Dimensions of Service Quality at United Flight
Added on 2023-06-03
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DIMENSIONS OF SERVICE QUALITY 1
The Dimensions of Service Quality at the United Flight
Name:
Institution:
The Dimensions of Service Quality at the United Flight
Name:
Institution:
DIMENSIONS OF SERVICE QUALITY 2
Introduction
The provision of quality service is one of the major objectives of business entities in the
service sector. There are numerous dimensions that contribute to effective service delivery. In
this report, we, therefore, examine the five dimensions of quality service in relation to the United
Flight 3411 in which four passengers were forcefully ejected from the flight as it was established
that their seat was required to enable four crews to fly to Louisville to avert an understaffing
crisis. We also examine some of the root causes of the emergent challenges that the company is
facing in regards to service quality, using the root-cause fishbone analysis model. The model is
instructive in unveiling the primary as well as the secondary caused of the incident.
The Dimensions of Service Quality
The five dimensions of service quality include tangibles, reliability, responsiveness,
assurance, and empathy. Kenyon & Sen, (2015) argues that not all of these dimensions of service
quality are of equal importance as there are some that are of more value than others.
Yannacopoulos, Manolitzas, Matsatsinis, & Grigoroudis, (2014) note that companies need to
point out the service dimensions that are more significant than others so that they can avoid
majoring in the minors. As Rotarius, (2013) and Ghorbani, (2014) point out, it is also imperative
that companies do not just focus on one of the dimensions as this will negatively affect the other
ones.
The first dimension of service quality is tangibility. According to Parasuraman, Zeithaml,
& Berry, (1988) tangibles include the appearance of the staff, physical facilities and the
equipment. The tangibles, in this case, were the boarding seat, which the bone of contention after
Dr. Dao refused to un-board voluntarily and thus had to be physically removed from the plane.
Introduction
The provision of quality service is one of the major objectives of business entities in the
service sector. There are numerous dimensions that contribute to effective service delivery. In
this report, we, therefore, examine the five dimensions of quality service in relation to the United
Flight 3411 in which four passengers were forcefully ejected from the flight as it was established
that their seat was required to enable four crews to fly to Louisville to avert an understaffing
crisis. We also examine some of the root causes of the emergent challenges that the company is
facing in regards to service quality, using the root-cause fishbone analysis model. The model is
instructive in unveiling the primary as well as the secondary caused of the incident.
The Dimensions of Service Quality
The five dimensions of service quality include tangibles, reliability, responsiveness,
assurance, and empathy. Kenyon & Sen, (2015) argues that not all of these dimensions of service
quality are of equal importance as there are some that are of more value than others.
Yannacopoulos, Manolitzas, Matsatsinis, & Grigoroudis, (2014) note that companies need to
point out the service dimensions that are more significant than others so that they can avoid
majoring in the minors. As Rotarius, (2013) and Ghorbani, (2014) point out, it is also imperative
that companies do not just focus on one of the dimensions as this will negatively affect the other
ones.
The first dimension of service quality is tangibility. According to Parasuraman, Zeithaml,
& Berry, (1988) tangibles include the appearance of the staff, physical facilities and the
equipment. The tangibles, in this case, were the boarding seat, which the bone of contention after
Dr. Dao refused to un-board voluntarily and thus had to be physically removed from the plane.
DIMENSIONS OF SERVICE QUALITY 3
Essentially, it is the limitation of the physical resources of the flight that brought about the
incident. Mok, Spark, & Kadampully, (2013) argues that even though this dimension is normally
considered as the least important of them all, it is still a significant component. Verma, (2008)
notes that companies strive to ensure that the appearance of their employees is good, including
their equipment and their working stations. However, as Kandampully, (2012) notes this
dimension fails to hold when reliability and responsiveness are not adequately addressed. The
ten-point plan that was developed after the incident sought to address this through stipulating that
they will ensure that the crews board the flight about an hour before the departure.
Reliability is the second service of service quality. According to Parasuraman, Zeithaml,
& Berry, (1988) reliability denotes the ability of the business entity to undertake the promised
service accurately and dependable. The passenger boarding the United Flight 3411 expected a
comfortable flight that would take them to Louisville, Kentucky in a timely manner. Dr. Dao
himself had appointments to catch with his patients the next day, which was a Sunday. Missing
the flight, as he eventually did, meant that he had to inconvenience his patients, thereby making
United Flight both unreliable and inaccurate in this case. Notably, this is the most important
dimension of quality, according to Mohapatra, Ganesh, Punniyamoorthy, & Susmitha, (2018)
who argues that customers need to be sure about their service providers; that is highly important
to be reliable rather than have sophisticated equipment. In recognition of this service quality,
United Flight captures its relevance in the ten-point plan outlines that the airline will not require
passengers who have already taken their seats on the plane to give them up involuntarily unless
security or safety is at risk. The company also pledged to reduce the amount of overbooking,
develop an automated system through which they will solicit for volunteers to change their travel
plan and do away with the red tape regarding the loss of bags or luggage.
