Foreign Passengers’ Satisfaction of Thai Ground Staff’s English Oral Communication Ability and Brand Loyalty of a Thai Airline

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the level of foreign passengers’ satisfaction towards Thai ground staff’s English oral communication ability in their function-specific tasks at a Thai airline. It also explored passengers’ perception of brand loyalty in relation to the ground staff’s satisfying English oral communication ability. The relationship was additionally examined between the passengers’ satisfaction of the ground staff’s English oral communication ability and their brand loyalty. The research made use of a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. The results showed that the ground staff’s English oral communication ability in three function-specific tasks was rated as very satisfied: special service function (Mean = 3.81), airport customer service function (Mean = 3.96), and baggage services function (Mean = 3.66). Furthermore, regarding the ground staff satisfying English oral communication ability, the passengers were loyal to this airline and will travel with this airline again in the future and will recommend this company to others. Finally, the correlation between the ground staffs’ satisfaction on English oral communication ability and the passengers’ brand loyalty was found to be low (r = .19, p = 49).  Although the ground staff’s English oral communication ability has low impact on the passengers’ brand loyalty, it can be an antecedent of brand loyalty based on the passengers’ opinions during the interview. This study’s results can be used as guidance for ground staff’s trainers and English teachers to create training and teaching courses for English oral communication ability leading to retaining or increasing brand loyalty.