Shibre, Zewdie (PhD)Hagos, Bezawit2021-05-192023-11-042021-05-192023-11-042015-05http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/26448The research was conducted to investigate the perceived service quality and satisfaction of Global Alliance member Airlines and nonmember Airlines (Ethiopian Airlines and Emirates). The SERVQUAL model with five dimensions namely Tangibility, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance and Empathy was used with slight modification on the 22 service attributes to the airline industry. Data gathered from 153 Ethiopian and 131 Emirates passengers’ usable questionnaires was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical tools. It was found out that both airlines fell short of expectation in most of the 22 attributes, hence in most of the dimensions and overall perceived quality. It was also discovered that there is no major difference in perceived service quality with a difference in purpose of trip or frequency of travel. Overall satisfaction was also measured with a score ranging from 1(highly dissatisfied) to 5(highly satisfied) and the average result obtained was 3.35 for Ethiopian and 3.54 for Emirates showing that customers are slightly satisfied with the overall service despite the negative gap score in overall perceived quality. The linear regression analysis conducted by taking overall customer satisfaction as dependent variable and the five dimensions as independent variables, showed that perceived service quality explains 31.6% of the variation in customer satisfaction with Ethiopian Airlines and 38.9% of the variation in customer satisfaction with Emirates Airlines. The detailed analysis showed that, for Ethiopian Airlines, only Reliability and Empathy dimensions are the most important factors affecting customer satisfaction while for Emirates, the dimensions are Reliability and Assurance. Therefore, these Airlines need to improve their service quality by working better in these areas. It was also concluded that being a member of Global airline alliance cannot guarantee better service quality and customer satisfaction than a nonmember airline. Hence, Both Airlines should work on improving the service quality dimensions based on their importance and Ethiopian Airlines has to utilize the benefits of joining global airline alliance towards delighting its customersen-USAirline AllianceCustomer satisfactionGlobal AllianceThesis