Analysis of United Airlines Service Failure

This report analyzes the service failure of United Airlines, exploring the background of the scandal, service quality theories related to the scandal, and the quality of customer service at United Airlines. Recommendations are also provided.

Analysis of United Airlines Service Failure 1
Analysis of United Airlines Service Failure
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Analysis of United Airlines Service Failure 2
Executive Summary
Big companies such as United Airlines may fail to perform simply because they do not
follow all dimension of quality service. Recently, United Airlines created a bad public image
after forcefully ejecting one of the clients simply because the plane was full and that the client,
who had booked the same plane was not willing to wait for another plane. This is a symptom of
poor-quality service. Using appropriate service quality, the report will explore why United
Airlines failed to do the right thing.

Analysis of United Airlines Service Failure 3
Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................4
Analysis...................................................................................................................................................4
Brief background of the United Airline scandal......................................................................................4
Service quality theories related to the scandal.........................................................................................5
Quality of customer service at United Airlines........................................................................................7
Recommendations.......................................................................................................................................8
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................8
References...................................................................................................................................................9

Analysis of United Airlines Service Failure 4
Introduction
One of the recent companies that have experienced the negative consequences of service
failure is United Airlines. The company had to forcefully eject one of the passengers because the
plane was full and the passenger was adamant to wait for another plane or to change the means.
The move taken by United Airlines is just a reflection of reality of how most airplanes operate.
The companies seek to operate at maximum capacity, since on flights there is a ratio of
passengers who do not show up. Using appropriate service quality theories, I will demonstrate
what exactly went wrong in terms of service deliverance by the United Airlines.
Analysis
The section will focus on the background of the scandal, quality service theories related to the
scandal and the quality of customer service at United Airlines
Brief background of the United Airline scandal
The scandal over the expulsion by force of a passenger of a United flight has put in doubt
again a model as millionaire as controversial (Victor and Stevens, 2017). Simplifying, with
overbooking airlines sell more tickets than the seats they have available. They do so with the
premise of operating at maximum capacity, since on flights there is a ratio of passengers who do
not show up. And leaving a seat free is losing an opportunity to earn money. It should be noted
that airline companies have complicated calculation systems to predict how many passengers
will not be presented to flights, always based on previous data. That is, statistics is pulled. It
takes more advantage of overbooking in cities where passengers have it easier to find travel
alternatives if they run out of seats. For example, in Madrid, where there are 'B options' such as
the AVE, the train or the bus to get to the rest of Spain. In addition, in most cases different

Analysis of United Airlines Service Failure 5
airlines compete on the same routes, so you can also buy a ticket at another company with which
you were flying (The Guardian 2017). Another example is Chicago, where the flight of discord
came from. It is a United hub, so there are many connections from other flights. As flights arrive
late, many lose their connections. United seizes and sells more tickets on flights departing from
that point. Prediction models are getting better and better (The Guardian 2017). It is known,
among other things, that on Sundays people usually show up because they do not want to be late
to work on Mondays. And it is known that in smaller airports and with few alternatives all tend
to be presented. So, you are playing with those premises to know where or when to sell more. In
2016, according to data from the Department of Transportation cited by Business Insider, some
475,000 passengers had to leave their flights in the United States when they were ready to fly.
40,629 did so involuntarily (Schacht and Levett, 2017). United removed 3,765 passengers
involuntarily in 2016 , yielding a ratio of 0.43 passengers in 10,000. But airlines must also pay a
price for this strategy. It is what is intended to compensate those who suffer overbooking,
although it is still a very small part of what they earn selling more tickets. Bloomberg reports that
as much they will have to pay about 1,200 euros if they have to take a passenger out of a flight,
so they can recover the amount quickly with overbooking (Schacht and Levett, 2017).
Service quality theories related to the scandal
While United Airlines and other airlines companies are intending to serve the “most
needy” customers as a way of improving their services, they end up disproportionately
inconveniencing the few customers who may have urgent need but the scarcity of resources
forces them to postpone the urgency of their needs. Different service quality theories do not
support the approach used by United Airlines. In order to incorporate different perspectives,
Garvin (1984) highlights eight dimensions of quality as a frame of reference for the analysis of

Analysis of United Airlines Service Failure 6
strategic planning: Performance characteristics (Tavana, 2012) ; reliability, which is determined
by the probability of a malfunction; attachment, which is determined by the ability to meet
specifications; durability (Bolton & Drew, 1991); aspects of the service, which is determined by
speed, courtesy, competence and ease of correcting problems; esthetic and perceived quality.
Although this perspective is notoriously biased towards objective quality, Lovelock (1996,
p.464) asserts that it has generalizable value for services, but requires a different approach to
measuring service quality due to its distinctive nature.
From a pragmatic perspective, United Airlines failed to meet all dimension of service
quality. Talbot (2010) establishes five levels of evaluation of the performance of an organization
according to the satisfaction obtained (comparison of expectations). The majority of clients use,
according to Talbot (2010), five dimensions to carry out this evaluation. The first dimension is
reliability. It is the capacity that the company that provides the service must have to offer it in a
reliable, safe and careful way. Overbooking is an indication that the United Airlines does not
offer reliable services (Talbot, 2010). The second dimension is the security. United Airlines
violated this dimension. According to this dimension, a company should not only the care of the
client's interests is important, but the organization must also demonstrate its concern in this
regard to give the client greater satisfaction. The third dimension is the responsiveness. It refers
to the attitude shown to help customers and to provide fast service; also part of this point is
timely compliance with the commitments made, as well as how accessible the organization is for
the client, that is, the possibilities of getting in touch with it and the feasibility of achieving it.
The fourth dimension is empathy (Svenson, 2001). It means the willingness of the company to
offer customers personalized care and attention. United Airlines did not meet this dimension
because under this dimension, good service requires a strong commitment and involvement with

