These two airline service providers cover most of the low-fare market, which explains their continuing competition and struggle for customers. As a result, efforts and progress of these two providers in improving their service quality and increasing customer satisfaction rates are a frequent subject of the popular media and scholarship. For instance, the case study of Niinimaa (2011) illustrated the prevalence of positive customer attitudes towards their experiences with web search and online check-in procedures. Recent newspaper publications emphasised a general sat isfaction of Ryanair customers with their flight experiences in terms of the airline punctuality, baggage handling and passenger treatment (Independent, 2016). Finally, the carrier promotes its commitment to the customer-service excellence by releasing the latest customer-satisfaction statistics that accounts for 93% of the satisfied passengers (Ryanair, 2016). In its competition in the low-fare airline market, EasyJet has prioritised convenience of the flight, which resulted in a higher price compared to Ryanair. This marketing strategy allowed the carrier to occupy its niche in the market ensuring business profitability and development. However, in terms of customer service, EasyJet loses its competitor in terms of poorer punctuality (Niinimaa, 2011). High incidence of flight delays lowered the carrier’s position in the Skytrax rating that produces annual assessments of airline performances. In 2016, EasyJet was claimed among the worst airline service providers in the world. Interestingly, the same rating for Ryanair was not much higher, which indicated that both carriers had to review their customer service policies (Kim, 2016). At the same time, EasyJet has an advantage in imbedding technology in their operational processes to enhance interactions between customers and stakeholders (Niinimaa, 2011). Another argument for EasyJet c ustomer service concerns good education and preparation of its staff, which allows expecting the provider’s excellence and market success in the future.