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Estimating Passenger Benefits from Airline Service Quality: Nonstop vs. Connecting Flight Frequencies

Author

Listed:
  • Jan K. Brueckner
  • Ricardo Flores-Fillol

Abstract

This paper estimates passenger benefits from airline flight frequencies, recognizing that this task is less straightforward for connecting trips than for nonstop travel. In doing so, the paper joins Yuan and Jia (2026) as the only other study in the literature that confronts the problem of creating a flight-frequency measure for connecting trips. With airlines providing a crucial service in modern economies, the ability to measure the quality of that service is essential, not just for the nonstop service that links larger cities but for the connecting trips involving smaller endpoints that many passengers rely on.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan K. Brueckner & Ricardo Flores-Fillol, 2026. "Estimating Passenger Benefits from Airline Service Quality: Nonstop vs. Connecting Flight Frequencies," CESifo Working Paper Series 12571, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12571
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    File URL: https://www.ifo.de/DocDL/cesifo1_wp12571.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brueckner, Jan K. & Flores-Fillol, Ricardo, 2020. "Market structure and quality determination for complementary products: Alliances and service quality in the airline industry," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    2. Richard, Oliver, 2003. "Flight frequency and mergers in airline markets," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 21(6), pages 907-922, June.
    3. Jan Brueckner & Ricardo Flores-Fillol, 2007. "Airline Schedule Competition," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 30(3), pages 161-177, May.
    4. Steven Berry & Panle Jia, 2010. "Tracing the Woes: An Empirical Analysis of the Airline Industry," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 1-43, August.
    5. Thomaz, Sarah, 2020. "Effects of asymmetric demands on airline scheduling decisions in a network," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 22(C).
    6. Jan K. Brueckner, 2004. "Network Structure and Airline Scheduling," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 291-312, June.
    7. Chen, Yongmin & Gayle, Philip G., 2019. "Mergers and product quality: Evidence from the airline industry," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 96-135.
    8. Brueckner, Jan K. & Luo, Dan, 2014. "Measuring strategic firm interaction in product-quality choices: The case of airline flight frequency," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 3(1), pages 102-115.
    9. Steven T. Berry, 1994. "Estimating Discrete-Choice Models of Product Differentiation," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 25(2), pages 242-262, Summer.
    10. Berry, Steven & Levinsohn, James & Pakes, Ariel, 1995. "Automobile Prices in Market Equilibrium," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 63(4), pages 841-890, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality
    • L93 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Air Transportation

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