Ask Operation Management Expert

Hospitality Management, 5th Edition, Authors: Robert Reid & David Bojanic -

Case Study: Service Quality at Express Airlines.

Ben Kidd was a relatively new associate with Expres Airlines, a national carrier with extensive routes in the eastern half of the country. On one particular night, Ben was working the gate in Chicago, getting ready to load a flight to Washington D.C. The flight was scheduled to be about 90 percent full, so he wanted to begin boarding passenges as quickly as possible after the plane landed, the passengers deplaned, and the cleaning crew got the plane ready for the next flight. When the plane landed 20 minutes later than scheduled, the pilot reported small mechanical problem that would have to be checked by the airline mechanics prior to when the outbound pssengers boarded the aircraft and departed for Washington, D.C.

There was a crew change for the flight s well. The crew - pilot, first officer, and flight attendants - boarded the plane as soon as the inbound pssengers deplaned. The outbound pilot spoke with the inbound pilot and the mechnics concerning the mechanical problem. There was some uncertainty, but the mechanics felt that the problem was minor and could be repaired within the next 30 minutes. The pilot reported this to Ben, who then provided an update to the outbound passengers about the 30-minute departure delay. A few passengers approached the desk in the gate area to speak with Ben about travel options, while other passengers immediately pulled their mobile phones out of their pockets, plcing calls to the airlines and other travel agencies to explore options. Ben felt he had done an excellent job in informing the passengers about the delay caused by the mechanical problem and couldn't quite understand why passengers were so "edgy" about the delay and were pressing him for more information and assurances that the flight would depart after the 30-minute delay while the mechanics made the necessary repairs.

After about 15 minutes, Ben checked with the outgoing pilot, the mechanics working on the repair and his supervisor. It was determined that the repairs were progressing on schedule and that the passengers should be loaded in anticipation of a 30-minute delayed departure. Ben immediately began to load the plane, beginning with the premier-level passsengers. That entire process took about 20 minutes, during which time the mechanics continued to work on the repair. As the last passenger took her seat, the mechanics informed the pilot and Ben that the repairs could not be completed and that the plane would need to be returned to the hanger to complete the repair. The plane would not be available for service until sometime the next day, as an additional part needed to be installed and would not be available until the next day. As Ben hung up the phone after talking with the pilot, the pilot announced to the seted passengers tht the repair could not be made and that all passengers would have to leave the aircraft. He apologized for the delay and indicated that airline personnel would be available to assist passengers with modifying their plans.

Case Study Questions and Issues:

1. Assess the actions that Ben undertook. What were the positive actions? What might he have done differently?

2. Develop a service blueprint of the preboarding and boarding of the flight to Washington, D.C. How might this be used to improve the situation?   

3. What specific action steps and timetable would you recommend to Ben at this point?

4. Are there other individual airline personnel that might become involved? What role(s) might they play?

5. Discus the gaps in the service quality process that passengers experienced.

6. What other actions could have been taken by Express Airlines personnel?

Operation Management, Management Studies

  • Category:- Operation Management
  • Reference No.:- M92224462

Have any Question?


Related Questions in Operation Management

Conflictdefine functional versus dysfunctional conflict in

Conflict Define functional versus dysfunctional conflict in a work group and explain how you can increase functional conflict and decrease dysfunctional conflict. Develop a response that includes examples and evidence to ...

For this assignment you will need to find 2 articles in

For this assignment, you will need to find 2 articles in business that can help describe what are IT strategic initiative being undertaken by an organization are like. Choose a different organization for each of the arti ...

Coping with problems joe is a little nervous he has just

Coping With Problems Joe is a little nervous. He has just been transferred from another plant to take over a production line. Production is down and there is a serious problem with absenteeism. To make matters worse, the ...

Over 30 years ago michael porter identified a holistic

Over 30 years ago Michael Porter identified a holistic approach to understanding how competitive forces shape strategy. He posited that the only way to truly insulate an organization from underlying economic volatility i ...

You are the contracting officer for an air-to-ground

You are the contracting officer for an air-to-ground missile development program. A contract for pre-production models of the missile was awarded by your predecessor and the contractor is behind schedule. In a program me ...

The ikea case provides an excellent opportunity to apply

The IKEA case provides an excellent opportunity to apply strategic management concepts to a large privately-held company that is expanding into India. IKEA is a Netherlands-based Swedish company with a presence in 44 cou ...

Can you answer for me the following questions about social

Can you answer for me the following questions about social loafing and the three main causes of free-riding. 1. Give a description of the phenomenon of social loafing. 2. Give a description of the phenomenon of free-ridi ...

1 analyzing the bridgestonefirestone and ford motor company

1. Analyzing the Bridgestone/Firestone and Ford motor company, is it sufficient to use the ISO/QS 9000 standards as the main basis of vendor/product selection? 2. What position to these cars company ( 1. Volkswagen, 2. F ...

Research the effect of primary and secondary seat belt laws

Research the effect of primary and secondary seat belt laws on the occurrence of motor-vehicle injuries and fatalities. Explain how epidemiologic studies influenced the development of current seat belt laws. Describe how ...

Please provide a brief paragrap of the key takaways from

Please provide a brief paragrap of the key takaways from each of the following topics: Designing Clear Visuals in business reports Designing Successful Documents and Websites Writing Winning Proposals

  • 4,153,160 Questions Asked
  • 13,132 Experts
  • 2,558,936 Questions Answered

Ask Experts for help!!

Looking for Assignment Help?

Start excelling in your Courses, Get help with Assignment

Write us your full requirement for evaluation and you will receive response within 20 minutes turnaround time.

Ask Now Help with Problems, Get a Best Answer

Why might a bank avoid the use of interest rate swaps even

Why might a bank avoid the use of interest rate swaps, even when the institution is exposed to significant interest rate

Describe the difference between zero coupon bonds and

Describe the difference between zero coupon bonds and coupon bonds. Under what conditions will a coupon bond sell at a p

Compute the present value of an annuity of 880 per year

Compute the present value of an annuity of $ 880 per year for 16 years, given a discount rate of 6 percent per annum. As

Compute the present value of an 1150 payment made in ten

Compute the present value of an $1,150 payment made in ten years when the discount rate is 12 percent. (Do not round int

Compute the present value of an annuity of 699 per year

Compute the present value of an annuity of $ 699 per year for 19 years, given a discount rate of 6 percent per annum. As