A Practical Guide to Airline Customer Service. Colin C. Law
class is the second-tier class and majority of the customers are frequent travelers who go on business trips. These customers also set high expectations as they are familiar with the airline’s operations and know what to expect from airline service agents.
Economy class is the most inexpensive class and is attractive to a variety of customer types, including families, tour groups and on occasions, people who are travelling for business purposes. Traveling by economy class is not as expensive as other classes and the majority of customers have lower expectations. Occasionally, there are businesspersons and other frequent travelers who choose to travel by economy class and these customers often maintain their high expectations as opposed to other economy-class customers.
Full-service airlines are airline companies that offer a full packaged service to customers. After customers purchase their tickets, a majority of other services such as in-flight meals and allowance for check-in luggage are offered free of charge.
On the other hand, low-cost carriers offer limited service and only cover the basic product. If a customer needs additional products or services, they are required to pay an extra fee.
In short, a customer who has paid to travel on a full-service airline has higher expectations than another who decides to fly with a low-cost airline as the former is also seeking comfort and amenities on board the aircraft. Low-cost airline travelers are aware that the amount of money they paid only covers the transportation process and these customers required to buy other amenities for more comfort if they desire.
What is customer service?
Customer service is defined as a series of interactions between a product provider and its customer at different stages of a sales transaction. The American economist, Robert W. Lucas has defined customer service as the ability of knowledgeable, capable and enthusiastic employees to deliver products and services to internal and external customers.3 To ensure that transactions are performed smoothly and efficiently, employees who are involved in said transactions must be talented and keen to perform their duties.
Figure 1-5: Customer service cycle.
Customer service is becoming significantly important in creating customer satisfaction in many airlines today. In this context, customer service refers to the process of service delivery to customers before, during and after the purchase of an air ticket. Customers often use this experience to determine an airline’s quality of service and decide whether they will purchase tickets from the same company for their future trips.
Customer service is an integral part of the profit cycle, helping an airline to achieve its goals. When customers are satisfied with the service provided by an airline, this will guarantee a subsequent purchase. This in turn, increases the airline’s revenue and it can then use these profits to offer incentives to employees and further motivate them to keep up their good work, improve the airline’s image by carrying out marketing campaign and social responsibility programs, and improve their products. The continuous cycle not only retains long-term customers, it also helps to maintain the airline’s profitability and encourage growth.
In the airline industry, a customer’s level of satisfaction is based on a combination of tangible and intangible services.
Overall, customers are expected to spend less money and arrive at their destination on time and safely. Many airlines have achieved all the three basic elements effectively. When these elemental elements are met, customers then raise the bar and demand more from the airlines. To fulfill customers’ additional demands, many airlines are offering supplemental benefits. These additional benefits can be divided into two categories: tangible and intangible products.
Figure 1-6: Tangible and intangible customer service.
Tangible products are physical objects that can be perceived by touch and the five senses, i.e. something that customers can see, hear, smell and touch. This normally refers to the environment the customer is experiencing while using the airline’s service. Sometimes the actual product they receive when using the airline service is accounted as a tangible customer service. Examples include quality of in-flight meal, availability of leg space in the cabin and the quality of the screen provided for in-flight entertainment.
Intangible products are products that cannot be touched, and they are often referred to as services. Services provided by airline service agents are also known as customer service. These include how customers are being served and treated throughout their journey. Examples include the efficiency of ground service agents performing the check-in and the helpfulness of cabin crew who offer in-flight services. Another influencing element is delivery of products and services, such as attitude and the helpfulness of airline service agents, and their ability to resolve minor issues and conflicts.
Figure 1-7: Tangible and intangible products.
Tangible products can be easily matched by competing airlines. Standardized seat pitch and width, hi-tech in-flight entertainment system and delicious meals are becoming the norm within the industry. These lead to airlines competing against one another on the basis of intangible customer services.
How a product is being delivered is as important as the quality of the product. Customers judge the quality of a company mainly based on the service that they get. This is especially so in instances which customers is flying with an airline for the first time. They will often evaluate the quality provided based on the service offered by the sales agent. For example, a customer would like to visit Sydney and has never been there before. This is also the first time he is flying and has no knowledge about making reservations for his first flight. He contacted several airlines’ reservation departments to inquire about his trip. As the airlines are offering similar products at the same prices, he will eventually decide to fly with the airline which the reservation agent offers the best customer service as that is his best point of reference. The excellent service provided by the sales agent has resulted in his confidence in the airline, hence causing him to make the final decision to fly with a particular airline.
Tangible customer service
Product quality
The overall product that a customer purchases is evaluated based on its quality. A product’s quality consists of multiple elements that motivate customers to purchase a particular service from airlines. These elements include an airline’s reputation, safety record and the amenities offered both on the ground and on board an aircraft.
Service environment
This is also known as the service landscape or ambience. It refers to the physical locations where a customer experiences an airline’s products. These may include the check-in counter’s setup, airport lounge’s layout, boarding gate’s design and aircraft cabin interior’s design, just to name a few. The environment also plays a part in influencing customers’ overall perception of the airline and the chances of retaining return businesses. According to a psychological study of human behavior affected by the environment conducted by Albert Mehrabian in 1974, a customer may react in one of either two directions when making a decision: approach and avoidance.4
Approach reactions are generated when customers are satisfied—they are happy with the environment, e.g. state-of-the-art cabin facilities and appealing interior design of the aircraft, and are willing to stay longer or return for future occasions. On the other hand, avoidance reactions are created when customers do not enjoy the surroundings, e.g. crowded and dirty airline lounge. Below are other examples of approach-avoidance factors that customers consider:
The layout and design of the check-in area at the airport has a direct impact on customers’ level of satisfaction.The design of the common and individual