Assessment of logistics services performance in Tanzania air transport industry Mariam Feisal

The objective of this research was to assess the significance of logistics service performance in airline industry. Logistics service performance refers to the assessment of the provider's ability to consistently deliver requested product/service within the requested delivery time frame at an acceptable cost. It has been largely explored in the manufacturing industry, but has now become an increasingly important issue for air travel services. This research assessed whether logistics service performance had a contribution on air transport industry. This study borrowed the idea from logistics management, blended it with the new concept of organization value chain thereby investigating whether these concepts have contributions to the study of air transport services in order to fill the existing gap in air transport literature. This research employed the survey methodology. A conceptual model with seven hypotheses was developed to describe the relationships amongst logistics service quality, logistics service performance, organization value chain, passenger satisfaction and loyalty. A sample of 263 respondents from different airlines who use JNIA as their destination was involved in the survey. The questionnaire contained 32 indicators which have been employed in prior research, and modified based on the objectives and conceptual model of the study. The data analysis was performed by SPSS AMOS software. The results of the Structural Equation Modeling analysis demonstrated that most hypotheses in this research were well supported. It was further revealed that having professional staff, effective service process and information availability lays a critical role in delivering efficiency, accuracy and cost effectiveness of logistics service performance. Airline customers expressed their concern mostly on service value and time value during their booking, hence, information technology has a significant effect on increasing service accuracy, efficiency, flexibility and also reduces operational costs. Logistics service performance is an important antecedent to airline passenger satisfaction and loyalty. The study also incorporated interviews with airline operators. Therefore, this study concluded that logistics service performance must be included for considerations, and in the delivery of airline service quality. Effective organization value chain influences logistics service quality and in turn influences logistics service performance within a linear process that defines both passenger satisfaction and loyalty. Thus, professional service quality can provide a high quality of logistics service performance and enhance passenger satisfaction. This research has identified the role of logistics service performance within the air transport industry to fill the gap within the current air transport studies literature.