Innovations in Service Strategy: An Evaluation of

Quality in Airline Service Operations by Using

SERVQUAL Model
T. Kiatcharoenpol1, T. Laosirihongthong2
1
Industrial Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Srinakharinwirot University
Nakhon-nayok, Thailand, 26120 (email: tossapol@swu.ac.th)
2
Industrial Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Thammasat University
Bangkok, Thailand, 12120 (email: tritos36@yahoo.com)

Abstract- As many organizations are facing the pressure of
competitive situation, airline business can be considered as one
of high competitive business. The major function of this
business is its service operations which usually are key
processes to be improved for enhancing business performance.
To improve service quality, the primary step is to evaluate the
existing level of service quality and to set the service strategy to
satisfying passengers. This study therefore presents how service
quality could be assessed in an airline company. The conceptual
framework of assessing service operations is developed, which
is based on the SERVQUAL model purposed by Parasuraman
et al. [1]. Applying interview and structural questionnaires with
management, staff and passengers in a case study, an airline
company, were carried out. The data were analyzed
qualitatively and statistically. It can report that there is a need
for culture change, commitment of management and employee
involvement in order to increase customer satisfactions. These
could lead to increasing competitiveness of the airline company.
Furthermore the re-design of current service operations is
recommended, which are (a) providing more flight schedule, (b)
conducting the business feasibility study on providing the low-
cost airline, (c) providing more systems/facilities for safety and
comfortable purpose and (d) providing self-check-in or on-line
check-in services.
I. INTRODUCTION
Quality in service operations is a total experience usually
evaluated by customers. Service operations always
encompass multiple interactions between the customer and
different employees. Therefore, the service industry must
place emphasis on both differentiation and price [2]. In a
situation where all airline companies have comparable fares
and matching frequent flyer programs, the one with better
perceived service draws passengers from other carriers. The
airline industry is very much influenced by changes taking
place in its varied environment [3].
Service quality is a form of attitude that results from the
comparison between perceptions and expectations. Good
service quality means meeting the customer expectations.
Because of the differences in individual perceptions and past
experiences with delivered service, it is very difficult to
measure service quality. One recommendation to ensure that
the delivered services will meet customer expectations is to
design suitable service characteristics at an early stage. Gap
analysis, which was proposed in the SERVQUAL model by
Parasuraman et al. [1, 4], could be used to measure the
service quality and provide information for improving the
service characteristics. Thus, the model focuses mainly on
identifying gap, which lead to minimize the degree of
difference between customers perceived and expected
service quality level. The justification of using SERVQUAL
has been tested and validated through many organizations
[5-8]. This study aims to illustrate the implementation of
SERVQUAL model for assessing quality in airline service
operations and determines the level of service quality. As a
sound case study, one national airline company of Asia-
Pacific country was selected in this work. The company
currently provide both domestic and international passenger
transportation services.
II. REVIEW OF SERVICE OPERATIONS IN AIRLINE
There are many possible aspects that could influence the
airline customers perception of service quality at different
times in the service process. Generally, most passengers are
concerned with the following basic aspects of service
operations [3]: Flight schedule; Air fare; Safety;
Comfortable; In-flight amenities and Ground services.
In addition, service operation processes in airline
companies consist of four major activities: Reservation
process; Before-flight service process; Onboard service
process and After-flight service process.
To ensure that the characteristics of all the service
processes mentioned above are designed and delivered well,
understanding of customer expectations and perceptions on
delivered services are needed for management to design an
appropriated service delivery processes and specifications.
III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A. The SERVQUAL model
The SERVQUAL model, which was developed by
Parasuraman et al. [1] was used to identify the shortfall
within the organization and shortfall between the customers
perception of actual performance of the service and their
expectations. In this model, there are five gaps, GAP1,
GAP2, GAP3, GAP4 and GAP5, to determine the shortfalls.
In Figure 1, it shows the conceptual framework of the

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2006
c IEEE
SERVQUAL model. promises gap that lies between the company promises
CONSUMER
what it actually delivers to the customer. If the advertising or
sales pitches promise one kind of service and the customer
Word of Mouth Personal Needs Past Experience
receives a different kind of service, then that promise is
Communication broken.
GAP5: This gap defines the difference between the
Expected Service expected service and service actually perceived to
GAP 5
customers. Closing and narrowing this gap is the ultimate
goal of Service Company. GAP5 can be shown in terms of a
Perceived Service
function of all the other gaps as follows:

MARKETER Gap5 = f (Gap1, Gap2, Gap3, Gap4) . (1)

GAP 4
Service Delivery External Communications
(including pre and post contact) to Consumer Expectations
In order to minimizes Gap5, the causes of incresing
GAP 1
GAP 3 Gap1-4 should be reduced. Figure 2 demonstrates the
Translation of Perceptions into
Service Quality Specifications
conceptual framework as a measuring instrument of service
GAP 2
quality used in this study.
Management Perception of
Consumer Expectations

