Virgin Atlantic Services Design - Essay Example

? Service Operations Management for Aviation: Virgin Atlantic Airlines Service Operations Management for Aviation: Virgin Atlantic Airlines Virgin Atlantic Airline was founded in the year 1984 and was intended to fly between United Kingdom and the Falcan Islands. In the current time though, the firm has expanded its region of operation and now operates in all the six habited continents, under slightly different brand names. The airline operates between Londoner and connects to Africa, south and North America, Asia, meddle east and Australia. Virgin Atlantic services desing is based around mass customization of customer service where the needs of customer and expectation are meet. This is achieved through having different services for different customers so that the customer can choose the kind of service they intent to have. In this case, the customers can choose to fly in one of the three classes which include the business, economy and the upper class. The service design in virgin is also created around the standardisation of the service. This is achieved through the training of staff in order to have a standard of service as they face the customers. This attitude towards service design is both advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage is the fact that the members of staff are more likely to make any mistakes as they relate the customers (Woods, Hebron & Bradley, 2001). However, as Khosrowpour (2006) argues, when the service is standardised, the staff know exactly what to do and when to do it and this helps in making sure that the staff are not likely to do something that may harm the brand of the firm. At the same time, it helps the customers to know what to expect and this reduces the number of inconveniences. There are negatives however, and these include the fact that such a service may seem to be too robotic for the customers (Barlow, 2003). In fact, customers in many cases have complained due to this kind of service where the service members of staff are not able to act spontaneously when dealing with the customers but instead follow too strict procedures. This affects the quality of service especially for customers who would prefer to have a less formal and less robotized customer service. Virgin Atlantic operates in some of the markets where customers demand the best service. One of these markets is he American and European market where customer service quality is highly demanded. Apart from the fact that customers from these two markets demand he best customer service, the market is also a high competition market, with so many airlines operating in the market (Heracleous, 2008). This competition means that the firms in the market have to be innovative in order to give the customers the best quality service while at the same time reducing costs (Truxal, 2013). This is a challenge for businesses like Virgin Atlantic because there delivering high quality leads to higher costs. Other issues of irregular demand are also important in affecting the way the firm is able to delver high quality services. Like many airlines, the firm has found a way to increase its customer base by increasing customer experience. This is done across the three flight classes. Virgin Atlantic has a department for service design that is dedicated to designing service models which will help the firm in giving the customer the best service. The department is given the mandate to design customer service experience with regard to the cabin crew and other staff who meet the customer face to face. It is also mandated with helping the firm to design internal systems in order to give the customer the best feel while flying. This department, in particular is mandated to achieve the following; Pre-flight customer experience design This includes the booking systems, check in systems, and customer service at the airport. Like many airlines, Virgin Atlantic has tied as much as possible to make flight booking easy and to make the check in process easy. This has also been aided by the fact that airports also have improved these services. Most airports for instance are installing automatic check in systems where the customers don’t have to queue in lines waiting to be served by a person behind a counter (Fojt, 2006). On-flight customer experience design This is where the customer experience design for Virgin Atlantic is most customised. Virgin Atlantic has tried to make sure that the customers can enjoy the flight as much as possible. This is achieved through very well trained cabin crew who are able to give the customer good and quality services. However, virgin also enhances this by providing other cabin services which makes he customer to feel like he is not in a flight but rather in another place such s a restaurant or a bar. His is achieved through pop-up bars and restaurants which make it possible for the customer to feel like he has already reached the destination. Unlike the old fashioned way of serving the customers drinks and food while they are still locked their seats, Virgin Atlantic now make sit possible for the people to be able to go to a bar or a restaurant within the airbus as during flight, and get whatever it is that they want. Other entertainment facilities such as flat screen televisions and gaming consoles also make customers to be able to access comfort and to have ways t emerge themselves recreational activities during the flight. The cabin crew are also tried to make the flight for the customer as comfortable as possible. Post flight customer experience design Virgin Atlantic, like many other airlines, has realised that customers want to have the easiest time after the long flights (Vink, 2008). This has led t the firm to come up with ways to help the customers to achieve this. For instance, Virgin Atlantic offers airport cab services as well as hotel services. This means that the customers can settle easily after the flight. Customers want to have a good an easy flight because flights can be very tiring and after the flight the customer may not have the energy to go around looking for a hotel or a cab. This has been made easy by Virgin Atlantic. Unlike many other airlines, Virgin Atlantic is advantaged in this area because the firm is part of a conglomerate that offers many services including cab services and hotel services. Customers are able to get these services ion one packages and this makes it easy for the first to satisfy the customers. Comparison other airlines One of the main issues that come as one looks at Virgin Atlantic is the fact that the firm is customer oriented. Unlike many other firms in the same industry, the firm has been able to create an excellent customer service that seems to make the customers very happy and very satisfied. This is a very good asset for the firm in terms of helping the firm to develop market strategy. As Maxwell (2012) says, customer service is a very important part of any business and this is most true in the airline industry where the customers demand the best quality. However, as Winston (2011) says, customer service needs to be matched with the firms revenue in order to avoid a customer service strategy that will act as a tick to suck off revenue from the fir. This is why Virgin Atlantic is falling and it must be able to look at how its expensive customer service design is affecting its revenues. Failing to do this would mean that the firm will not be able to survive the stiff competition in the industry. There are numerous airlines in the same market as Virgin Atlantic. These include the British airways and numerous other airways in Europe as well as in the United States. In comparison to the other firms, Virgin Atlantic is seen to have an excellent work on customer experience. The only issue with the airline is the fact