The Relationship Between Employee Empowerment and Service Quality in Nigerian Commercial Airlines: A Study of Passengers and Staff

This study investigates the relationship between employee empowerment and service quality in Nigerian commercial airlines, with data drawn from passengers and ground staff at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, South West Nigeria. The persistent decline in service standards and customer satisfaction in Nigeria's aviation sector has prompted inquiry into the role of frontline employee empowerment as a determinant of service excellence. A survey design was employed, and data were collected from 100 airline employees and 80 passengers, providing a dual-perspective analysis. The study is anchored on Thomas and Velthouse's Empowerment Model and the SERVQUAL Framework of service quality. Findings reveal that ground staff and cabin crew who are granted autonomy to resolve passenger complaints on the spot, make service recovery decisions, and adapt procedures to specific customer needs significantly outperform their disempowered counterparts on all five SERVQUAL dimensions, including reliability, responsiveness, and assurance. The study also finds that airlines with hierarchical, permission-based service protocols consistently generate higher passenger dissatisfaction rates and more escalated complaints. Employee empowerment is found to correlate negatively with staff turnover, suggesting a retention benefit beyond service improvement. Recommendations include restructuring customer service protocols to permit frontline decision-making within defined limits, integrating service empowerment training into onboarding programs, and tracking empowerment metrics in airline HR performance dashboards. This research is relevant to aviation HR practitioners, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, and airline management boards. Keywords: employee empowerment, service quality, commercial airlines, Lagos, aviation sector