Quality Management in Aviation Industry

2
Quality Management in Aviation Industry

[Yusra Anwar-4592736] [Noor Ul Huda S Hussein-4601695] [Khulood Moosa-4559216] [Fatima Faris-4575271]
Abstract
In this paper, we try to explore the concept of Quality Management in a holistic context. Quality is one of the sources of competitive advantage in todays business. Quality in aviation is linked to wide range of security issues and no other production industry raises such big interest of spectators, as the aviation industry does. The most important quality improvement factors are seen as top management commitment, customer satisfaction, common vision, corporates culture changes. Most important reasons for setting up quality programs are strategic issues, cost control or reduction, customer retention and quality initiatives of competitors.
Quality Management in Aviation Industry 1
Introduction
In todays competitive environment, airlines and airport realizes the importance of customer experiences and their satisfaction. Airlines owners and stakeholders have over the year shifted their focus from lager and faster equipments to awareness in addressing customer wants. Airlines have realized that quality in passenger experience co-relates directly with aerodrome security and emergence response capabilities in expanding revenues. This chapter reviews the concept of quality by accessing the various definitions and views of the different authors. A general frame-work of what quality is all about and is discussed under the various elements of quality. The literature looks at the concepts of service quality and how its been accessed by organization and customers. It will also talks about the various quality awards that are awarded to airlines achieving the highest Quality performance.
2.1 Literature Review