Fig. 1 Framework of the SERVQUAL Model [4]

GAP1: This gap defines the difference between what a

customer expects of a service and what management
perceives as customer expectations. Managers may think
they understand why a customer wants to buy the service.
Based on this perception, they determine the specification of
the service. If there is such a gap, a variety of mis-
understandings such as providing the wrong facilities, hiring
the wrong staff or identifying the wrong training needs tend
to occur. To close this gap, managers must have detail
knowledge of what customers require. Only then the
customer requirements could be built into the service
delivery system.
GAP2: This gap defines the difference between
management perception of customers expectations and
design of the service specifications. Even when customer
expectations have been accurately determined, these may not Fig. 2. Conceptual framework of a case study
(An airline company)
be accurately presented in the service specifications. In many
cases, management does not believe that it can meet
customer requirements and there is no commitment on the B. Measures of Service Quality
part of management to deliver the service quality. In According the SERVQUAL model, this study adapted
addition, management may wish to meet customer measures developed by Parasuraman et al [5] to determine
requirements but feels hampered by inadequate: (a) methods the gaps in this study. Measures of GAP1 are Marketing
of measuring quality and (b) methods of covering those Research, Upward Communication, and Level of
measurements into service specifications. Management. Measures of GAP2 are Goal Setting, Task
GAP3: This gap defines the difference between service Standardization, and Perception of Feasibility. Measures of
specifications and the actually delivered service. This gap is GAP3 are Teamwork, Employee-job fit, and Technology-job
concerned with the actual performance of service. Even if fit, Perceived Control, Supervisory Control System, and
customer expectations are accurately determined and quality Role Conflict. Measures of GAP4 are Horizontal
specifications are correctly identified, actual performance of Communication, and Propensity to over-promise. Measures
the service may leave customers not being satisfied. The of GAP5 include Tangibles, Reliability, Responsiveness,
existence of service performance gap depends on both the Assurance, and Empathy (see Figure 2).
willingness and the ability of staff to provide the service
according to designed service specifications. C. Samples Selection and Data Collection
GAP4: This gap defines the difference between the actual The respondent sample is taken from the management
quality of service delivered and its quality presented in the staffs, the employees, and passengers of one Airline
firms external communications. This gap might be termed company in developing country. This study selected both

2006 IEEE International Conference on Management of Innovation and Technology 749

domestic and international passenger services. The IV. RESEARCH FINDINGS
questionnaires used in this study are developed based on the This company was established in 1958 in the public
SERVQUAL Model, and pre-tested with 22 passengers, 5 sector. Initially, it was divided into 51% share for
management staffs, and 10 employees of the selected airline government and 49% share for the general public. Later in
company. 1959, the government owned the whole company. In the
Three sets of questionnaires for three groups of beginning of operation, there was a single DC-3 aircraft and
respondents were used to investigate the degree of service 97 employees linking four cities with the capital. Now, this
quality in a reservation process, before-flight service company has an operation fleet of 14 airplanes including B-
process, onboard service process and after-flight service 757 and Airbus A310-300 aircraft. The passenger network
process. Three respondent groups are management and extends to more than 35 points in the domestic sector and 12
passenger-contacted employees and passengers. They were cities in 10 countries in the international sector.
asked for their perceptions of services provided by the
company. Direct interviews with management were also
A. Analysis of GAP 1
conducted to gain more qualitative data for the gap analysis.
As exhibited in Table II, the degree of service quality
All questions in the questionnaires have a five-point scale
(GAP 1) is proposed to be a function of marketing research
and additional questions on demographic information of the
orientation, upward communication and hierarchy levels in
respondents.
management. Therefore, this study has attempted to bring
Questionnaires were sent to management (senior officers,
out how well management perceives the customers
managers, deputy directors and directors) in the company.
requirements and expectations.
For collecting data of passenger-contacted employees,
employees from a variety of departments are randomly
selected. In order to collect the information from passengers, TABLE II
questionnaires ware distributed to passengers on-board. The MEANS OF VARIABLES OF GAP1, GAP2, GAP3 AND GAP4
filled questionnaires were then collected by crewmembers Measures Mean Measures Mean
Value Value
during both domestic and international flights. The data
GAP1 GAP3
collection also includes the waiting passengers in the Marketing Research 3.18 Teamwork 3.75
departure hall for the short routes traveling. Upward Communication 3.61 Employee-job fit 3.85
Level of Management 3.20 Technology-job fit 3.64
Management 3.70 Perceived Control 3.74
D. Analysis of Data
Commitment Supervisory Control 2.28
The methods of analysis were both quantitative and System
qualitative. For the quantitative analysis, the scaled items are GAP2 Role Conflict
3.83
tested for reliability and validity. The SPSS package had Goal Setting 3.13 Role Ambiguity
3.97
Task Standardization 2.98
been used in the analysis of data. The result of MANOVA
Perception of Feasibility 3.65 GAP4
indicated that there is no significant difference of the Horizontal -
following respondents characteristics, as shown in Table I. Respondents: Top and Communication 3.24
middle management Propensity to -
over-promise 2.40
TABLE I
MANOVA TEST OF AN EFFECT OF RESPNDENTS CHARACTERISTIC (PASSENGERS) Respondents:
Effect Model F df Sig. Passengercontacted
employees
Gender of passengers Pillai's Trace 0.460 120 0.832 1: strongly disagree, 5: strongly agree
Wilks' Lambda 0.438 120 0.817
Age of passengers Pillai's Trace 0.868 120 0.810 Marketing research orientation: Management in this case
Wilks' Lambda 0.868 118 0.913 study has a lot of problem in marketing research. It may be
Experiences Pillai's Trace 0.376 120 0.540
that they over estimate their perception while responding to
the questionnaire. The average of these measurements is
Wilks' Lambda 0.376 120 0.571
3.18, which means that there is the existence of GAP1. In
Class of seat Pillai's Trace 0.560 120 0.971
addition, we found that there is no significant difference
Wilks' Lambda 0.558 120 0.971 between perceptions of top management and middle
Types of passengers Pillai's Trace 0.812 120 0.118 management with the p-value greater than 0.05.
(Businesspeople/Traveler) Wilks' Lambda 0.816 118 0.118 Upward communication: When factors affecting GAP1
Domestic and international Pillai's Trace 1.048 120 0.105 under upward communication were examined in terms of
Passengers Wilks' Lambda 1.138 118 0.103 management level, i.e., position. Statistically significant
differences in responses were obtained between managers
and employees. But the opinions about quality of contact
Finally, the qualitative analysis, which is based on
were not statistically significant in either group, apart from
SERVQUAL Model, was performed.
the uncertainty of communication. The mean value of this

