Quality Management in Airline Operations - Essay Example

Quality Management in Airline Operations All airlines will admit the fact that it is a difficult task to retain their customers and it is even harder to attract new ones. However, as terrorist organizations started giving more and more attention towards airplanes because of their higher vulnerability, it has become very important for authorities and airlines to give more importance to safety than to comfort and quality. So, some people allege that giving more stress on safety will jeopardise the quality of air travel and vice versa. However, it seems that these two factors do not necessarily overlap or contradict each other. For example, Doughtery writes about the measures taken in the aviation industry to ensure safety. Some of them are medical evaluation of aircrews, aeronautical innovations which tailor the machine to the man, improvement of precision navigational air traffic control and flight procedures, and standardisation of flight training and flight procedures (82-85). A look into these factors prove that they are in no way a hindrance for quality; instead, they can promote passenger comfort and quality of air travel in a significant way. For example, better air traffic control will lead to timely operation of flights and will ensure safety while on board. In addition, standardising flight procedures will ensure that all the crew follows all the required procedures well so that carelessness from the part of the crew does not lead to any mishaps. There are a number of safety measures taken by authorities to ensure the field of aviation remains safe. The first among these steps is aircraft certification. In addition, authorities make sure that all commercial planes are designed with built-in redundancies, for example, there are two ways to lower the landing gear, more than one way to communicate with the ground, and more than one way to control the aircraft. In addition, each operator is supposed to develop a training and maintenance programme. The programme should also take into account the number of flight attendants on board, onboard smoking rules, flammability standards of cabin materials, pre-flight announcements, rules regarding carry-on baggage, security procedures, de-icing procedures, and so on. Another important safety measure comes regarding the airline personnel. It is mandated that all people who work on the airplane must be licensed and should possess minimum levels of training and experience. All people ranging from pilots, aircraft mechanics, flight engineers, aircraft dispatchers, and air traffic controllers are al bound by this rule. Moreover, pilots of large, commercial airplanes are supposed to possess minimum flight time. In addition, they have to prove their experience and expertise in various in-flight maneuvers and emergency procedures. Additionally, they have to pass a medical examination while joining the job and also every year of employment. Moreover, airlines are supposed to have a maintenance program for every aircraft they have. This involves checking of the aircraft landing gear, control surfaces, rudder, fluids, oxygen system, and power systems every three to five days. In addition, every day, there are visual check-ups for damage of wheels, surface damage, and cracks. Another part of safety is training. All airline employees receive extensive training, especially those who work onboard. Even the hiring process involves rigorous screening, aptitude tests, and medical examination. The training methods of airlines are extensive and dependent on the subject matter. The methods may include classroom instructions, simulation training, hand-on-equipment training, computerised video presentations, and self-testing. In addition, pilots and flight engineers are made to undergo a certain amount of training every year. Another part of safety is the security checkups at the airports. Passengers are required to go through a metal detector prior to entering the gate area. In addition, bags are screened using x-ray machines. Some other common security measures at present are guarding aircrafts while on ground, searching aircraft before the first flight of the day, inspecting the property of all service personnel, accepting baggage only at the ticket counters, hand-searching and x-raying of all bags, matching bags and passengers for unclaimed bags, and ensuring that passengers have not received any baggage from strangers. The above are some common security measures taken by authorities and airlines. Now it is time to see what factors are considered as quality by passengers and airlines. Up to 1997, the airline quality data was based on a number of factors that were beyond the ken of common passengers. Some examples of these factors are corporate bond ratings, average seat-mile cost, and the number of aircrafts in the airlines’ fleet. However, later on, Bowen and Headley simplified these factors and included four quality factors; they are on-time arrivals, involuntary denials of boarding, mishandled baggage, and customer complaints (Gardner, 4). A look into the first quality factor, that is, on-time arrival proves that at times, the decision is to be taken by the air traffic control, not by the airlines. So, there are usually four broad categories of reasons behind delays. They are extreme weather, security issues, problem with air traffic, and errors from airlines. In fact, weather conditions and traffic volumes are beyond the control of airlines and passengers. Here, the safety factor that affects quality is security. At times, it becomes necessary for airlines to have additional security checkups, leading to delays. Evidently, in such circumstances, it is possible that safety issues affect the quality of air travel. The second issue, according to passengers, is involuntary denial of boarding. Most of such alleged denials of boarding are, in fact, voluntary because passengers agree to board other flights. However, evidently, this does not take place because of safety measures. The next point is mishandled bags. Evidently, mishandling of bags does not take place for safety though the procedure can be significantly slowed down by security measures. However, it is possible for the passengers to get irritated if they are not familiar with the norms of air safety. They ma try to include restricted items and later on get aggrieved as their things are not allowed onboard. Admittedly, safety measures restrict the entry of many things on board, and some people might consider this as a fall in quality. The last point of consideration is customer complaints. In fact, higher number of complaints indicates poor quality. There are some more points which are considered as quality issues. They are prolonged check-in timings, and baggage dealing times. Evidently, these two things take place at times for safety, and at times due to inefficiency of airlines and airports. Admittedly, the recent terrorist attacks have brought a number of changes in the aviation industry too. Now, airports and airlines ensure extensive examination before boarding. This leads to the complaint that check-in procedures take a long time. However, one can say that dropping security procedures is not the right way to deal with the problem. Instead, improving the infrastructure of airports and airlines will ensure that the security procedures are sped up so that passengers do not get frustrated. Hence, one can say that safety measures do not slow down check-ins, but it is the lack of facilities that creates the problem. So, when there is infrastructure, this issue can be solved to a great extent. Similar is the case of baggage handling times. Admittedly, people are not complaining against checking their bags, but are frustrated about handling times. Here, evidently, security measures do not need to necessarily slow down baggage handling. If there is an unnecessary delay, it is the carelessness of the airlines that is evident, not a contradiction between security and quality. Admittedly, passengers may get irritated when there is restriction on the kind of items that are allowed onboard, the prolonged check in procedures and the slow handling of their baggage. However, one can say that there are various ways to handle these issues other than giving the measures up. First of all, airlines should ensure efficiency in these areas, and secondly, airports should be better equipped to handle increasing volume of passengers. From the above analysis, it becomes evident that safety measures are in no way considered as quality issues by passengers. The only issues that are considered a nuisance by passengers are the increased check-in timing and the poor handling of bag and baggage. Evidently, the issues regarding check-ins can be reduced by improving infrastructure and facilities. In total, it becomes evident that the only issues associated with tightening security and safety on the quality of air travel are increased check-in times, slow handling of baggage, and restriction of some items onboard. However, the analysis proves that safety and quality are the two sides of the same coin. Both do not contradict, and in fact, are complementary to each other. So, it is not necessary to forget one for the other as it is possible to enhance both at the same time. While security deals with better monitoring and maintenance of flights that includes better technology, better training, and monitoring, quality deals with ensuring comfort to passengers. In fact, when there is better technology that can smoothen airport procedures, traffic control, and flight control, the quality of air travel will automatically improve. So, one cannot think about improving air travel quality without improving safety. Hence, the belief that tightening safety will jeopardize travel quality in air travel is unfounded. In fact, in the case of aviation, one cannot differentiate between safety and quality as both are one and the same. So, both should be managed together. Works Cited Doughtery JD. “Review of aviation safety measures which have application to aviation accident prevention”. Aviat Space Environ Med. (1975). 46 (1), 82-85. Gardner, Everette S. “Dimensional Analysis of Airline Quality”. (Nov. 7, 2003) Web 23 July 2011 Read More