Dimensionality and validity of the operational performance construct in the aviation industry: a factor analytic approach

Purpose- Operational performance is critical to competitive advantage, market share and financial performance of organisations. These benefits of operational performance translate to the socioeconomic growth and development of nations. Despite the relevance of this construct, there is paucity of validated scales on it in the airlines’ sector. This study, therefore, conceptualized, dimensionalized and validated the operational performance construct in the civil aviation sector. Methodology- I exhumed 49 items from the vast literature on operational performance in several sectors, including the airline industry. I contacted managers in the aviation sector and experts in the field to confirm face and content validity. I then engaged an initial sample of 213 workers in the 18 Nigerian domestic airlines and subjected the proposed items to Exploratory Factor Analysis (using IBM SPSS version 27). Furthermore, I enlisted another sample of 201 respondents and used the second set of data to conduct a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (using IBM SPSS Amos version 26). Findings – The initial 49 items passed the test of face and content validity. Exploratory Factor Analysis resulted in the extraction of 29 items from the initial 49 items, representing five principal components (quality, cost, responsiveness, innovation and safety). Upon Confirmatory Factor Analysis, the final 29-item instrument passed the tests of validity and reliability. The proposed overall measurement model had a good fit with the sample data. Conclusion- Based on the findings, the study emphasized the need for managers in the airline sector to be aware that the twenty nine observable indicators validated in this study can be deployed to improve their organisations’ operational performance via quality, cost, responsiveness, innovation and safety. The paper reveals some methodological limitations and suggested that structural models on the nexus between operational performance and other variables, such as organizational culture and environmental turbulence, be developed and tested in diverse settings.