2.1.1 Quality Philosophies
To fully understand the Quality Management movement we need to study about the philosophies that shaped the evolution of quality management and the teachings that have contributed to our knowledge and understanding today. Quality Management in Aviation Industry 3
Table1: Timeline showing the differences between old and new concepts of quality.
Quality Management has numerous definitions, various theorists of the total quality management discipline like Walter, Deming, Juran, Genichi Taguchi, Crosby, Ishikawa and Feigenbaum defined the concept in different ways which are discussed below in detail:
Table2: Quality Gurus and their contributions.
Walter A. Shewhart
Was a statistician at Bell Labs during the 1920s and 1930s. Shewhart studied randomness and recognized that variability existed in all manufacturing processes. He developed quality control charts that are used to identify whether the variability in the process is random or due to an assignable cause, such as poor workers or miscalibrated machinery. He stressed that eliminating variability improves quality. His work created the foundation for todays statistical process control, and he is often referred to as the grandfather of quality control.
W. Edwards Deming
W. Edwards
Deming offered 14 key principles for management to follow for significantly improving the effectiveness of a business or organization. 1. Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive and to stay in business, and to provide jobs. 2. Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. Western management must awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership for change. Quality Management in Aviation Industry 3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for inspection on a mass basis by building quality into the product in the first place. 4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag. Instead, minimize total cost. Move toward a single supplier for any one item, on a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust. 5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease costs. 6. Institute training on the job. 7. Institute leadership. The aim of supervision should be to help people and machines and gadgets to do a better job. Supervision of management is in need of overhaul, as well as supervision of production workers. 8. Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company. 9. Break down barriers between departments. People in research, design, sales, and production must work as a team, to foresee problems of production and in use that may be encountered with the product or service.
10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force asking for zero defects and new levels of productivity. Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships, as the bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus lie beyond the power of the work force. Eliminate work standards (quotas) on the factory floor. Substitute leadership. Eliminate management by objective. Eliminate management by numbers, numerical goals. Substitute leadership.
11. Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to pride of workmanship. The responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality. 12. Remove barriers that rob people in management and in engineering of their right to pride of workmanship. This means, inter alia, abolishment of the annual or merit rating and of management by objective. 13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement. 14. Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. The transformation is everybody's job.
Joseph M. Juran
Quality Management in Aviation Industry Dr. Juran has left us with many important methods and tools during his years as was the leading expert in the field of Quality Management. In his contribution included principles like the Pareto Principle and tools like the Pareto Analysis. Dr. Juran highlighted that we must balance the attention and give importance to the tools we use in order to manage Quality. The Juran trilogy is made up of three important tools and they work together to help organization to realize the full benefits of Quality Management. Dr. Juran trilogy represents the concepts of Quality Planning, Quality Control and Quality Improvement. In the language of Six Sigma the concept of Quality Planning, Quality Control and Quality Improvement are called as DMADV and DMAIC.
Juran have referred to these processes as universal. These processes represent the sequences of events to effectively Plan, Control and Improve Quality and these processes have been used widely in all industries around the globe.The use of the trilogy processes within an organization typically begins with Quality Improvement. This is because the economic cost of poor quality have a significant negative financial impact on an organization when expressed in bottom line terms. Quality improvement necessitates that we identify projects for process improvements. We need to define the process problem, then follow the diagnostic route to determine the root causes, complete the remedial journey to discover the root causes, complete the remedial journey to apply remedies and use the Quality Control process to hold the improvements. The Quality Control process is the last step and identifies mandatory process control measures that relate to meeting customer and process requirement. The Control Plan defines how these measures are scrutinized and managed. In the Trilogy the journey towards quality leadership is not concluded until the trilogy of process is completely integrated within the organization, there are many organization which fails in their pursuit of quality leadership and it necessitates the organization to learn and simultaneously use the Quality Planning process. Quality Planning is applied to the products, service design and development, as well as process design. This process is initiated with a project design, to design something new. It further flows from identifying customers and their needs, followed by defining the product/service design features, then creating the process designs, and the process control plans. Poor quality planning is the source of costs of poor quality. If the sources of poor planning
are not addressed, the organization will continue to produce quality problems in the future and the goal of quality leadership cannot be recognized. So whether the organization is at the initial stage of its quality journey or has only moderately integrated the Juran Trilogy of quality processes, learn about the importance of how these processes work together so that the benefits of quality leadership can be comprehended.
Armand. V. Feigenbaum
Dr. Armand V. Feigenbaum devised the concept of Total Quality Control, he outline the principles in 40steps and adopted a total system approach to quality, the idea of a work environment where quality developments are assimilated in the entire organization, where the management and employees have a total commitment to enhance quality and people learn from each others success and this philosophy was adapted by Japanese and termed as Company Wide Quality Control.
10
Phillip B. Corsby
Phillip B. Corsby was a legend in the discipline of quality who contributed to management theory and quality management practices. Zero Defects, pioneered by Philip Crosby, is a business practice which aims to reduce and minimize the number of defects and errors in a process and to do things right in the first time. The ultimate aim will be to reduce the level of defect to zero, however this may not be possible all the time as it means that everything possible will be done to eliminate the probability of errors or defects occurring. The overall effect of achieving zero defect in the maximization of profitability. The concept of zero defects can be used in any situation to improve quality and reduce cost, however the right conditions have to be established to allow this to take place. A process, system or method of working has to be established which allows for the achievement of zero defects. Quality Management in Aviation Industry 11
Kaoru Ishikawa
Kaoru Ishikawa was an organizational theorist and was noted for his quality management innovation, he was best known for his diagram which looked like the bones of a fish and it was a widely used tool for a group to organize its understanding of the causes of variation in the outcome of their work. Common uses of the Ishikawa diagrams are product design and quality defect prevention which is to recognize the potential factors causing an overall effect. Each cause or reason for faultiness is a source of variation. Causes are usually categorized to identify the sources of variation. The category comprises of the below: People: Anyone involved with the process Methods: How the process is performed and the specific requirements for doing it, such as policies, procedures, rules, regulations and laws Machines: Any equipment, computers, tools, etc. required to accomplish the job Materials: Raw materials, parts, pens, paper, etc. used to produce the final product Measurements: Data generated from the process that are used to evaluate its quality Environment: The conditions, such as location, time, temperature, and culture in which the process operates Causes and effect diagram reveals a key relationship among various variables and the possible causes to provide additional insight into process behavior. Causes are derived from brainstorming sessions. These groups are then
12
labeled as per the categories of fishbone. Causes can be traced back to roots causes with the 5 Whys technique. Typical categories are: The 6 Ms (used in manufacturing industry) Machine (technology) Method (process) Material (Includes Raw Material, Consumables and Information.) Man Power (physical work)/Mind Power (brain work): Kaizens, Suggestions Measurement (Inspection) Milieu/Mother Nature (Environment) The 7 Ps (used in marketing industry) Product/Service Price Place Promotion People/personnel Positioning Packaging The 5 Ss (used in service industry) Samples Scheme Synchronous Skin. Search
Genichi Taguchi
Taguchi developed an approach for applying statistic to enhance the quality and reduce the cost of the manufactured goods. Taguchi stressed that companies must emphasize on their quality efforts on the design stage than later during the production process. Quality Management in Aviation Industry The five important highlights of the Taguchi quality philosophies are as below: In a competitive market environment, continual quality improvements and cost reductions are essential for the survival of business. A vital measurement of the quality of a manufactured product is the total loss generated by that product to the society. Change the pre-production experimental technique from varying one factor at a time to varying many factors concurrently (SDE), so that quality can be built into the product and the process. The customer's loss due to poor quality is approximately proportional to the square of the deviation of the performance characteristic from its target or nominal value. Taguchi changes the objectives of the experiments and the definition of quality from "achieving conformance to specifications" to "achieving the target and minimising the variability. A product (or service) performance variation can be reduced by examining the non-linear effects of factors (parameters) on the performance characteristics. Any deviation from a target leads to poor quality.
14
2.1.2
Framework and Methodology
Lean Six Sigma