that although it has good customer care, it has not succeeded in the other areas of airline management and this has led to the firm making losses. In the area of customer service design, Virgin Atlantic has been rated the best ad has even won a number of awards in this area. For instance, Virgin Atlantic was awarded the 2013 customer service awards for the airline with the best customer service. This award is awarded to airlines and is achieved through customer votes which mean that the firm is doing very well with regard to satisfying the customers. This has therefore raised a number of questions as to how the customers can be so happy and the firms are making losses. However, a close look indicates that the firm is not doing very well in having a well rounded management of the airlines business and this leads to loss. Other airlines such as the British airways depend on other management systems to help in making sure that they don’t make losses as they try to please the customers. As virgin has concentrated in making the customer experience better, it has forgotten to look at other issues which will make sure hat its revenues are in line with its costs. Delivering the kind of customer service that Virgin Atlantic has achieved requires the firm to be able to know how to reduce costs and how to create other parallel sources of revenue. Other airlines also seem to be doing a good job when it comes to the issue of managing uncertainties in the airline industry. As already discussed, the airline industry is faced with a number of unique issues such as fuel price fluctuations (Wilson, 2012). Failing to be able to deal with this is a very big issue which can lead to a firm like Virgin Atlantic making losses. The other issue that come up when Virgin Atlantic is compared with the other airline is the fact that its customer service seems to be too much for some customers. While many customers are happy with the long bars in airline planes, some see it as too much and his could mean that the firm is losing some of its customers to competitors (Jacoson, 2012). Other airlines have found out ways to make sure that the firm is able to meet the needs of each type of customer without making it hard for some customers t enjoy their services. Recommendations Virgin Atlantic should be able to look at how its customer service design balances with the other issues in the business such as profitability. Every business should be able to give the customer the best service and best experience, but this should be done within the acceptable profits (Rapajic, 2009). Investing too much in making the customer happy and failing to balance this with the revenues coming from customers is being unrealistic. As Malling (2012) says the main challenge in the airline business is the fact that customers demand too much and are not willing o pay up. Offering the kind of services that Virgin Atlantic is offering to the customers requires the firm to spend too much. Unfortunately, due to the competition in the airline market, they are not able to regain these costs from the customers since the customer would not be willing to pay more in Virgin Atlantic while at the same time they would have paid less in other airlines. In this regard, Virgin Atlantic has two options which will include either toning down its customer experience design in order to reduce costs, or coming up with a way to segment the market so that those who are willing to pay extra for the expensive flight services to get them while those who are not able to pay for this remain at the level which is appropriate for the amount of money they are willing to pay. This will reduce unnecessary costs without denying those who are willing to pay extra the opportunity to access the service. Virgin Atlantic should also seek to have other direct sources of revenues which can be derived from the airline business. This will help in making sure that the firm is going to increase its revenues and this will help in avoiding losses. For instance, Virgin Atlantic can look on how to expand on cargo shipping and this will help in increasing revenues. Cargo doesn’t require customer service and only require room in the plane and there is always plenty of space which can be utilised for this. This would mean increased revenue without having to necessarily increase the costs of revenue. By doing this, it would be easy for the firm to be able to avoid losses and to be able to be competitive in the industry. The other issue which Virgin Atlantic faces is the issue of jet fuel fluctuations. This costs the firm in terms of insurance and these costs have an effect on the profitability of the firm. Virgin Atlantic should seek for way to eliminate this issue such as by having strategic mergers which will helot the firm to be competitive in this area. Alternatively, Virgin Atlantic can look for ways to make sure that the uncertainties in the prices of jet fuel will not be affected. Conclusions The airlines industry is a very competitive industry which needs a firm to be able to develop useful strategies which will help it to survive in the market. Apart from the stiff connection, there are other issues which affect the industry. These include issues such as the fact that there are demand issues. The customers may demand too much and costly service and not willing to ay higher fares which will help the firm to cover the costs that go with offering these services. As a result, firms operating in this industry always have to deal with stiff management issues. Operating in this industry will require a firm like Virgin Atlantic to be able to know hoe to implement its customer service without affecting its profits. Virgin also needs to be able to come up wit other revue stream so as to boot its revenues and avoid losses. Making of mergers may also be necessary for the firm in order to help the firm to overcome some of the issues which exist in the industry such as fuel price fluctuations. A close look at the Virgin Atlantic’s customer service design revealed a customer service design that is too overzealous and that is not matched by the same kind of zeal in the other departments of the airline. This has led to a customer service design that is a burden to the form and that makes it harder for the firm to be able to make profits. This means that the management in Virgin Atlantic will need to come up with ways to help the firm to be able to look at how they can balance their customer service to match the revenues. Failing to do this may bring in issues of losses and the firm may be at risk of getting out of the market. Reference list: Barlow, J. (2003). Branded Customer Service: The New Competitive Edge. new York City, NY: ReadHowYouWant.com. Fojt, M. (2006). The Airline Industry. New York City, NY: Emerald Group Publishing. Heracleous, L. et al. (2008). Flying High in a Competitive Industry: Secrets of the World's Leading Airline. Hoboken, NJ: McGraw-Hill Education. James.P.D. (Modrern Airline BUsines). Modern BUsiness Managemtn and The Airline Industry. New York, NY: pearson Books. Khosrowpour, M. (2006). Emerging Trends and Challenges in Information Technology Management: 2006 Information Resources Management Association International Conference, Washington, DC, USA, May 21-24, 2006, Volume 1. New York City, NY: Idea Group Inc. Malling, P. (2012). Customer Experince in the Air. new York, NY: Pearson Education . Maxwell, P. (2012). Customer Serrvie and Bsiness Strategy. New Yortk, NY: pearson Educaiton Books. Jacoson,O.P. (2012). Custoemr Serive: Airile Sector. London, K: Routlgde. Rapajic, J. (2009). Beyond Airline Disruptions. New York, NY: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Truxal, S. (2013). Competition and Regulation in the Airline Industry: Puppets in Chaos. 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