Article citation information:
Tłoczyński, D. Security as a determinant of
choice of air transport service and air carrier on the basis of research. Scientific Journal of Silesian University of
Technology.
Series Transport. 2017, 95, 213-222.
ISSN: 0209-3324.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.20858/sjsutst.2017.95.19.
Dariusz TŁOCZYŃSKI[1]
SECURITY AS A DETERMINANT OF
CHOICE OF AIR TRANSPORT SERVICE AND AIR CARRIER ON THE BASIS OF RESEARCH
Summary. The article presents the results of
research among passengers using Polish airports in 2013 regarding safety
issues. The main objective of the study was to prove the thesis that safety is
not essential in the choice of air service. Based on the theoretical research,
an overview of the issue of safety management is presented. Then, on the basis
of the author’s own research, safety as a factor in the choice of air transport
is postulated. For this purpose, the role of safety in relation to other
factors affecting the choice of air services is shown. Thereafter, the profile
of a passenger for whom the issue of safety is a factor encouraging their
choice of air service is presented.
Keywords: air transport; safety; airports;
transport expectations.
1. INTRODUCTION
When analysing the global air
transport market in 2014, some stability should be noted. It has even been
visible in the last few years. There have been no spectacular events that have
significantly effected changes in air traffic. However, it should be stressed
that 2014 was a very safe year for air transport. That year, the International
Air Transport Association (IATA) reported 12 plane crashes, which resulted in
641 deaths. However, when looking at the
IATA’s statistics for 2009-2013, an average of 19 disasters occurred and the
number of victims was 17 people per year. These data lead to the conclusion
that travel by air is becoming more and more secure.
The IATA has calculated that, in
2014, one disaster was attributable to the 4.4 million flights, which gives a
rate of 0.23 accidents per one million flights (in 2013, there were 0.41
accidents per one million flights). Therefore, this parameter is the lowest in
the history of aviation. Similar data have been published by the Aviation
Safety Network platform, whose indicator for the number of accidents per one
million flights is similar to that of the IATA data.
According to the presented data, it
should be assumed that air transport is an area with a high level of security.
It can therefore be stated that security is not a significant factor in the
selection of air transport among passengers using the analysed means of
transport.
2. MODERN REQUIREMENTS FOR AVIATION
SAFETY
An integrated security system is
considered as an issue in terms of civilization and the system. Over the last
few years, there has been continuous improvement in the safety systems within
the transport sector. Progress has been made as a result of constant
improvements in safety, predicated on the analysis of social solutions and systems.
Firstly, there is widespread recognition of the human right to security. In the
transport system, safety culture is a priority for the user of the system, who
is seeking to be reassured about the safety of their environment. Of the utmost
importance is the risk assessment of all modes of air transport. In the
analysed branch, a system of risk analysis based on a culture of safety is
observed. Broadly defined, a climate of security results in the adequate
involvement of entities in the process of maintaining safety, as well as the
provision of effective methods and proper attitudes among institutions,
companies and individuals in this regard.
Solutions concerning the system
mainly include methods and management tools, the integration of functions and
activities, and coordination with other sciences, such as economics, management
and psychology. The process of analysing safety systems in transport, which
accepts, among others, the need to adapt to the standard organizational and
technological solutions, is characterized by the formation of international
agreements concerning the implementation of scientific and technical progress.
The basic element of safety
management in air transport is the analysis of possible dangers, determining
which factors influence safety and assessing the relationship between risk and
applied preventive measures. An integrated system of air safety not only
concerns activity related to air transport, but also the entire air transport
system. The institutional system is very complex, made up of international,
regional and corporate aircraft and associations. The ICAO is the organization
responsible for the preparation and implementation of international regulations
in the field of air transport.
At the EU level, the basic acts
governing the issues of safety in air transport are:
- Council Directive 94/56/EC of 21
November 1994 on the Basic Principles Governing the Proceedings in
Investigating the Causes of Civil Aviation Accidents
- Directive of the European Parliament
and Council Directive 2003/42/EC on Occurrence Reporting in civil aviation
Commission
Decision No 2003/425/EC of 11 June 2003 Setting Up a Group of Experts on
Accidents in the Transport Sector
- Commission Regulation (EC) No
1315/2007 of 8 November 2007 on Safety Oversight in Air Traffic Management
Directive 2003/42 / EC, Regulation
(EC) No 1321/2007 and (EC) No 1330/2007
have been replaced by Regulation (EU) No 376/2014.
It is worth noting that
international cooperation in the field of aviation safety also needs to
facilitate the exchange of goods and services, which may impose a barrier in
the form of a multitude of national technical standards. Therefore, with the
main partners in the air transport sector (the USA, Canada and Brazil), the EU
has entered into an agreement on the mutual recognition of security levels.
