A Practical Guide to Airline Customer Service. Colin C. Law

       Communication

       Tone of voice

       Body language

       Facial expression

       Customer service attributes

       Approachability

       Attitude

       Reliability

       Flexibility

       Observant and understanding towards others

       Attentiveness

       Clear communication

       Communication skills

       Responsiveness

       Patience

       The language of customer service

       Social distance

       Creating happy customers

       The Karpman drama triangle

       Staying out of the triangle

       Summary

       Applying the Knowledge

       Endnotes

      Learning Objectives

      After reading this chapter, the reader should be able to:

       Recognize the role of airline frontline service agents

       Identify techniques of customer care

       Recognize frontline service agents’ behavior

       Understand the importance of customer service language

       Understand the Karpman drama triangle

What is customer care?

      Customer care is one of the main duties of airline agents. It is the responsibility of airline frontline service agents, reservation agents, ground service agents and cabin crew to ensure passengers have a hassle-free experience by offering assistance, resolving their problems, and ensuring their safety throughout the journey. Every airline employee must understand their role and how he or she plays a part in affecting customers’ travel experiences as they meet various airline personnel throughout their journey. It is equally important for all airline employees to understand the big picture of airline customers’ satisfaction goal so that they can work together to achieve these common objectives as they carry out their daily work and interact with their respective internal and external customers.

      To deliver excellent customer service, an airline must provide good quality and comparable tangible products. These include a reliable reservation system and check-in system, reliable baggage system, comfortable seats, tasty meals and in-flight entertainment. The airline also needs to ensure that frontline service employees provide high-quality service such as being knowledgeable, offer accurate information, demonstrate teamwork, have a positive attitude, are willing to take on responsibilities, possess excellent communicate skills and the ability to work under pressure.

      How a product matches customers’ expectations demonstrates its quality. Each customer has a unique set of expectations and therefore perceives quality differently.

The role of airline frontline service agents

      The main responsibility of airline frontline service agents is to provide service to the customers among other roles to ensure the success of an airline’s operation. To do so, frontline employees must be equipped with multiple skills to offer exceptional services to the customers.

      Service provider

      The main duty of service agents is to provide service and assistance to customers. A service agent must ensure that customers enjoy every single moment of the journey.

      Figure 3-1: Different roles of airline frontline agents.

       Aim to satisfy the customers—generate happy customers by offering services

       Go the extra mile—perform beyond customers’ expectations

      Mr. Yee is a frequent traveler who only takes window seats and the staff has assigned him to one before he arrived at the check-in counter. This has demonstrated their proactiveness in terms of satisfying customers’ needs by going the extra mile. Even though customers may be satisfied when they are assigned to their desired seats during check-in, Mr. Yee was pleasantly surprised when he noted that his seat was prepared beforehand, hence creating a strong sense of satisfaction.

      Airline ambassador

      Service agents represent an airline through their words and actions.

       Being the brand of the airline—create the company’s image

       First impression—create a positive impression at the first point of contact

      Liaison

      Service agents can also serve as middlemen by assisting customers to communicate with other airline departments when required.

       Help customers to contact the respective person or department to obtain proper assistance

      Mr. Yee was confused about his return flight as there was some discrepancy in the flight details. A staff assisted him to contact the travel agent for clarification.

      Sales

      Service agent may sometimes take on the role of a sales agent by offering and promoting in-flight services and products passengers might be interested in.

       Promote airlines’ in-flight services and products

       Assist in increasing auxiliary revenue

      There was a special promotion for business class upgrades. The check-in staff noticed that Mr. Yee is a frequent traveler and suggested that he upgrades from economy to business class for a special price. Mr. Yee was very pleased to learn about this promotion and he agreed to do so.

      Keep promises

      This refers to service agents delivering services as guaranteed and ensuring what is promised to customers is carried out in a prompt manner.

      Even though a cabin staff was held up with several tasks on a full flight, she remembered the passengers’ requests and fulfilled their needs. She ensured that all the promises made were kept.

      Teamwork

      Team spirit