The onboard tangible and intangible designs of customer touch points were evaluated and are illustrated in this subsection. These are as follows: cabin crew service, cabin meals and cabin seats, which are presented and evaluated beginning with First Class, followed by Business Class and finally Economy Class customers.
First Class Customers
The First Class participants’ opinions regarding tangible and intangible designs of the customer touch points are illustrated in Figure 4.5. The aim was to evaluate their level of satisfaction with the cabin crew service, cabin meals and cabin seats. In general, the respondents of this class of travel were satisfied with the cabin crew service, with 37.1%
reporting that they were ‘satisfied’ with this intangible design customer touch point and 7.6% that they were ‘completely satisfied’ with this service. However, a significant number were ‘completely dissatisfied’ (10.4%) or ‘dissatisfied’ (20.3%) with the cabin crew service. As a result, there were more customers who were satisfied than dissatisfied with this design touch point. Furthermore, 24.7% of First Class respondents were ‘neutral’
about this service.
Figure 4.5 also illustrates the First Class respondents’ level of satisfaction with Saudia Airlines’ cabin meals, with 31.5% reporting that they were ‘satisfied’ with this design touch point and 5.2% stating that they were ‘completely satisfied’ with this service. On the other hand, First Class respondents were ‘dissatisfied’ (24.7%) and ‘completely dissatisfied’ (19.5%) with the cabin meals. Thus, the sum of dissatisfied and completely dissatisfied passengers is 44.2%, which is higher than those of satisfied First Class respondents regarding cabin meals.
Figure 4.5 First Class satisfaction levels regarding the onboard designs of customer touch points
Figure 4.5 also shows the First Class participants’ level of satisfaction with Saudia Airlines’ cabin seats. In general, the respondents were ‘dissatisfied’, with 32.7% reporting that they were ‘dissatisfied’ and 25.5% were ‘completely dissatisfied’ with this tangible design customer touch point. Only a small number were ‘satisfied’ (17.5%) and
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‘completely satisfied’ (2.4%) with the cabin seats. There were more dissatisfied First Class respondents’ than satisfied passengers with this design touch point in the customer journey. Furthermore, 21.9% of First Class respondents were ‘neutral’ about this design touch point.
Business Class Customers
The Business Class participants’ opinions regarding tangible and intangible designs of the customer touch points are illustrated in Figure 4.6. The aim was to evaluate their level of satisfaction with the cabin crew service, cabin meals and cabin seats.
Firstly, most of the respondents in Business Class were satisfied with the cabin crew service, with 36.3% reporting that they were ‘satisfied’ with this intangible design customer touch point and 5.2% saying that they were ‘completely satisfied’. By contrast, 18.4% of Business Class respondents were ‘dissatisfied’ with this service and only a small number of were ‘completely dissatisfied’ (8.2%). Furthermore, 31.8% of Business Class respondents were ‘neutral’ about this design touch point. Figure 4.6 also illustrates the Business Class respondents’ level of satisfaction with Saudia Airlines’ cabin meals with 33.7% of the respondents stating they were ‘satisfied’, and only a small number stating they were ‘completely satisfied’ (3.7%).
On the other hand, 18.4% indicated that they were ‘dissatisfied’ with the meals and 23.2%
reported that they were ‘completely dissatisfied’. Hence, those dissatisfied or completely dissatisfied (41.6%) outweighed those who were at least satisfied with the cabin meals (37.4%).
Figure 4.6 Business Class satisfaction levels regarding the onboard designs of customer touch points
Figure 4.6 also presents Business Class participants’ level of satisfaction with Saudia Airlines’ cabin seats. In general, the respondents in Business Class were ‘dissatisfied’ with them (28.5%) and 22.5% saying they were ‘completely dissatisfied’; over half were dissatisfied with this tangible design customer touch point. Only 20.6% of Business Class respondents were ‘satisfied’ and only a small number of participants were ‘completely satisfied’ (3.4%) with this tangible design customer touch point. Furthermore, 25.1% of Business Class respondents were ‘neutral’ about this design touch point.
To sum up, the results for onboard design touch points for Business Class respondents were similar to those who travelled in First Class. In regards to cabin crew service, passengers indicated that they were satisfied with this design touch point although some Business Class respondents were dissatisfied with both the cabin meals and cabin seats.
Economy Class Customers
The Economy Class participants’ opinions regarding the tangible and intangible customer touch points are illustrated in Figure 4.7. Firstly, the majority of respondents were
‘satisfied’ (44.6%) or ‘completely satisfied’ (9.3%) with the cabin crew service. Many, 31.8%, Economy Class respondents were ‘neutral’ towards it. Notably, only a small number of Economy Class respondents were ‘dissatisfied’ (14.8%) or ‘completely dissatisfied’ (8.2%) with the cabin crew service, i.e. less than a quarter.
Figure 4.7 also shows the Economy Class respondents’ level of satisfaction with Saudia Airlines’ cabin meals. Over a third, 33.9%, of these passengers were ‘satisfied’ but only a small number of respondents were ‘completely satisfied’ (3.7%). On the other hand, 20.3% and 16.5% reported that they were ‘dissatisfied’ or ‘completely dissatisfied’ with the cabin meals, respectively. Given that those at least satisfied (37.6%) with this onboard provision were approximately the same as those at least dissatisfied (36.8%), this would suggest that, on the whole, Economy Class passengers are not as demanding as First Class and Business Class passengers.
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Figure 4.7 Economy Class satisfaction levels regarding the onboard designs of customer touch points
In addition, Figure 4.7 demonstrates Economy Class participants’ level of satisfaction with Saudia Airlines’ cabin seats. In general, the respondents in Economy Class were
‘dissatisfied’ with the cabin seats (26.5%) and 20.8% were ‘completely dissatisfied’ with this tangible touch point. By contrast, 25.5% reported that they were ‘satisfied’ and those who were ‘completely satisfied’ with the cabin seats only amounted to 5.5%. Hence, those Economy Class respondents who were at least dissatisfied with the cabin seats (47.3%) far outnumbered those who were at least satisfied (31.0%).
To conclude, the Economy Class result for the onboard design touch point of cabin crew service was they were satisfied with this design touch point. Passengers satisfied and dissatisfied with cabin meals were relatively the same score but respondents were largely dissatisfied with the cabin seats in Economy Class.
The relationships between the level of customer satisfaction and onboard design touch points will be discussed further in sections 4.2.2 and 4.2.4 for First Class and Business Class.