From a customer’s perspective, a service failure refers to a real or perceived service- related problem, or where something has gone wrong in dealing with an organization. The customer’s expectations of the service encounter are therefore not met by the organization, and the customer could even perceive a loss as a result of the failure. Although customers and organizations increasingly seek a flawless delivery of core and supplementary services, this is virtually impossible in a service setting due to human involvement in service production and consumption. In addition, the inseparable and intangible nature of services also gives rise to service failures.
The airline industry is especially prone to service failures due to the service processes employed in service delivery. Although airline passengers may hold certain expectations prior to their impending travel, service failures in the airline industry can lead to several flight cancellations, diversions or delays, attitudes of ground and cabin staff, strikes, reservation problems and overbooking of flights. A service failure not only impacts negatively on customers’ confidence in an organization, but it could also result in their defecting from the organization. Organizations should therefore identify the probable failure points as well as methods aimed at preventing failures from reoccurring. Although it is highly unlikely that organizations can eliminate service failures, they can learn to deal with these failures
“A Tale of Two Airlines” is an article written by Christopher Elliott to educate to economy on travel planning. He was born on May 31, 1960. He is a journalist and consumer advocate who writes for people who want to become more informed travelers (www.nbcnews.com/id/10912488/ns/travel/t/Christopher-elliott/#.Vc_RIO9RGM8). He is known for his many articles with the National Geographic Traveler Magazine and being a travel columnist with the Washington Post and USA Today. A Tale of Two Airlines or is Good Vs Evil in the air; Southwest Airline vs Spirit Airlines.
1. United Airlines is owned by the UAL Corporation and was incorporated on December 30, 1968. The actual company was formed may years before this actually in 1925 and was a private mail carrying service between Pasco, Washington, and Elko, Nevada, and from these humble beginnings they formed a were able to start a company that would come to be a global leader in the airline service. From the 1960’s to the 1980’s the company had 6 different presidents and started to expand and venture into different aspects of business other then airlines and were unable to have any success. These companies that they purchased were not a success and were later resold.
In order to determine whether the Five Forces are still applicable, this part will analyse Industry in general concerning structural changes due to Digitalization. Because of Digitalization, another two forces significantly affect the competition which are Globalization and Deregulation. The impact of Globalization on the Industry structure is the customers gain benefit as comparing global prices become much easier and faster in from the Globalization process (Dalken, 2014).
Customer service studies show that when something goes right, customers give credit to the individual employee dealing with the problem; when something goes wrong, customers usually blame the organization itself. This fact makes it crucial for any
The terrorist attacks of September 11th caused many changes in our country. Although there were many after effects of the September 11th attacks, the airline industry was most impaired. This paper will explain two factors related to the airline industry that were most affected, the American people and the economy.
This course focuses on services management in general and service operations in particular. It explores the elements that unite services, that differentiate service processes from non-service processes and that differentiate various types of services from each other. Customers generally participate in the service process, often with direct and uncensored interactions with employees and facilities. The resulting
Delta Airlines have transformed over the decades. They started out as a crop dusting company, blossomed into an airline company, fought litigations, went bankrupt, then resurrected it and merged with Northwest Airlines to become one of the biggest airline companies in the world. Their aircraft, operations, and cities and countries that they service have transformed and blossomed as well.
This case analyses Prof. McPherson’s service experience with respect to two Airline carriers, which was not expected in this age of Network and Information Technology and also the service level expectations from the customers. First we analyze the setting/situation, issues Prof. McPherson experienced and his assumptions; and then try to address them. The bottom line: addressing such situations would improve efficiency, customer loyalty, brand name and increased profits
Piedmont Airlines recently invested over $1 million in state of the art equipment and employee development in order to forecast and analyze the appropriate amount of discounted fares to offer per flight. The company discovered that by offering several discounted flights to consumers willing to book their travel well in advance of their departure date left many options available for the business traveler who needed to book much closer to the actual departure date. The analysis was the task of the Revenue Enhancement Department (RED) managed by Marilyn Hoppe. While this state of the art equipment was a step in the right direction, Marilyn believed that there were still a lot of subjective decisions being made and
The airline industry has seen drastic changes since September 11, 2001. The government ordered a complete shutdown for three days of not only all commercial aircraft but such carriers as domestic flights and emergency aircraft. For days after September 11th, all aircraft stayed on the ground. Even military aircraft had to receive special clearance to fly. In a ripple effect, the entire economy of the United States and the world was put on hold. The New York Stock Exchange shut its doors because of the attacks on the towers of the World Trade Center.
In April 1992, American Airlines launched "Value Pricing" -- a radical simplification of the complex pricing structure that had evolved over more than a decade following deregulation of the U.S. domestic airline industry. American expected that the new pricing structure would benefit consumers and restore profitability to both American and the industry as a whole. The critical issue raised is: Would American's bold initiative work?
This paper will review the case study of Delta Airlines which was suffering like all its competitors with rising fuel costs which averaged anywhere between 30 to 50 percent of its total operating costs. This paper will answer six questions which will help identify what the company did to handle the high cost of fuel. The questions that I will answer will include the following.
The Airline Industry is in an interesting situation. Simply adding a low cost alternative is not enough in the industry. The Internet has made the power of buyers grow with the transparency of ticket prices. This is not something that will change any time soon. Because of this profitability is predominately reserved for low-cost yet distinctive carriers. No consumer wants to ride what they consider a “lesser” airline. Airlines need a way to distinguish themselves from one another while also acknowledging the increased power of buyers.
British Airways (BA) is a company that encountered several difficulties back in the 1970’s and 1980’s. The poor performances of the organization, was leading the company to failure. BA was offering a service that even though it accomplished the mission of the company, was not providing customer satisfaction. The organization was not taking into consideration the needs of the costumer and was not providing an acceptable customer service experience. “Productivity at BA in the 1970s was strikingly bad, especially in contrast to other leading foreign airlines” (Jick, Peiperl, 2010, p.28). Due to numerous changes, the company increased their revenues and became a respectful and well know organization.
With 1988 operating income of $801 million on a revenue of $8.55 billion, American Airlines, Inc. (American), principal subsidiary of Dallas/Fort Worth-based AMR Corporation, was the largest airline in the United States. At year-end 1988 American operated 468 aircraft on 2,200 flights daily to 151 destinations in the United States, Bermuda, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, France, Great Britain, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Spain, Switzerland, Venezuela, and West Germany.