The influence of seat pitch, wi-fi, and other service features on airfares and passenger share in the U.S. domestic air travel market

IF 3.9 2区工程技术 Q2 TRANSPORTATION

Journal of Air Transport Management Pub Date : 2025-07-10 DOI:10.1016/j.jairtraman.2025.102853

Kiljae K. Lee , Li Zou , Scott Ambrose

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This study examines how six service features affect passenger share and airfare in the U.S. domestic market. Applying two-stage least squares and random forest models to 5248 O&D records, we find seat pitch has the strongest impact. The relationship is nonlinear: share rises sharply at 29 inches, then levels off -- suggesting passengers may view 29 inches as a minimum comfort threshold. Wi-Fi impact plateaus: moving from no to paid Wi-Fi boosts share, but making it free adds little, suggesting connectivity is valued more than whether it is free. Live TV is negatively associated with share. USB access and aircraft age show modest positive association with both share and fares, while aircraft size has a strong positive association with share but a slight negative effect on fares. Building on recent empirical studies of service differentiation in aviation, these findings highlight that passenger preferences are evolving by valuing functional and digital connectivity.

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座位间距、wi-fi和其他服务特征对美国国内航空旅行市场机票价格和乘客份额的影响

本研究考察了美国国内市场的六大服务特征如何影响乘客份额和机票价格。采用两阶段最小二乘法和随机森林模型对5248条O&；D记录进行分析，发现座位间距对数据的影响最大。这种关系是非线性的：在29英寸时，比例急剧上升，然后趋于平稳——这表明乘客可能将29英寸视为最低舒适门槛。Wi-Fi影响停滞期：从免费Wi-Fi转向付费Wi-Fi会提高市场份额，但免费Wi-Fi带来的影响微乎其微，这表明连接比是否免费更有价值。电视直播与分享呈负相关。USB接入和飞机年龄对份额和票价都有一定的正相关，而飞机尺寸对份额有很强的正相关，但对票价有轻微的负相关。基于最近对航空服务差异化的实证研究，这些发现强调，乘客的偏好正在通过重视功能和数字连接而发生变化。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Air Transport Management TRANSPORTATION-

CiteScore

12.40

自引率

11.70%

发文量

期刊介绍： The Journal of Air Transport Management (JATM) sets out to address, through high quality research articles and authoritative commentary, the major economic, management and policy issues facing the air transport industry today. It offers practitioners and academics an international and dynamic forum for analysis and discussion of these issues, linking research and practice and stimulating interaction between the two. The refereed papers in the journal cover all the major sectors of the industry (airlines, airports, air traffic management) as well as related areas such as tourism management and logistics. Papers are blind reviewed, normally by two referees, chosen for their specialist knowledge. The journal provides independent, original and rigorous analysis in the areas of: • Policy, regulation and law • Strategy • Operations • Marketing • Economics and finance • Sustainability