Analysis of United Airlines Service Failure 7
the client, knowing in depth their characteristics and their specific requirements. The fifth
dimension is intangibility (Mcgrath & Bates, 2017). Although there is intangibility in the service,
in itself it is intangible, it is important to consider some aspects that derive from said
intangibility: the services can not be kept in inventory; if the service production capacity is not
used in its entirety, it is lost forever. The last dimension is human interaction (Mayer, Bowen &
Moulton, 2003). To provide service it is necessary to establish a contact between the
organization and the client. It is a relationship in which the client participates in the development
of the service.
Quality of customer service at United Airlines
United Airlines has poor customer service. Customer service involves task-oriented
activities, other than proactive sales, that include interactions with clients in person, through
telecommunications or by mail (Lovelock, 1990, p.491). By adding the above to the definition of
service itself, a definition can be proposed for customer service and additionally establish the
means and their purpose (Denton, 1989). The basic objective is to improve the experiences that
the client has with the service of the organization. It is necessary to note the importance of
Lovelock's proposal, but it should be clarified that this is part of the management of the quality
of the service and, therefore, of the implementation of integrated quality management systems (a
more strategic than operational approach) (Diamantopoulos, 2005).
What United Airlines did is not in line with what a quality service should be like as per
the Nordic model (Grönroos, 1978). According to the model, the quality perceived by clients is
the integration of technical quality (what is given) and functional quality (how it is given), and
these are related to the corporate image (Grönroos, 1978). The image is a basic element to
measure the perceived quality.

Analysis of United Airlines Service Failure 8
Recommendations
One of the best recommendations for United Airlines is to focus on client needs. As
suggested by Nordic model, the client is influenced by the result of the service, but also by the
way he receives it and the corporate image (Grönroos, 1978). All this transversally studies the
differences between expected service and perception of the service.
Another recommendation for United Airlines is to offer realistic expectation.
Overbooking is not good. Unrealistic expectations contrasted with good experienced quality can
lead to a low perceived total quality. Similarly unrealistic expectations may hinder reliability and
hence violate what Talbot (2010) termed as a central dimension of service quality
The other recommendation for United Airlines is to restore corporate image. The quality
experience is influenced by the corporate / local image and, in turn, by two different
components: technical quality and functional quality (Grönroos, 1978). The technical quality
focuses on a technically correct service and that leads to an acceptable result.
Conclusion
From the analysis, it is apparent that United Airlines violated the key dimension of
service quality. Although overbooking was a way to ensure that all clients are gathered for,
United Airlines exceeded the expectation. In addition, the company could have negotiated with
the client rather than forcefully throwing him out.

Analysis of United Airlines Service Failure 9
References
Bolton, RN, & Drew, JH (1991) A multistage model of customers' assessments of service quality
and value. Journal of Consumer Research, 17 (4), pp. 375-384.
Denton, DK (1989) Quality service : How America's top companies are competing in the
customer service revolution ... and how we can too . Houston Texas, USA: Gulf Publishing
Company.
Diamantopoulos, A (2005) The C-OARSE procedure for scale development in marketing: A
comment. International Journal of Research in Marketing , 22, 1-9.
Grönroos, C (1978) A Service Oriented Approach to Marketing of Services. European Journal
of Marketing , 12 (8), 588-601.
Lovelock, CH (1983) Classifying Services to Gain Strategic Marketing Insights. Journal of
Marketing, 47, pp.9-20.
Mayer, KJ, Bowen, JT & Moulton, MR (2003) A model of the descriptors of service process. In
Journal of Services Marketing , 17 (6), 621-639.
Mcgrath, J., & Bates, B. (2017). The little book of big management theories...and how to use
them. Harlow : Pearson Business
Schacht, K and Levett, C (2017) Passengers removed from overbooked flights on US airlines –
in data, The Guardian, Available from:
https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2017/apr/14/passengers-removed-from-
overbooked-flights-on-us-airlines-in-data [Accessed on 10/6/18]

Analysis of United Airlines Service Failure 10
Svenson, G (2001) The quality of bi-directional service quality in dyadic service encounter.
Journal of Services Marketing, 15 (5), 357- 378.
Talbot, C (2010) Theories of performance organizational and service improvement in the public
domain. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
http://cmich.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://lib.myilibrary.com/detail.asp?ID=290450. [Accessed
on 10/6/18]
Tavana, M (2012) Decision making theories and practices from analysis to strategy. Hershey,
PA, Business Science Reference. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10553311. [Accessed on 10/6/18]
The Guardian (2017) Overbooked seats: it’s a bad way for airlines to do business, The Guardian,
Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/17/overbooked-seats-its-a-bad-
way-for-airlines-to-do-business [Accessed on 10/6/18]
Victor, D and Stevens, M (2017) United Airlines Passenger Is Dragged From an Overbooked
Flight, The New York Times, Available from:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/10/business/united-flight-passenger-dragged.html [Accessed
on 10/6/18]