Programme	Diploma in Travel and Tourism
Unit Number and Title	Unit 4 Research Project
QFC Level	Level 5
Unit Code	K/601/0941

Abstract

This research has been executed over the topic “Factors influencing the customer satisfaction of the Ryanair Airlines” with a motive to analysis of the concept of customer satisfaction and the different factors which influence the satisfaction level of the customers of Ryanair Airlines. In this research analysis has been done of the factors contributing to satisfaction and dissatisfaction among the customers of Ryanair Airlines. Different methods or approaches have been explained which are used for execution of the research by collecting data for the research. The data collected for the execution of the research over the research topic has been analysed and evaluated for drawing conclusions. There are various factors which affect the satisfaction level of the customers and these factors need to be analysed for enhancing the performance of the business. For this purpose data needs to be collected which has been collected with the help of the different methods or approaches of data collection. Responses of the respondents have been collected for the analysis of the data so as to form opinion or draw conclusion over the data collected.

Task 1

1.1 Formulate and record possible research project outline specifications

Introduction

This research has been executed for the purpose of analysing the satisfaction level of the customers from the services offered by Ryanair Airlines. In this research discussion will be made about the concept and role of customer satisfaction and the various factors which results in increase in the satisfaction or decrease in the satisfaction of the customers. Ryanair Airlines is an Irish low-cost airline which is offering airline services to the customers at a very low price. It was founded in 1984 and its headquarter is located in Dublin Airport, Ireland. The primary operational bases of Ryanair Airlines are located in Dublin and London. The route of Ryanair Airlines serves around 32 countries and is having 350 Boeing 737-800 aircraft along with a single 737-700 used as a backup plane and for the purpose of training of pilot. The slogans which Ryanair Airlines have used for the promotion of the services are “Low Fares Made Simple”, “30 Years of Low Fares” and “Always Getting Better”.

In this research program discussion will be made over the increasing travellers of these low cost or low budget Airlines. The travellers travelling through flights have increased to 56% in the year 2014 in United Kingdom. It has become a concern that the increase in the number of customers has affected the quality of the services offered by these low cost or low budget Airlines. This increase in the number of travellers results in rise of factors which affects the satisfaction level of the customers of these low cost Airlines. Data will be collected for the execution of the research with the help of the different sources of data collection.

Statement of problem: There has been a rise in the international tourism due to which the cost of the services offered by the Airline companies has reduced. Due to this reason there has been a sudden rise in the number of travellers traveling through these Airlines. Due to this increase in the number of travellers there may be an impact over the quality of the services offered by Ryanair Airlines affects the satisfaction derived by the customers from these services. There are various factors which are responsible for the increase or decrease in the customer satisfaction of Ryanair Airlines. These factors need to be analysed for the purpose of understanding their impact over the customers and their satisfaction level.

Aims: Aim of this research is to analyse the factors which are responsible for the positive or negative impact over the satisfaction level of the customers of Ryanair Airlines.

Objectives: Objectives of this research project are as follows:

• To analyse the concept of customer satisfaction
• To analyse the trend of tourism and the change in the cost of the services of  the Airlines
• To evaluate the factors resulting in change in the satisfaction level of customers of Ryanair Airlines.

Literature review: Customer satisfaction is an important aspect which creates impact over the behaviour of the customer towards the products or services offered by the business. With the rise in travel and tourism industry there has been a rise in the Airline services so as to meet the expectations of the customers (B & Adekoya, 2014). The role of customer satisfaction is important as the success and growth of the business is dependent over the satisfaction level of the customers. Ryanair Airlines are providing airline services to the customers at a very low cost so as to enhance the satisfaction level of the customers and attracting customers towards the business. There are various aspects which affect the performance of the business such as the competition level, satisfaction level of the customers and other factors (Arif, et. al., 2013).
These factors need to be analysed for the purpose of enhancing the level of satisfaction of the customers. Customer satisfaction determines the effectiveness of the business in fulfilling the expectations and demands of the customers. The increase in the number of customers and the decrease in the cost of the services have increased the need to maintaining the quality of the services offered by Ryanair Airlines (Sandada & Matibiri, 2016). There are various factors which affect the satisfaction level of the customers and these factors include price of the services, quality of the service, frequency of the services, brand name of the company and network of the services (Chow, 2014).