Lean Six Sigma is a conventional managerial approach to achieving operational excellence and it does more than simply improve processes. It helps leaders to discover opportunities far beyond operations, improve financial performance, identify the root cause of obstacle to successful operations and create organization that has inherent inclination towards innovation. Lean Six Sigma is an amalgamation of Lean approaches and Six Sigma methodologies. Lean is a systematic approach to eradicating waste from processes to add value to the service from the customer point of view, while Six Sigma mainly focusses on improving service quality through eliminating the causes of defects and reducing the process variation. Over the years Lean and Six Sigma have evolved and is commonly referred as Lean Six Sigma at its core
A theoretical framework can be defined as a theoretical model of how one makes logical sense of the relationship among the several factors that have been considered vital to the issue (Sekeran, 2003). Causes and variables are essential part of elements used in the research. Methodology discusses anything that has to do with procedures or techniques of analysis. Methodology is essential in gathering relevant information thereby giving effective and reliable representation.
it focuses on the Voice of the Customer- understanding and satisfying their needs and expectations to achieve competitive benefits over competitors. The Lean Six Sigma approach focuses on the important matters i.e. the passenger experience. It enables the stakeholder to establish a shared vision of enhancing the passenger experience leading to systematic reviews of processes such as queue times, baggage claim waiting and provision of flight information.
DMAIC
Lean Six Sigma uses the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control (DMAIC) problem solving framework. Define: To state problem in the eyes of the customer Measure: To understand and baseline the current performance. Analyze: To find the root of the problem together with statistical analysis, understand and quantify their effects on current performance. Improve: To implement the changes required to enhance performance. Control: To ensure that the benefits obtained from enhancement initiatives are sustained.
16
Lean Six Sigma Tools

Using Lean Sigma tools and techniques new measures can be implemented at immigration control, security screening and baggage handling resulting in greater efficiency an improved passenger experience. Some of the widely tools are as below: Process Mapping: It produces an end to end illustration about all the part of the process and depicts how a process actually works not how it should work and bring clarity to what is happening and discloses the non-value adding activities. Cause and Effect Diagrams: They resemble the shape of a fishbone where the head represents the effect and the bone shows the possible causes. Statistical Analysis: There are number of statistical analysis tool and techniques that can be used from creating performance base-line to quantifying the benefits of change initiative. Quality Management in Aviation Industry 17
The European framework the EFQM Excellence Model

European Foundation for Quality Managements Excellence Model was promoted in U.K as the Business Excellence by the British Quality Foundation (BQF) for the organizations to improve their business performances and measure themselves against the world class standards and emphasize on the customers. The below model can be used as business-wide framework in holistic and practical way (Porter and Tanner, 1996). It recognizes the processes which are the means by which an organization harnesses and releases the talents they are the enablers that produces the results. Therefore customer results, people results and society results are achieved through leadership driving policy-strategy, people, partnerships- resources and processes, which lead to excellence in key performance results
18
Table 3: Relationship between Enablers and Results
The enabler are concerned with the organizational approaches towards Excellence: Leadership: The driver which gives directions to the business objectives and it is concerned of how top management inspire and drive total quality management and support a culture of Excellence Policy and Strategy: The firms policy reflects the concept of Total Quality and this principle is used to determine improvement strategy. People: This involves how the company harnesses the potential of employees to improve the business. Partnership and Resources It involves how the company resources are disbursed to support quality. Processes: The efficient managing of processes to ensure that business objectives of value creation are achieved. The result criteria of the model concentrates that if organizations have achieved and is achieving for all its stakeholders: Customer Results: This is the external perception of the services of the organization. The evaluation is done via the surveys and interviews. Loyalty and market share are the measures. People Results: The employees perception of the organization and the employees should be adequately surveyed with ideas such as team briefing and incorporation of the suggestion schemes. Society Results: The society and the local community perception and result that have been achieved relating to community and environmental concern. Key Performance Results: What is organization achieving in relation to its planned performance?
Demings PDCA
PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) also known as Deming circle/cycle/wheel or the Shewhart cycle is a four step management tool for carrying out change, as the circle has no end the PDCA cycle should be repeated for continuous improvement. W. Edward Deming in 1950 suggested that business processes should be analyzed and measured to identify sources of variation that causes the product to deviate from customer requirements. He recommended that business process should be placed in a continuous feedback loop so that managers can identify and change the part of process that needs improvement. Demings PDCA can be demonstrated as below: Step1-Plan: Firstly we need to identify the problem, upon identification of the problem its appropriate to map the process i.e. at the root of the problem. Next, draw any other information that will assist us to sketch out the solutions. Step2-DO: This phase involve a list of activities: Generate possible resolutions. Select the best of these resolutions. Implement project on a small scale basis, with a small group, or in a limited area, or using some other trial design appropriate to the nature of your problem, product or initiative. Step3-Check: In this phase the effectiveness of the pilot solution is measured. Depending on the success of the pilot, the number of areas for improvement
20
have been identified, the scope of the initiative, you may decide to repeat the "Do" and "Check" phases, incorporating the additional improvements. Step4-Act: Now its time to implement the solution. The use of PDCA cycle doesnt necessarily stop. He PDCA wheel is a part of continuous improvement initiative and one needs to loop back to the Phase-1 and seek out the further areas of improvement.
RADAR Matrix
The Radar Matrix is used for analysis of organizational performance and its applied in the EFQM model. The RADAR (Results, Approach, Deploy, Assess and Refine) logic provides a structured approach to the performance of and organization. It also supports the scoring mechanism behind the European Excellence Award and other recognition or assessment schemes that can help to lead change and manage improvement of the projects in an organization RADAR is an acronym for five interrelated phases: results, approach, deploy, assess and refine. Below are the simplified definitions of each phase: Determine the Results it is aiming to achieve as part of its strategy. Plan and develop an integrated set of sound Approaches to deliver the required results both now and in the future. Deploy the approaches in a systematic way to ensure implementation. Assess and Refine the deployed approaches based on monitoring and analysis of the results achieved and ongoing learning activities. Quality Management in Aviation Industry 21
Total Quality Management (TQM)