Meanwhile, the EASA provides “working arrangements” relating to specific
projects with industrial partners from countries that do not benefit from
agreements on the basis of mutual recognition. The goods and services covered
by these agreements and “arrangements” may be the subject of a free exchange
between the respective countries/parties.
3. MODERN AIR TRAFFIC SECURITY RISKS AND SAFETY
MANAGEMENT METHODS
When classifying the sources of
danger in air transport, the following factors should be indicated:
- external (climate-related or
environmental)
- internal (related to the
organizational, functional and human factors)
Accident statistics prove that
humans are the weakest link in the analysed system. For example, a member of
the crew, an operator of a certain piece of equipment or a service person can
make mistakes that cause risks, as a result of the following:
- Lack of knowledge (low level of
training or incomprehensible tasks)
- Oblivion resulting from the lack of
repetitions of procedures or activities (routine, lack of training)
- Insubordination caused by character
- Lack of control or motivation
- Lack of predisposition to a
particular profession (health, personal characteristics)
In addition, errors are also made
while designing and manufacture of aircraft, such as:
- Hidden errors of construction,
occurring in the process of exploitation and threatening the safety of flights
- Inadequate diagnostic controls,
maintenance and updates contained in the instructions
- Exceeding supplies in the form of
mechanical and thermal strains, and voltage pulse pressures
The
aircraft can also be a source of security risks caused by:
- Imperfections in the structure
- Mismatch between an operational
programme and the nature of its usage
- Failure to comply with established
performance standards
- Incorrect procedures and technology
services
- Random damage to components and
functional systems
A system of air traffic management
can cause risks associated with:
- Inadequate preparation and transfer
of information
- Poor weather forecasting
- Problems with radar controls and
communication
- Poor or incomprehensible
transmission of information and decisions taken during the flight
The environment and system of ground
security measures can threaten safety during flight operations due to:
- Unexpected air problems and birds in
flight
- Unexpected changes in weather and
visibility
- Improper consumables (fuel, media)
- Improperly prepared aviation
infrastructure
- Improperly functioning aviation
infrastructure
Safety
management in air transport is described in international aviation law. There
are many definitions of safety management, but, in general, it can be defined
as any activity aimed at reducing the risk of losses, taking into account the
causes of accidents and dangers. The security level is determined by comparing
the current level of safety with the target level of safety. Entities operating
in the market for air transport services, which are responsible for maintaining
an acceptable level of security, use a Safety Management System (SMS).
An SMS is a process used by
organizations providing services or products related to safety, ensuring that
all aspects of safety related to the service are considered.
The following mechanisms of safety
management may be distinguished:
- Ensuring formal, unambiguous and
creative approaches to safety management in order to achieve the required level
of responsibility of the public air traffic management entity for the safety of
air traffic.
- Extending the operation of all air
traffic management and support services under the supervision of the public
management of air traffic.
- Adopting, as a basis for action, a
policy document on security issues, which defines the basic principles of
safety management.
Measuring the effectiveness of an
SMS requires the efficiency of safety indicators, targets of safety indicators
and action plans to be defined. These key indicators and targets are
representative of the overall risks in the operational context, in which the
service provider operates and provides the monitoring process, based on the
results, with an honest picture of the implementation of the SMS. By
prioritizing the definition of a set of short- and medium-term objectives,
specific to the service provider, through the implementation of strategies to
mitigate the effects of risk for specific security purposes, and by setting
measures and deadlines ensuring the effectiveness of mitigation strategies, the
service provider shall provide oversight of the measurable means by which to
check the level of security of the SMS or lack thereof, in addition to
compliance with the rules.
4. ANALYSIS OF THE SAFETY EXPECTATIONS AMONG
PASSENGERS USING POLISH AIRPORTS
In the period from July to November
2013, in all operating Polish airports, a study, which involved individual
questionnaire-based interviews with passengers starting their journey by air,
was carried out. The sample was 2,428 people, i.e., 0.01% of the number of
passengers served by Polish airports in 2012. This was followed by layering a
sample based on the number of passengers and taking into account the
specificity of air traffic at each port. The study included every fourth
passenger aged 18-80 years in each analysed airport heading to the security checks
at the time of research. The study was not carried out at the airport in Modlin
because, during that period, the airport was not operational.
A prospective traveller considering
a trip will look for information about the forms and means of transport using
the following sources:
- Personal (family, friends,
neighbours, acquaintances, colleagues)
- Commercial (advertising, travel
agencies, employees, carriers and handling agents, ticket sales brokers)
- Public (mass media, consumer
organizations)
- Experiential, related to the
previous use of the product
The choice of each source depends on
the specificity of air service and the individual characteristics of the
purchaser. Each source of information fulfils a different role in the decision
to purchase an air service. Commercial information generally performs the
functions of information, and sources of personal sanctioning or assessing. As
a result of gathering information, the consumer learns about competing offers.
