International Journal of Business and Economics Volume 16, No. 2 September, 2017

Airline Passenger Safety or Customer Satisfaction?

Kefang (Nia) Tao

City University of Macau, China

Po-Ju Chen

University of Central Florida, U.S.A.

Abstract

A family arrived at the airline check-in counter expecting to be provided with a wheelchair, reserved in advance for an elderly family member recovering from recent surgery. During the check-in process, the desk agent asked the recovering family member for his medical travel certification, an airline regulation intended to ensure that travelers with medical conditions are healthy enough for air travel. As the required medical certification had not been obtained, the desk agent refused to issue a boarding pass. Understandably this caused the family to become quite upset, and they insisted that the family member was able to fly without the missing medical certification. Thus, the desk agent was faced with the dilemma of adhering to company policy, or accepting the family's assurances and issuing the boarding pass without the required medical certificate – placing the airline in legal jeopardy if the recovering patient were to face medical issues during the trip.

Keywords：airline regulation, customer satisfaction, medical certificate, air travel safety.

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