It stressed upon using multi-functional teams in order to solve the problems. The teams are trained to use the statistical tools to collect and analyze data.
Pareto diagrams
A Pareto chart is a bar graph. The lengths of the bars depicts the frequency or cost, it is arranged with longest bars on the left and the shortest to the right. The chart therefore depicts the situation which are more significant.
Histograms
It is defined as frequency distribution that shows how often different value in a set of data occurs. A histogram is widely used graph t show frequency distributions. It looks like a bar chart however there are important differences between them.
22
Flow charts
A flow chart is a pictorial representation of the different steps of a process in sequential order. This is a generic tool that can be adapted for various purposes for example: a manufacturing process, an administrative or service process, or project plan.
Cause and effect diagrams

The fishbone diagram identifies many possible causes for an effect or problem. This can be used to structure a brainstorming session as it instantly sorts ideas into useful categories.
Force field analysis

Force field analysis is a simple tool which is used to understand both positive and negative drivers that can influence change. Through this understanding, you can leverage the positive drivers and reduce the negative drivers, which results in the creation of the desired change or outcome.
Scatter diagrams
The scatter diagram graphs depicts the pairs of numerical data, with one variable on each axis, to look for a relationship between them. If the variables are correlated, the points will fall along a line or curve. The better the correlation, the tighter the points will hug the line.
24
2.1.3
Standards
ISO (International Standard Organization)

The ISO 9000 series helps the company to satisfy its customer, meet the regulatory requirements and achieve continual improvement. The ISO 9000:2008 series of standards are based on eight quality management principles that senior management can apply for organizational improvements. 1. Customer focus 2. Leadership 3. Involvement of people 4. Process Approach 5. System approach to management 6. Continual Improvement 7. Factual approach to decision-making 8. Mutually beneficial supplier relationship The international quality management standard for aerospace industry (AS9100) was released in November 1999. AS9100 in the International Aerospace Industry Quality Management Standard. It is specifically designed for the aerospace industry in a concentrated effort to improve quality and assure the integrity of supplies to the industry.
A standard can be defined as a document that highlights the requirements, specifications, guidelines and characteristic which is used to ensure that we: Achieve, maintain and continuously improve the service quality. Improve the quality of the operations in order to meet customers and stakeholders needs. Provide assurance to internal management, employees, customers and stakeholder that quality requirements are satisfied. Below are the various quality standards on the basis of which quality management systems are built in the aviation industry.
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI)

The ANSI is a private non-profit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, system and personnel in the United States. Quality Management in Aviation Industry This organization also co-ordinates US standards with international standards so that American products can be used worldwide. The ANSI has represented the needs and views of US stakeholders in standardization forum around the globe. ANSI does not write standards rather it accredits them as it establishes consensus among qualified groups. Its a guiding principle that are followed by the 220 distinct entities currently accredited to develop and maintain 10,000 American National Standards. The Institutes comprises of a broad range of business and industrial organization standards setting and conformity assessment bodies, trade organization, trade associations, labor unions, professional societies, consumer groups, academia, and government organizations for the purpose of improving global business competitiveness and improving the quality of life for the world's citizens. The interests of more than 125,000 companies and 3.5 million professionals are represented through ANSI's headquarters in Washington, DC, and its operations office in New York City.
26
International Air Transport Association

IATA is an international industry trade group of airlines headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The executive office are at the Geneva Airport in Switzerland. The International Air Transport Associations is the trade association for the worlds airlines representing around 240 airlines which computes around 84% of the total air traffic. IATA supports many areas of aviation and assist the industry to formulate industry policy on critical airline issues. The statement: Our Mission Is to Represent, Lead and Serve the Airline Industry serves as the key mission of IATA.
IATA has formulated the below set of policy which enables a safe, secure and sustainable air transport industry that connects around the globe: Airport Slots Benefits of Aviation Cargo Charges & Economic Regulation Commercial Fuel Policy Environmental Policy Infrastructure Issues International Treaties Liberalization New Distribution Capability Passenger Rights Security Taxation
General Civil Aviation Authority

