Ancillary revenue and price fairness: an exploratory study pre and post flight

摘要

The growing impact of ancillary revenue on consumer choice and shopping behaviour continues to be a highly debated issue. In the USA, the Department of Transportation (DOT) entered into the debate and proposed new rules on how airlines must report and display such ancillary offerings which are driving airline profitability. This article examines past research on price fairness from the marketing literature and the role of revenue management (RM) on price fairness from the aviation literature to explore the impact of a la carte pricing and ancillary revenue on perceptions of price fairness. The study focuses on the issue of price fairness pre and post flight and how ancillary offerings are communicated to consumers when purchasing airline services. Support for differences in information availability between past and future flyers concerning knowledge of airline ancillary offerings was found and is believed to increase the potential price fairness perceptions of future passengers.