ABSTRACT
One of the fastest growing transportation modes in Indonesia is air transportation. The air transportation market in Indonesia is experiencing a rapid growth. This leads to the increase in the number of airline passengers in almost all airports. However, the facts show that the competitive advantage of the industry has not been superior yet. These conditions are related to the issues in the development of reputation and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Hence, this study was done to examine the influence of reputation and CRM towards the competitive advantage of the airline industry in Indonesia. This study employed a quantitative approach by involving 100 passengers member from five different airlines namely Garuda, Lion air, Citilink, Batik Air and Air Asia as the samples. The data was then analyzed using the PLS statistical test tool. The results showed that reputation and CRM affected the competitive advantage both simultaneously and partially, in which reputation gave greater impact than CRM. To conclude, competitive advantage in the airline industry in Indonesia was dominantly more influenced by reputation than by CRM.