The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) was established in 1996 by federal cabinet decree to regulate Civil Aviation and provide emphasis on safety and security to strengthen the aviation industry within UAE. Quality Management in Aviation Industry The GCAA is the sole authority for the control and regulation of civil aviation in UAE, its responsible for the provision of en-route air navigation services and all aspects of flight safety. GCAA also adopted an Overall Transformation Program (OTP), the program aims at making quantum leap on terms of work efficiency and effectiveness by developing a strategic plan and restructuring the corporate and governmental body of the Authority, in a way that enables it to work in line with the UAE's strategic purposes and cope with the ongoing development in the aviation sector in accordance with international standards.
28
2.1.4
Excellence Awards
Deming Prize
The Deming Prize is one of the highest award in TQM in the world. Its an annual award presented to the organization that has implemented TQM which is suitable for its management philosophy, scope, type, scale of business and managerial environment. Below are the major conditions for the organization to receive the prize: 1. Receive TQM diagnosis consultation prior applying for the prize 2. Submit TQM practices and pass the document examination 3. Receive an on-site examination and pass the examination There are also a set of major duties that organization should adhere to after receiving the prize: 1. To present their practices at the winners presentation meetings 2. Ensure to make availability of the TQM know-how to the public as it is a benchmark that is obtained via the Deming Prize challenge and examination process. 3. To receive the on-site review three years after receiving the Prize.
Table 4: Overall flow from the application process to awarding
30
Malcolm
Baldrige National Quality Award

The Malcolm Baldridge National Award (MBNQA) is presented annually by the president of the United States to the organization that demonstrate quality and performance excellence. The main awards given annually in each of six categories are as below: Quality Management in Aviation Industry 31 Manufacturing Service company Small business Education Healthcare Nonprofit
Organizations that apply for the award are judged by an independent board of examiners, recipients are selected based on achievement in seven major areas which is known as the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. Leadership: How upper management leads the organization, and how the organization leads within the community. Strategic planning: How the organization establishes and plans to implement strategic directions. Customer and market focus: How the organization builds and maintains strong, lasting relationships with customers. Measurement, analysis, and knowledge management: How the organization uses data to support key processes and manage performance. Human resource focus: How the organization empowers and involves its workforce. Process management: How the organization designs, manages and improves key processes. Business/organizational performance results: How the organization performs in terms of customer satisfaction, finances, human resources, supplier and partner performance, operations, governance and social responsibility, and how the organization compares to its competitors.
The EFQM Excellence Award

The EFQM Excellence Award was created by organization EFQM. EFQM Excellence Award provides a holistic overview of how efficiently the organization develops and deploy their strategy and in line with the needs and expectation of their stakeholders. The EFQM is to recognize the Europes best performing organization whether private, public or non-profit. The EFQM Excellence Awards is Like Playing in the Champions League as it is supported by one of the most rigorous assessment processes. To win the EFQM Excellence Award, an applicant must be able to exhibit that their performance not only exceeds that of their peers, but also that they will maintain this advantage into the future. A prize winner is an organization which demonstrates role model behavior in one of the following 8 criterias: 32 Adding Value for Customers Creating a Sustainable Future Developing Organizational Capability Harnessing Creativy & Innovation Leading with Vision, Inspiration & Integrity Managing with Agility Succeeding through the Talent of People Sustaining Outstanding Results
Skytrax
Skytrax is a United Kingdom based consultancy which runs an airline and airport review and ranking site. Skytrax provides a professional and exclusive expertise to the world airline and airport industry through Audit and Service Benchmarking programmes of Product and Service Quality. It also conducts research for commercial airlines and carries out international traveler surveys to find the best cabin staff, airport, airline, airline lounge, in-flight entertainment system, on-board catering and several other elements of air travel. Skytrax also has an airline forum where passengers give other potential passengers the feel of an airline before choosing to fly with them. The website also has flight reviews, flight checks, and satisfaction surveys. Skytrax holds an annual World Airline Awards and World Airport Awards as well as the ranking for airlines and airports. Below are the symbols that are proudly displayed by airlines and airports around the globe.
Airline
Quality Rating System

The Airline Quality Rating System was developed and announced in 1991 as an objective method of comparing airline quality on combined multiple performance criteria. Quality Management in Aviation Industry The AQR is a summary of monthly quality rating for the US airlines that have at least 1% domestic passenger value. The Airline Quality Rating provides both consumers and industry watchers a means for looking at comparative quality for each airline on a timely basis, using objective, performance-based data, the Airline Quality Rating has been cited as an industry standard for comparing airline performance. The majority of quality ratings available usually rely on subjective surveys of consumer opinion that are infrequently done. This subjective approach yields a quality rating that is non-comparable from survey or any specific airlines. The Airline Quality Rating is a weighted average of multiple elements that are important to consumers while judging the quality of airlines. Elements are screened to meet the two basic criteria 1. Element must be obtainable from published data sources for each airline; 2. Element must have relevance to consumer concerns regarding airline quality. Data used in calculating the ratings represents performance aspects of the following: on-time arrival mishandled baggage involuntary denied boardings Customer complaint areas of airlines that are important to consumers.
34
The Airline Quality Rating criteria and the weighted average methodology allow a focused comparison of airline domestic performance. With the continued global trend in airline operations alliances, it becomes mandatory for the Airline Quality Rating to be used as a standard method for comparing the quality of airline performance for international operations as well.
2.2 Description and Analysis of Airline Sector