1.2 Identify the factors that contribute to the process of research project selection

There are few reasons which have motivated towards the execution of the research project in this direction. These factors which have contributed to the process of selection of the research project are as follows:

• Interest in the topic has motivated towards the execution of the research project on this topic.
• The scope of the topic is very wide and covers different aspects of the business environment which has contributed towards the selection of the research topic.
• With the change in the level of customer satisfaction from the Aviation industry has also contributed towards the selection of this topic.

1.3 Undertake a critical review of key references about ‘customer satisfaction’ and ‘influential factors on customer satisfaction’.

The term customer satisfaction can be understood as a term which measurement of the effectiveness of the businesses in fulfilling the needs and expectations of the customers. In this changing business environment the level of competition is rising due to which the performance of the business gets affected. For gaining success in this competitive environment businesses need to ensure the satisfaction level of the customers. Customer satisfaction is a crucial aspect which determines the success of the business and the growth prospects of the business (Gautam, 2011). The motive of every business is to offer quality products to the customers for enhancing their satisfaction level and developing the services offered by it. Various factors or aspects are present which are responsible for the purpose of enhancing or determining the satisfaction level of the customers of Ryanair Airlines (Gupta & Sharma, 2011). There is a direct link between the satisfaction level of the customers and the performance and profitability and growth of the business. The factors which create impact over the satisfaction level of the customers include the quality of the services offered by Ryanair Airlines, cost of the services offered, frequency of the services offered, availability of the services, brand value, offers offered, pricing policies of the competitors and the after sale services (Keiningham, et. al., 2014).

1.4 Produce a research project specification.

Research title: Factors influencing the customer satisfaction of the Ryanair
Research Background: this research project has been executed over the topic “Factors influencing the customer satisfaction of the Ryanair” with a motive to analyse the role of customer satisfaction and the factors which are influencing the satisfaction level of the customers. In this research the discussion has been done over the different aspects of the customer satisfaction and the impact of customer satisfaction over the performance of the business. Ryanair Airlines are offering services at a very low cost so as to make the prices of the tickets affordable for the customers for enhancing the customer base and the satisfaction level of the customers. Different customers have different expectations from the businesses which need to be satisfied by the business so as to enhance the customer satisfaction.

Aims: Aim of this research is to analyse the factors which are responsible for the positive or negative impact over the satisfaction level of the customers of Ryanair Airlines.

Objectives: Objectives of this research project are as follows:

• To analyse the concept of customer satisfaction
• To analyse the trend of tourism and the change in the cost of the services of  the Airlines
• To evaluate the factors resulting in change in the satisfaction level of customers of Ryanair Airlines.        

Literature review: Customer satisfaction is the main motive of every business as the existence of the business strategy is dependent over the customer and the satisfaction level of the customers. There are different aspects or elements which business needs to consider for improving the customer satisfaction (Scotti, et. al., 2016). Aviation industry also needs to analyse these aspects or elements for satisfying the needs and expectations of the customers. Ryanair Airlines is providing quality services to the customers but due to the increase in the number of customers there are chances of depletion in the quality of the services or other aspects related to the services Ahmad, et. al., 2012).

Research methodology

Research design or method: Mixed method or design has been selected for this research program which will help in the collection of the information required for the execution of the research (Wilson, 2016).

Research approach: two approaches are used for this research project and these two approaches are qualitative and quantitative approach in which the data is collected in huge quantity and of high quality (Anfodillo, et. al., 2016).

Data collection and analysis: for the collection of the data, primary and secondary source of data collection will be used which helps in the collection of first-hand information and second hand information.(Questionnaire is in the Appendix)

Research techniques and procedures: a random sampling technique is used for the purpose of selection of the locusassignments.from the total population for the analysis (Nishad & Sankar, 2016).

