Service needs of elderly air passengers

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Abstract

The paper examines the perceptions of and satisfaction with air transportation services in a sample of persons aged 65 and over at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. This study finds that the performance of service attributes such as meals, information announcements, and on-board restrooms do not meet the respondents’ expectations. It also finds that the service needs of the younger and older elderly passengers differ.

Highlights

► The study explores service needs of the elderly air passengers. ► Service attributes needing improvement are identified. ► Differences in service needs exist among age segments of the elderly.

Introduction

According to the World Health Organization (2002), the elderly population has been increasing both quantitatively and proportionally around the world. In recent years, there as been recognized the need to view the nexus between an aging population and transportation from a broader perspective than the usual social equity issues of greater mobility.

Making air transport service procedures more accessible to elderly travelers would allow airlines and airports to benefit from meeting the demands of a growing market. This research therefore analyses the service needs of elderly air passengers, and offers some recommendations to enhance air travel accessibility for such individuals. This research also takes a close look at the mobility needs and travel patterns of individuals over 65, distinguishing between the “younger” elderly (aged 65–74 years) and the “older” elderly (over 75 years). This distinction focuses transport planning and policy on a commitment to understanding the needs of these sub-groups of the population, while also identifying services and facilities that better cater to these groups.

Section snippets

Characteristics of the elderly using air transport services

Waiting in line, difficulties in finding one’s way, long walking distances as well as poor facilities at the terminals and on-board aircraft have all been identified as constraints to the effective mobility of the elderly (Ipingbemi, 2010). As a person gets older, his or her mobility may decrease, and while an accumulation of physical changes may take place first, psychological changes also occur that may cause related problems, and specifically changes in a person’s level of confidence (

Methods

To understand the services needs of elderly air passengers, passengers aged 65 and over are targeted. Because the number of these passengers is relatively small compared to that seen on other forms of transportation it is often difficult to persuade them to participate in a questionnaire survey, this study employs the convenience sampling technique to collect datal

Results

The survey (Fig. 2) showed that, in the perceptions of elderly passengers, the top six most important items, in rank order, are: special services for the elderly, announcement of canceled flights and delay, information on emergency escape, special meals for the elderly, information on direction in the airport terminal, and information on transport to and from the airport.

With regard to the satisfaction items, the top six items, in rank order, are: check-in counter staff’s attitude,

Conclusions

Based on a survey conducted at Taoyuan International Airport in Taiwan, it is found that the elderly were not satisfied with the ways in which information was delivered at the terminal, and were not aware of cabin safety information on-board the aircraft. “Younger” and “older” elderly travelers show significant differences in gaps between importance and satisfaction. The perceived satisfaction of the 65–74 age group was significantly lower than that for the over 75 group. The largest gap

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments, as well as Li-Bo Lee for his research assistance, and all those who participated in the study. We are also grateful to the National Science Council of Taiwan, ROC for financial support received under grant NSC 97-2221-E-019-031-MY2.

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