Aviation Industry Profile
Airlines industry is important to global world as it facilitates economic growth, world trade, international investment and tourism and is therefore central to globalization (Tiernan et al., 2008/1). In the past decade air travel has grown by 7% per annum. Travel for both business and leisure have grown strongly worldwide. Business travel has also grown as companies become increasingly international in terms of investment (Datamonitor, 2011). The airline industry generates about $640billion in revenue annually (IATA, 2011). The airline industry can be separated into four major category: International: 130+ seats planes that have the ability to take passenger anywhere in the world. National - Usually these airlines seat 100-150 people and have revenues between $100 million and $1 billion. Regional - Companies with revenues less than $100 million that focus on short-haul flights. Cargo - These are airlines generally transport goods. Airport capacity, route structures, technology and cost to lease or buy the physical aircraft are significant in the airline industry. Weather - Weather is variable and unpredictable. Extreme heat, cold, fog and snow can shut down airports and cancel flights, which costs an airline money. Fuel Cost - According to the Air Transportation Association (ATA), fuel is an airline's second largest expense. Short haul airlines typically get lower fuel efficiency because take-offs and landings consume high amounts of jet fuel.
36
Labor - According to the ATA, labor is the an airline's No.1 cost; airlines must pay pilots, flight attendants, baggage handlers, dispatchers, customer service and others.
The Global carriers are focusing their attention on the growing Middle Eastern market, with Qatar Airways joining with American Airlines, British Airways, One world alliance, Air France-KLM partnering with Etihad Airways from United Arab Emirates. The partnership of Western and Gulf regions exhibit the advantages of the combined service in 2013 and it could find themselves leading the race to grab share in this affluent region. Quality Management in Aviation Industry Figure1: Illustration Representing the Airline Operating Expense The two major issue that currently affect the profitability of airlines (Kostama & Toivonen, 2012). Firstly the demand have been stable for the last decade however the terrorism threat and financial crisis has slackened the industrial growth (Datamonitor, 2011). The anticipated recovery is slow, with development anticipated to reach only 7.4% in 2015 (Datamonitor, 2011). Secondly, deregulation of airline industry in 1990s allowed low cost carriers to enter the market with new innovative business model thus driving the customer from regular full service airlines. Deregulation also enabled 37
introduction of new service and more competition within the industry and simultaneously gave customer more power over inflight service. The current economic crisis highlighted the strength of the industry as it survived without major government support (Airline Trends and Ancillary Revenue Report, 2010) which was due to the ability of the airline industry to react to low demand and its inclination towards challenging the old business model and implement the new ones. Although industry as whole failed to manage fuel costs and was unable to meet the expectation of its customer Quality Management in Aviation Industry 38
Airlines and Service Classification

Various efforts have been made to categorize airline services (Airline Business Model, 2008) which is divided into two groups based on their primary activity: passenger airlines and freight airlines.
Table 5: Passenger Airline Classification
While the operation of each specific airlines may differ, however there is a certain amount of similarity among each airlines sector. An airlines important asset are the best planes and its people. Airlines are most often characterized in public by the employees who have direct contact with the travelers such as pilots and flight attendants, but there are many more airlines employees working behind the scenes that play a vital role in operation of the airline. Below are the various types of employees in an airlines industry. Line Personnel: Line personnel includes the pilots, flight attendant, reservation agents, and airport check-in and gate security guards. They constitute almost 85% of an airlines labor force and this is the group of people that are often seen during a flight. Operations: If the line personnel forms the heart of an airline industry, operations keeps its blood pumping. Operations personnel are responsible to maintain guidelines to meet FAA standards. Flight Dispatchers are included in the operations category as they keep a track of all airlines flight. Maintenance: Airlines are multi-dollar vehicles that must be maintained in order to prevent the airlines from losing money and maintain the safety of the customer, around 10 percent of the workforce is entirely dedicated to aircraft maintenance. Sales and Marketing: These personnel are the one who set the prices and they are tasked with advertising, cargo sales, reservations, customer service and food service. In addition to the personnel listed above, the airlines also employees specialist and sub-contractors that performs various duties. These specialized staff includes lawyers, accountants and employee-public relation specialist, they are usually based at the airlines headquarters. Quality Management in Aviation Industry
40
Hubs and Spokes