Essentially, it is the limitation of the physical resources of the flight that brought about the
incident. Mok, Spark, & Kadampully, (2013) argues that even though this dimension is normally
considered as the least important of them all, it is still a significant component. Verma, (2008)
notes that companies strive to ensure that the appearance of their employees is good, including
their equipment and their working stations. However, as Kandampully, (2012) notes this
dimension fails to hold when reliability and responsiveness are not adequately addressed. The
ten-point plan that was developed after the incident sought to address this through stipulating that
they will ensure that the crews board the flight about an hour before the departure.
Reliability is the second service of service quality. According to Parasuraman, Zeithaml,
& Berry, (1988) reliability denotes the ability of the business entity to undertake the promised
service accurately and dependable. The passenger boarding the United Flight 3411 expected a
comfortable flight that would take them to Louisville, Kentucky in a timely manner. Dr. Dao
himself had appointments to catch with his patients the next day, which was a Sunday. Missing
the flight, as he eventually did, meant that he had to inconvenience his patients, thereby making
United Flight both unreliable and inaccurate in this case. Notably, this is the most important
dimension of quality, according to Mohapatra, Ganesh, Punniyamoorthy, & Susmitha, (2018)
who argues that customers need to be sure about their service providers; that is highly important
to be reliable rather than have sophisticated equipment. In recognition of this service quality,
United Flight captures its relevance in the ten-point plan outlines that the airline will not require
passengers who have already taken their seats on the plane to give them up involuntarily unless
security or safety is at risk. The company also pledged to reduce the amount of overbooking,
develop an automated system through which they will solicit for volunteers to change their travel
plan and do away with the red tape regarding the loss of bags or luggage.
DIMENSIONS OF SERVICE QUALITY 4
The third measure of service quality is responsiveness. Davis, (2003) argues that
responsiveness is normally indicated by the willing of the company’s staff to help their customer
and prompt them to use the service. The United Flight 3411 had to take their crew on board that
Saturday because they were needed to discharge their duties on an understaffed flight that would
be departing Louisville later on. This meant that they had on-board some four passengers to
create space for the crew and the company, therefore, offered a financial incentive to the
passengers who had already boarded. The company offered the passengers who would
voluntarily agree to give up their seat a compensation package of $ 400 in terms of flight
vouchers that were then increased to about $1000. The passengers did not take the offer partly
because it was announced after they boarded and settled down for the flight. Therefore, when
that approach failed United Flight staff resorted to the Denied Boarding Regulation which allows
airlines to deny flights to passengers. The airline did not specify the criteria that used to
determine the passenger that was forcefully ejected and in spite of Dr. Dao telling them that he
needed to see his patient and couldn’t, therefore, miss the flight, the staff did not take that into
account. Therefore, the fact that United Flight was not responsive to the needs and concerns of
Dr. Dao and also the other passengers who were bumped off makes the company unresponsive.
Chowdhary & Saraswat, (2007) argues that responsiveness is denoted by immediacy, quick
response, and promptness to the concerns or queries of the customers. In the ten-point plan,
United Flight sought to enhance its responsiveness through establishing a customer solution team
to work on the provision of creative solutions for such incidents. The plan for developing the
automated system through which customers will be solicited to volunteer changing their travel
plan is also geared towards enhancing responsiveness.
The third measure of service quality is responsiveness. Davis, (2003) argues that
responsiveness is normally indicated by the willing of the company’s staff to help their customer
and prompt them to use the service. The United Flight 3411 had to take their crew on board that
Saturday because they were needed to discharge their duties on an understaffed flight that would
be departing Louisville later on. This meant that they had on-board some four passengers to
create space for the crew and the company, therefore, offered a financial incentive to the
passengers who had already boarded. The company offered the passengers who would
voluntarily agree to give up their seat a compensation package of $ 400 in terms of flight
vouchers that were then increased to about $1000. The passengers did not take the offer partly
because it was announced after they boarded and settled down for the flight. Therefore, when
that approach failed United Flight staff resorted to the Denied Boarding Regulation which allows
airlines to deny flights to passengers. The airline did not specify the criteria that used to
determine the passenger that was forcefully ejected and in spite of Dr. Dao telling them that he
needed to see his patient and couldn’t, therefore, miss the flight, the staff did not take that into
account. Therefore, the fact that United Flight was not responsive to the needs and concerns of
Dr. Dao and also the other passengers who were bumped off makes the company unresponsive.
Chowdhary & Saraswat, (2007) argues that responsiveness is denoted by immediacy, quick
response, and promptness to the concerns or queries of the customers. In the ten-point plan,
United Flight sought to enhance its responsiveness through establishing a customer solution team
to work on the provision of creative solutions for such incidents. The plan for developing the
automated system through which customers will be solicited to volunteer changing their travel
plan is also geared towards enhancing responsiveness.
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