Philip Kotler distinguishes several
ways for assessing the decision-making process, while assuming that the
consumer formulates conscious and rational opinions. However, it should be
noted that the potential passengers, in different ways, evaluate the needs and
significance of the individual characteristics of air services. That said, they
pay the greatest attention to features that will benefit them. Most consumers,
when deciding to purchase a service or product, take into account several
features (transport expectations about the carrier), among others, travel time,
availability, convenient time of departure, directness, low price, safety and
routes.
In the current study, the most
important factors as to why a plane is the preferred means of transport were
travel time (91% of responses) and the directness of the connection (90% of
responses). In contrast, factors that discouraged choosing air transport were
reported as: procedures related to check-in (18% of responses) and other
factors (37% of respondents, with these respondents most frequently indicating
baggage limits [10%], queues and delays [7% each], fear of the use of air
transport [6%], and the cancellation of a flight [3%]). Neutral factors (not
encouraging, not discouraging the decision to use air transport) were:
advertising by the carrier (91% of responses), loyalty to the carrier (85% of
responses) and the carrier’s brand (77% of responses).
The main factors influencing the decision to choose
air transport were: travel time (27% of respondents), the directness of the
connection (26% of responses), convenient departure and arrival times (17% of
responses) and ticket price (15% of responses).
The passengers who declared that
safety was a factor encouraging their use of air services generally travelled
for these reasons:
- Business (38%)
- tourism (30%)
- Visiting friends (21%)
- Going to work (10%)
- Other (1%)
In the analysed group, 52% made use
of low-cost carriers and 48% chose traditional carriers. Over 4% of those using
traditional carriers were people travelling in business class. Most passengers
(83%) for whom safety has an impact on their choice of air services travelled
on continental routes; the percentage was 8% for intercontinental routes, and
9% for domestic routes.
Among the group of people for whom
safety was important when selecting air services, 27% travelled between three
and five times a year and 26% travelled one or two times a year. Meanwhile, for
18% of those asked, this was the first trip during the year. 19% travelled six
or more times a year.
26% of the analysed population were
executives, 20% were employees without any managerial position, 18% were
specialists, and 11% were managers of a company.
Fig. 3. The professional status of
passengers for whom safety has an impact on their choice of air transport
services
For 58% of male respondents, the
choice of air transport services is affected by safety expectations. More than
38% were people aged 31-40, 26% were aged 21-30 years and 22% were aged 31-40.
36% of the analysed segment of the
market live in large cities (over 200,000 inhabitants), 33% live abroad, 16%
live in small towns (less than 50,000 inhabitants), 10% live in cities with a
population between 100,000-200,000, and 5% live in cities with 50,000-100,000
inhabitants.
When analysing the profile of
passengers using Polish airports in 2013 for whom safety is an important factor
in the choice of air transport services, it should be stated that this profile
is a person aged 31-40 years, who lives in an urban area, mostly travels on
continental routes and on business three to five times a year, and holds a
managerial position.
Fig. 4. The age structure of the
passengers in Polish airports, according to sex, for whom security plays a role
in their selection of air services
Fig. 5. Profile of passengers at Polish
airports for whom their choice of air transport services is influenced by
safety
Only 3% of all responded passengers
regarded safety as a factor of competitive advantage in the choice of an air
carrier. The main factors of competitive advantage were: travel time, the
network of connections, price, and convenient arrival and departure times.
5. SUMMARY
The issue of safety is important
when introducing a new product (service) on the market. Manufacturers of
aviation equipment, air carriers and aviation infrastructure operators produce
products with a high standard of safety. Such a requirement is primarily
imposed by the market, but is regulated by international aviation authorities.
A passenger who chooses to travel by
air or chooses a particular carrier assumes and believes that all the necessary
requirements, in terms of safety in air transport, are met. The passenger
expects operators to offer a safe service, ensuring a comfortable trip.
Therefore, safety expectations are
not decisive when choosing air transport services. Only 2% of respondents using
Polish airports in 2013 claimed that safety has an impact on their choice of
air transport services, while 57% of respondents declared that the level of
safety is a neutral factor when choosing air transport services.
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Received 15.02.2017; accepted in revised form 29.04.2017
Scientific Journal of Silesian
University of Technology. Series Transport is licensed under a Creative
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[1] University of Gdańsk, Armii
Krajowej Street. 119/121, 81-824 Sopot, Poland.
E-mail: dariusz.tloczynski@ug.gda.pl