This paper x-rayed the aviation industry in Nigeria with a view to examining the operational challenges of the airlines and to harness the gap with the criteria used by the passengers to select the airlines. This will ultimately provide an insight for the airline operators on how best to strategize in maximizing profits through customer satisfaction in a competitive industry. It also analyzed the various factors considered by air travelers for selecting a particular airline with a view to understanding operational principles used by the airlines to overcome daily operational challenges. Cost, safety record of aircraft, timeliness of flight, in-flight service and skill of personnel used by airlines were variables used for collected data from randomly selected experienced travelers to assess the preference of travelers in airline selection. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the collected data. Descriptive analysis was used to determine level of contributions of factors enhancing operational performance of an airline. Result concluded that, decrease in airline ticket price is one of the strongest factors in passenger’s selection criteria. However, as timeliness of flight and perceived safety records increases; the more the increase in passengers for such airline.