Choice: best or the most suitable choice or alternative needs to be selected for the execution of the research program in a successful manner.

Research timeframe: Collection of data and targeted market: the survey is conducted over the 20 students of UKCBC. The data collected from the students is analysed.

Limitations: the time available for the execution of the research act as a limitation in this research and another limitation is lack of the access to the information.

Ethical considerations: the principles of confidentiality, honesty and unbiasedness have been followed during the execution of this research.

1.5 Provide an appropriate plan and procedures for the agreed research specification.

Action plan

Sequence	Activities performed	Starting date	Duration (Days)	Date of completion	Details
A)	Construction of plans	04 December 2016	2	05 December 2016	Plans are prepared for the research
B)	Implementation of plan	06 December 2016	5	10 December 2016	Prepared plans are implemented as per the plans.
C)	Collection of data	11 December 2016	8	18 December 2016	The data for the execution of the research is collected.
D)	Evaluation	19 December 2016	4	22 December 2016	The data collected is analysed and evaluated
E)	Conclusion and recommendations	23 December 2016	3	25 December 2016	The data analysed is interpreted for drawing conclusion.

Gantt chart

Task 4

4.1 Poster

References

Ahmad, M.B., Wasay, E. & Malik, S.U. 2012, "IMPACT OF EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: STUDY OF AIRLINE INDUSTRY IN PAKISTAN", Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research In Business, vol. 4, no. 6, pp. 531.
Anfodillo, T., Petit, G.,Sterck, F., Lechthaler, S. & Olson, M.E. 2016, "Allometric Trajectories and "Stress": A Quantitative Approach", Frontiers in Plant Science, .
Arif, M., Gupta, A. & Williams, A. 2013, "Customer service in the aviation industry – An exploratory analysis of UAE airports", Journal of Air Transport Management, vol. 32, pp. 1-7.
B. E A. Oghojafor & Adekoya, A.G. 2014, "Determinants of Customers’ Satisfaction in the Nigerian Aviation Industry Using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) Model", Acta Universitatis Danubius : Oeconomica, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 107-126.
Chow, C.K.W. 2014, "Customer satisfaction and service quality in the Chinese airline industry", Journal of Air Transport Management, vol. 35, pp. 102-107.
Gautam, V. 2011, "Investigating the Moderating Role of Corporate Image in the Relationship between Perceived Justice and Recovery Satisfaction: Evidence from Indian Aviation Industry", International Review of Management and Marketing, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 74-85.
Gupta, D.R. & Sharma, P. 2011, "An Examination of Service Failures Encountered in Indian Aviation Industry", International Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Systems, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 21.
Keiningham, T.L., Morgeson, F.V., Aksoy, L. & Williams, L. 2014, "Service Failure Severity, Customer Satisfaction, and Market Share: An Examination of the Airline Industry", Journal of Service Research, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 415-431.
Namukasa, J. 2013, "The influence of airline service quality on passenger satisfaction and loyalty: The case of Uganda airline industry", The TQM Journal, vol. 25, no. 5, pp. 520-532.
Nishad, P.M. & Sankar, S. 2016, "Efficient random sampling statistical method to improve big data compression ratio and pattern matching techniques for compressed data", International Journal of Computer Science and Information Security, vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 179.
Sandada, M. & Matibiri, B. 2016, "An Investigation into the Impact of Service Quality, Frequent Flier Programs and Safety Perception on Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty in the Airline Industry in Southern Africa", South East European Journal of Economics and Business, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 41-53.
Scotti, D., Dresner, M. & Martini, G. 2016, "Baggage fees, operational performance and customer satisfaction in the US air transport industry", Journal of Air Transport Management,vol. 55, pp. 139-146.
Thomas, J.A. 2015, "Using unstructured diaries for primary data collection", Nurse researcher, vol. 22, no. 5, pp. 25.
Wilson, V. 2016, "Research Methods: Design, Methods, Case Study…oh my", Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 39-40.

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