Most of the airlines in operation use the Hub and Spoke network to route their plane traffic. It involves a range of geographically dispersed location through a central hub The Hub and Spoke system was developed as the result of US deregulation. The development of this system had enable traveler a more integrated travelling system and experience where passenger originating from smaller region were able to transits at a major hub where they could board a connecting flight to any other possible destination. It also increased the possibility of city pair that they can enter into. It is comprehensively used in commercial aviation, the model has also adopted in the technology sector as well. Delta Airlines initiated the method in 1955, but wasnt used until 1970s when FedEx took advantage of the concept, therefore revolutionizing the way airlines were operated. Many airlines supplement their hub and spoke model with code-shares, partner flights or a small commuter airline. The purpose of the hub-and-spoke system is to save airlines money and give passengers better routes to destinations. Airplanes are an airline's most valued commodity, and every flight has definite set costs. Each seat on the plane signifies a portion of the total flight cost. For each seat that is filled by a passenger, an airline drops its break-even
price, which is the seat price at which an airline ceases on losing money and begins to show a profit on the flight. Additional to the general explanation of the hub and spoke operation we will further discuss the advantages the hub-and-spoke system had initially brought to the airline business; however there were some disadvantages that had been developed later due to changes in external environmental factors.
Advantages hub-and-spoke:
Quality Management in Aviation Industry Encouraged the rapid growth in the airline business: The hub-andspoke system since developed after deregulation, has allowed a rapid growth in size, competition strategy and traffic demand in the airline business. However, as suggested by Wells and Younger (2004 4) this had lead to operational incompetence at periods of slow economy; with airlines resulting in very poor financial performances. Efficient use of scarce transportation resources: The system has less number of routes connecting all spokes enabling a more efficient use of rare transportation resources. This however had small airports and economies of smaller regions suffering as per the reduced capacity. As a result this encouraged airports to agree with low cost carriers to offer low airport fees and commissions from local businesses to bring in traffic and passenger flow.
Disadvantages of hub-and-spoke
Congestion and delays at hub airports: To limit waiting times and provide a large variety of possible connections for passengers at the hub airport, it is essential for the hub airline to schedule as many incoming and outgoing flights as possible during a short time frame. This results in high traffic peaks during these times and often causes delays due to scarce airside facilities such as taxi- or runways. Discontinuous use of airport facilities: The merging of traffic in a hub-and-spoke-system implies a traffic structure consisting of high peaks at certain times a day when airport facilities are highly in use. At some airports, costly additional capacity and infrastructure (e.g. runways) are required to cater for the demands at these peaks.(Janic M., 2008) Airport dependency: Hub airlines and the corresponding alliances selected a limited number of airports on each continent through which they route their traffic. For these few hub airports in turn, they
42
represent a high share of their business. As airport capacity is limited and usually not sufficient for other extensive networks, and the necessary slots at attractive times are not available, other airlines tend to choose alternative options.
Thats The Ticket

Quality Management in Aviation Industry 43 Once the destination is determined the next step is to contact the reservation center. Airlines hires individuals who specializes in the reservation process. They are placed at the dedicated reservation desk and at the check-in counter at the airport. There are two different types of ticket Paper tickets - This is the conventional ticket that passengers have been using for decades. There are airlines in the world, although not many that still issue paper tickets for their flights, mainly because updating their outdated ticketing system would not provide any savings over leaving it as it is. Airlines still using paper-only ticketing systems are generally smaller operations and/or are low-cost local carriers. It has nothing to do with the airlines quality or safety record.
Electronic tickets - Many travelers are starting to use electronic tickets, or etickets, instead of paper tickets, according to Delta Airlines's document "The Plane Truth." Electronic tickets are typically purchased over theInternet. At the airport, passengers with e-tickets need only obtain their boarding pass by providing the gate agent with a confirmation number and proof of payment (sometimes, they only need to show a photo I.D.). For most people, ticket pricing can be the most confusing part of air travel. Fares are constantly changing. What your friend paid yesterday for a flight from New York to Chicago is probably not what you are going to pay today for the exact same flight. Even the people sitting in the same section of a flight likely paid very different prices for their tickets. Believe it or not, fares are cheaper today than in 1978, which is why more people are flying than ever before. Fares are tracked according to what a passenger pays (in cents) per mile. In 1978, passengers paid approximately 19 cents per mile. In 1997, passengers paid about 14 cents per mile. Many travelers are choosing to buy electronic tickets. In some cases, passengers with e-tickets can check themselves in using a self-service check-in machine. There are several factors that contribute to the cost of a fare:
44
Purchase date - The earlier you buy a ticket, the cheaper it will be (most likely). For instance, Delta loads a flight into its reservation system about 332 days from the actual flight date. Someone who buys a ticket on the day the flight is entered is going to get a cheaper fare than someone who buys a seat on the day of the flight. Class - Put simply, first class is more expensive than coach.
Destination - There are certain destinations that cost more, either because of the distance to the destination or the popularity of the destination. This is simple supply-and-demand economics. Flight date and time - Flights that depart earlier in the day tend to have lower fares because fewer people are flying then. Also, fares go up in the summer vacation season. Fuel costs - Fuel is an airline's second largest expense. Only labor costs more than fuel. In 2000, airlines paid about $5.4-billion in fuel costs, according to the Air Transport Association (ATA). Any increase in fuel costs is usually passed onto passengers in the ticket price. Competitors' fares - An airline has to be careful not to price their fares too much higher than their competitors. Sophisticated computer software is used to track the fares of competing airlines. Special factors - There are certain specialty fares given to senior citizens, government and military employees and corporate customers. Another factor that can affect ticket pricing is the hub system itself. If a large airline controls a lot of the gates at a particular airport, it may charge higher ticket prices. That large airline has the most flights coming into that airport, so consumers have to pay the higher fares if they want to fly into or out of that airport. Airlines often overbook flights, according to the ATA. Overbooking is the practice of selling more tickets for a flight than there are seats available. Airlines justify this practice by using historical analysis of traveller behavior. Often, travelers don't show up for a flight that they have a reservation for, or they don't make it to the gate in time. There are also travelers who reserve seats on multiple airlines and flights to ensure their travel plans. The ATA reports that airlines take great care in selecting which flights to overbook. They look at a flight's history of no-shows and try to match the overbook number to that. Obviously, overbooking can sometimes cause problems, such as when more people show up for a flight than there are seats available. When that happens, airlines give special incentives to travelers who are willing to give up their seats. Usually, these volunteers are given free fare on another flight. If an airline is forced to bump a passenger involuntarily, the airline must compensate that person.
When you board an airplane, you might not be aware of all of the gears that are turning behind the scenes. There are many people performing many functions to get you to your destination.
46
Overview of Emirates Airlines

