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

Chapter 7 looks into the working environment in a customer contact center. Chapter 8 describes the airport working environment and the various customer service touchpoints within an airport terminal building. Chapter 9 explains cabin crew’s responsibilities at different phases of a flight.

      The last section of the book is divided into three different chapters, with the purpose of allowing readers to have a better understanding on how to handle customer complaints and methods used by management teams to evaluate existing customer service strategies, as well as contemporary customer services.

      Chapter 10 provides advice on different approaches of handling customer complaints, dealing with angry customers and anger management issues. Chapter 11 looks into the various means of collecting feedback from the customers so as to improve service standards. The last chapter focuses on frontline employees’ selling techniques as well as changes in expectations of customer service within the industry.

      A Practical Guide to Airline Customer Service seeks to encourage students to pursue an exciting career in the airline industry. It is also a tribute to all the diligent frontline employees in the airline industry.

      About the Author

      Colin C. Law is an Assistant Professor of Airline Business Management at Stamford International University, Thailand. Prior to joining the academia field, he had worked in the customer service, reservation and finance departments of a major international carrier for nearly ten years. This extensive experience in customer service and airline operations has enabled him to develop multiple airline courses for the tertiary education sector and provided working professionals with insight into the airline industry. Colin is also the author of other critically acclaimed textbooks on airline airport operations, and is the co-author of Introduction to Airline Ground Service.

      Acknowledgments

      I would like to express my gratitude to the following individuals who have in their own ways, provided support and assistance and in helping to make A Practical Guide to Airline Customer Service possible.

      I would like to thank Doris Wai for helping me in editing and proofreading matters. Thanks to Jeffrey Young, my publisher who encouraged me to pursue this book project.

      Many thanks to Grace, Tony, Eva and Wylie for sharing their invaluable personal experiences, of which have formed the basis for the numerous case studies and the dialogues featured in this book.

      Last and not least, I would like to thank all the air travelers who I have crossed paths with during my time working at the airport. Thank you for providing the inspiration for A Practical Guide to Airline Customer Service.

      Chapter One

Introduction

      Chapter Outline

       Airline and its nature of business

       Airline customers’ hierarchy of needs

       Applying the model

       What are customers expecting?

       Customers’ expectations

       Standardized cabin amenities

       What is customer service?

       Tangible customer service

       Service delivery system

       Intangible customer service

       Who are the customers?

       Internal customers

       Intermediate customers

       External customers

       Customer service in the airline industry

       The importance of customer service in the airline business

       Ambassadors vs. complainers

       Satisfied customers vs. loyal customers

       Summary

       Applying the knowledge

       Endnotes

      Learning Objectives

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

       Understand the nature of airline businesses

       Recognize airline customers’ hierarchy of needs

       Understand customers’ expectations

       Identify tangible and intangible customer services

       Identify an airline’s internal and external customers

Airline and its nature of business

During the development of the aviation industry in the early 20th century, an airline was a transportation company that offered transportation service to the customers by air. Air transport was not common at that time as people were afraid of flying due to the many accidents that had occurred. The general public still preferred to take trains and ships for long-distance travel. The main goal of an airline in the early years was to carry customers from one place to another place safely. With the low market demand, the majority of airlines at that time were either established by the government or partially funded by the government. According to the report of Airbus Commercial Aviation Accident 1958–2015, the number of accidents decreased steadily over time.1 As the industry became mature with improved technology, air travel has also become the safest mode of travel. Today, air travel is one of the most important transportation systems in the world.

      Figure 1-1: Airbus—A Statistical Analysis of Commercial Aviation Accidents 1958–2015 (Source: Airbus).

      An airline is similar to an ordinary business in the service industry; the majority of the profits are from customers. After the deregulation of the airline industry in the 1970s, governments minimized