Air transport factors influencing attitude of Saudi employees toward work in small and remote cities with scheduled airline service: An exploratory study among Saudi male students studying in the United States

The study of socio-economic development is an interdisciplinary venture crossing various boundaries of academic fields and social research. That is because the complex process of development is encompassing and broad. In many developing countries, the transport sector is designed and functions within an economic and social framework to enhance development and to bring important air transport benefit to local areas in order to make them more appealing places to live and work.; The objective of this study was to explore and attempt to identify significant factors associated with availability of airline service that may influence an individual's decision to work in small and remote cities. The research included five dimensions associated with regional development and small city for analysis. These five represented the independent variables, which were (1) demographic variables---such as age, education, major field of study, marital status; (2) small cities' air transport accommodation variables such as ease of travel and safety; (3) regional development variables related to the provision of public services and magnitude of regional development in small cities offering scheduled airline services; (4) labor market variables including function and capability of the labor market in small cities with scheduled airline services such Saudization and reversal of migration to major cities and (5) air transport capacity variables which involved comparison of transport modes, access and use. The dependent variable was inclination towards work in small cities with scheduled airline services.; A survey questionnaire was constructed to collect needed data. The questionnaire was primarily designed to investigate to what extent do individual's air transport related factors influence an individual's attitude towards work in small cities with scheduled airline service. Statistical analysis including correlation matrix and regression are employed to investigate if variations in perceived value of small cities' air transport accommodation variables, regional development, labor market patterns, and air transport capacity significantly explain variations in individual inclination towards work in small cities offering scheduled airline services.; Results of the analysis of responses of 303 individuals who participated in this study showed that the five dimensions have significant relationship with an individual's inclination towards work in small cities offering scheduled airline services. Stepwise regression revealed that job compatibility, age, number of flights available to small cities, local training, recruitment and place of residence have significant influence on tendency towards work in small cities offering scheduled airline services (R2 = .52, p <.001).; Based on the findings of this study, suggestions and recommendations for future research were presented.