Emirates is a government owned Dubai-based airlines which was launched in 1985 with two leased aircraft a Boeing 737-300 and Airbus 300 operating its flight to Karachi, Mumbai and Later Delhi. Its main vision stated that it intends: to be a medium-sized airline with a global network by the turn of the century which Emirates now have managed to accomplish as it has transformed itself from an unknown airline with a feet consisting of only two aircraft into a global player in todays aviation market. Emirates has an extensive range of competitors in terms of service superiority and flying destination. Major competitors identified includes Singapore Airlines, Etihad Airlines, British Airways, Lufthansa Airlines, and Cathay Pacific Airways. Emirates was ranked among the first airline to introduce an in-flight mobile service and also received its first A380 in 2008 which had set new standard through their state-of-the-art facility which was the introduction of the spa shower and onboard lounge facility in the Airbus. Emirates also opened its new Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport and hired the 10,000th cabin crew member and relocated into a new headquarter. The delivery of the 78th Boeing 777 in 2009 made Emirates the largest operator of this aircraft. Emirates Hotels & Resorts expanded and opened its first property outside the United Arab Emirates. Skywards celebrated its tenth anniversary by enhancing the program for its over 5 million members. The Emirates Groups workforce currently counts over 55,000 employees working for 50 different business units which are listed below: (The historic information was retrieved from www.theemiratesgroup.com (10th Jan.2012).
48
Air Transport Air Cargo Services Airport Aviation Services: Handling and Cargo Airport Aviation Services: Catering Call Centre Freight Forwarding & Logistics Airport Meet & Greet Engineering Services Hotels & Resorts Ground handling, Cargo Services and Travel Loyalty & Reward Programs IT Solutions Retail, Food & Beverage Retail Sports & Club Facilities Risk Management & Security Training Tour Operator & Events Management & Travel
Emirates Service Process Analysis

Emirates Airlines, constantly statuses among the upper echelon of its competitors in customer service and experience. The airline operates in highly competitive multi-cultural environment with rapid change and ever increasing demands on resources, costs and time.
Emirates has set great standards in all its service process, it has always been in the forefront of aviation technology as a sign of innovation, provide value added service with elasticity and are customer focused.
Emirates Airlines is known for its Ground service which allows the passenger to check-in between two to 48 hours. It can be done over the counter at the airport or at the lounge. Self-check-in kiosks are also available at Dubai International Airport. Passenger may also check-in via the Internet or by short message service. Emirates Airlines also provides lounge and complimentary chauffer driven airport transfers facilities to its First and Business Class passengers. The airline operates 27 lounge in 23 cities. Quality Management in Aviation Industry Emirates also uses Skywards as their Frequent Flyer Program, which is used by over 5.72 million members around the globe Emirates is the pioneer with regards to IFEC (In-Flight Entertainment and Communication). Economy class can take benefit of their own 10.6 inch digital monitor, and passenger can choose among 12,000 different channel which includes 200 movies, more than 100tv channels, 500 audio channel and around 100 video games. Business class passengers enjoy the newest product which is installed on the Airbus 380, it comprises of seats that can be converted in a full flat bed and the seat pitch ranges from 79 to 87 inch. It also provides an additional space for personal belonging and a min-bar. Each seat has a 17inch widescreen TV. The First class passengers enjoy their privacy in their own suites. All suites have sliding door, a mini bar, vanity table, mirror, wardrobe and a 23 inch digital screen. In first class the seat pitch is 82 inches. On the Airbus 380 First class passenger can also use a spa-shower, however to ensure that all passenger can experience the spa facility the passenger are requested to contact the onboard staff to make an appointment.
50
2.3 Quality Management Framework in Airline Sector

Quality Management in Aviation Industry

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Quality Management in Aviation Industry

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

2