Characteristics of airline’s ground services at ai- 123docz.net

CHAPTER 1. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ON THE AIRLINE‟S GROUND

1.1. Airline‟s ground service quality at the airport

1.1.3 Characteristics of airline’s ground services at airports

The ground service of the airline at the airport has all 5 characteristics of the service in general and it also has its own characteristics.

General characteristics of the service

Service is a special product, has many different characteristics from other goods. There are five characteristics that are often given to differentiate services from other types of goods: 1) zero loss, 2) intangibility, 3) simultaneity, 4) and 5) storage inability.

As other services, ground services of airlines at airports also have the full characteristics of general services:

(1) Zero loss

 Skills and ability to provide services will not be lost after the airline‟s service providers complete ground services. This success will create the prestige and enhance the image and brand of the airline with its customers.

 People play an absolutely important role in the quality of ground services of airlines at airports.

 The quality of ground services of airlines at airports is assessed according to the perception of customer satisfaction.

(2) Relative Intangibility

 The product of the ground service of the airline at the airport is invisible. It is the process of communicating between ground staff and passengers to carry out procedures for passengers, taking passengers to the aircraft. These specific service steps customers cannot see, taste, touch, smell ... before using as other commodity products. The results obtained from customers are usually a pleasant experience or not. Due to this intangible attribute, it is difficult for users to assess the quality of ground services of the airline at the airport before, during and even after using the service.

 To reduce uncertainty when using the ground services of airlines at airports, customers will have to search for information sources such as brand, reputation of the airline in the market and the cost is commensurate with the quality

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of service as expected.

(3) Simultaneity of production and consumption

 Production and consumption processes cannot be separated. Customers will decide the production of the service. An airline cannot create a service without a passenger. Customers are both consumers and direct participants in the production process. The production of the service ends when the consumer process ends.

Therefore, customers who need to use ground services from airlines at airports must contact the service provider directly to satisfy their needs.

 This is a feature that clearly shows the difference between goods and services.

Production and consumption of goods are two separate activities. Goods normally produced at a production facility are then shipped to where most customers want to buy.

Production and consumption of goods are considered to be separate.

(4) Instability

 Airline ground services are provided by people (ground service staffs) to people (airline passengers). People may require high- or low-quality service.

Example: Passengers may not buy airline tickets if the service attitude of the ground staff is not professional, the check-in staff cannot guarantee the aisle seat if the passenger does not pre-reserve seat before the flight or not request at check-in counter. Airline ground services at the airport are highly labor-intensive and characterized by high levels of communication between ground staffs and airline passengers. The quality of these interactions affects service perception. Especially human behavior, the attitude of communication with each other, the willingness to participate and meet the needs of each party, the motives and personal characteristics are interplaying in the production process and service consumption.

This requires managers to focus more on selecting, training, arranging and treating employees to provide high quality services.

 Because customers want to be taken care of as individual people, the airline's ground services are often personalized and heterogeneous. Airlines are difficult to provide service standards to satisfy all customers in all circumstances because that satisfaction depends on the perception and expectations of each customer.

(5) Storage inability

 Due to the simultaneity of production and consumption of services, the ground service of the airline at the airport cannot be stored. A check-in counter cannot be opened during off-peak hours and cannot be stored for additional service during peak hours. Like the idle time of the check-in staff: when the passengers are absent, they cannot be reserved for the time when the passengers go east and accumulate.

 Commodity products can be returned or exchanged for other products, but the ground service of the airline at the airport cannot be returned.

 It is not possible to check the quality of the ground service of the airline at the airport before providing it. The airline's ground staff only must comply with the laws and professional ethics, strictly follow the process, guide from the beginning to the end.

The specific characteristics of the ground service of the airline at the airport In addition to the general characteristics mentioned above, the ground services of airlines at airports also have its own characteristics: 1) Plan nature, 2) Seasonality, 3) various tangible element containing, 4) high service intensity, 5) safety.

(1) Plan nature

 The biggest feature of the ground services of airlines at the airport is that services are carried out according to a predetermined plan. This plan is built based on the seasonal flight schedule (summer flight schedule, winter flight schedule), according to each specific stage (Tet peak period, summer peak period, 30/4-1/5 peak period ...), by day, by flight. Based on the passenger booking information on each flight, the manager understands the requirements from the customer on the seat, the special services (wheelchair, unaccompanied minor take care, baby bassinet, special meal...), the airline makes plan to serve customers according to their requirements.

(2) Seasonality

 The airlines are highly dependent on consumers - a typical element of the outside environment while the demand for air transport services is markedly

seasonal. Ground services of airlines at airports are not outside of that rule. Because the ground services of the airlines at the airport are complex, with the participation of many manufacturers and suppliers of intermediary services such as check-in, inflight meal and beverage providing, aircraft technical maintenance, catering services in case of irregular flights ...) so seasonal changes in consumers also strongly affect the operation of these manufacturers and supplier and therefore make the ground services of airlines at the airport also seasonal.

(3) Various tangible element containing

 The technical facilities for ground services at the airport require a high degree of uniformity, corresponding to the number of flights, the number of customers and the customer's requirements. The synchronization is expressed in equipment such as the system of signs, flight information screens, carpets, piles, barriers, publications, all kinds of machines serving the process of check-in like computers, boarding pass printer, baggage tag printer, boarding pass reader at boarding gate and in business class lounge, announcement system, wheelchair, radio ...

(4) High service intensity

 Due to the characteristics of the airport far away from the city, passengers have the habit of coming to the airport right before take-off time so the service intensity of the ground service of the airline at Noibai international airport is often high and in each specific time frame. For some Northeast Asia flights, passengers often have the habit of coming early and queuing before the opening time, so the representative must coordinate with the relevant units to open the counters early to relieve passengers.

(5) Safety

 More than any other industries, aviation is one of the most challenging industries. Airline‟s motte is S.P.E.C: Safety, Punctuality, Economic and Comfort.

The media often tend to exacerbate aviation accidents stemming from the fact that plane accidents are often catastrophic and cause great losses both in human and economic terms. Thus, above all, the safety motto is always set first in air transport industry. Due to the characteristics of the field of passenger and baggage transport,

all employees involved in serving at all service stages are required strictly adherence to security processes, regulations and Vietnam civil aviation security program... The goal is to ensure safe and efficient flights.

Characteristics of airline’s ground services at airports

Airline’s ground service classification

Some models of service quality assessment