Does the following scenario meet the hallmarks of scientific research? CAA Airlines carries out charter and regular flights to mediumhaul destinations - such as the Mediterranean, North Africa and the Red Sea - and to longhaul destinations such as the Caribbean. Today, CAA' s fleet consists of three (new) Boeing 737800s and four (outdated) Boeing 767300s. Because the Boeing 767s are rather outdated they need more maintenance than the average airplane. Despite an intensive maintenance program, these planes have a lot of technical problems. Consequently, the longhaul fleet of CAA has needed to deal with a lot of delays recently. New longhaul planes have been ordered, but these planes will not be delivered before 2016. This means that more delays will inevitably occur. This may translate into much frustration among airline passengers, to switching behavior, and to negative wordof mouth communication. Th ese feelings and behaviors of consumers may eventually have negative effects on the performance and the profitability of the firm. Prior research has claimed that service waits can be controlled by two techniques: operations management and management of perceptions. For CAA Airlines it is very difficult to obtain "zero defects" (no delays). Hence, this project will focus on managing the perceptions of the wait experience: because CAA Airlines cannot control the actual amount of delays and the duration, the company must focus on managing the customers' perception of the waiting experience. The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to identify the factors that influence the passengers' waiting experience and (2) to investigate the possible impact of waiting on customer satisfaction and service evaluations. Therefore, this project focuses on the following research questions: 1. What are the factors that affect the perceived waiting experience of airline passengers and to what extent do these factors affect the perception of waiting times? 2. What are the affective consequences of waiting and how does affect mediate the relationship between waiting and service evaluations? 3. How do situational variables (such as filled time) influence customer reactions to the waiting experience? Drawing from prior research in the areas of waiting, service evaluations, and mood theory, hypotheses are generated regarding the relationships among a delay, the waiting experience, affect, and service evaluations. The hypothesized relationships are tested in a field setting involving delayed CAA airline passengers