Beyond the friendly skies: an integrative framework for managing the air travel experience

Abstract

Purpose To begin a merger of prior research on service quality and experience marketing and to integrate key concepts into a comprehensive managerial framework for experience marketing in the airline industry. Design/methodology/approach Key concepts and research from the service quality and recent experience marketing literatures are reviewed. Findings The framework accounts for the temporal unfolding of the air travel experience and provides a customer‐centric perspective of the air travel experience. Originality/value The proposed framework should assist aviation professionals in their efforts to engineer and manage the air travel experience.