750 2006 IEEE International Conference on Management of Innovation and Technology

measure is 3.61. It implies that the communication in this
case study is not well defined.
Level of management: There is no statistically significant
difference between both management levels, on the opinion
about existing levels of management for efficient
communication.
Management commitment to service quality: According to
the data management level or position did not influence the
managements commitment to providing service quality. The
mean value of this measure is 3.70.
B. Analysis of GAP2
A variety of factors such as resource constraints, short-
term profit orientation, market conditions, and management
indifference may account for GAP2. The size of the gap in
this case study is proposed to be a function of management
commitment to service quality, goal setting, task
standardization and perception of feasibility, as listed in
Table II. All variables responsible for GAP2 have an average
value 3.25. This implies that GAP2 exists. The explanation
of this finding is that there is no total management
commitment to design of service quality. There is emphasis
on other objectives such as cost reduction and short-term
profits.
Goal setting: There is no statistically significant difference
between upper management and middle management
regarding the perception of goal setting. The average value
of respondents is 3.13
Task standardization: The p-value of variable under task
standardization is greater than 0.05. It implies that
management level does not influence the perception for task
standardization (2.98).
Perception of feasibility: The result of data analysis
indicates that there is no significant difference in upper
management and middle management on the perception of
feasibility. The mean value of this measure is 3.65
C. Analysis of GAP 3
GAP3 occurs when employees are unable and/or unwilling
to perform the service at the desired level. The main factors
proposed to account for the size of GAP 3 were teamwork,
employee-job fit, technology-job fit, perceived control,
supervisory control system, and role conflict and role
ambiguity. The scores of each factor are shown in Table II.
Teamwork: The employees of this case study did not feel
that they were working together well although there is a little
bit higher mean value (3.75) for internal customer view.
They overestimate themselves and blame others, which
shows bad teamwork environment.
Employee-job fit and technology-job fit: It was proposed
that emphasis on matching the employees to jobs through a
proper selection process and consequent abilities or skills of
employee to perform the jobs would affect the size of GAP3.
The mean value is 3.85 and 3.64 respectively. It implies that
the employees in this case study feel comfortable and are
able to perform their jobs well. However, they blame bad
selection process and lack of tools and technologies for not
2006 IEEE International Conference on Management of Innovation and Technology
being able to perform their jobs well.
Perceived control: Perceived comfort was proposed to be a
function of the degree to which organizational rules,
procedures and culture limit contact employees flexibility in
servicing customers. Although, in this study, the employees
control their job even with many customers at a time, they
are unable to perform well because control over the service
has been dispersed among multiple organizational units and
there is no predictability of demand. The mean value is 3.74
Supervisory control system: Supervisory control system
was proposed to be evaluated through the existing of
behavioral control system which consists of observations or
other reports on the way the employee work or behave rather
than only output measurement. All the variables under its
consideration have a mean value of 2.28. It implies that the
employees were not encouraged by the existing supervisory
control system for their own actual performance evaluation.
Role conflict: Role conflict was evaluated through the
employees feelings regarding the expectation of job
position, supervisor and customer. In this study, measures in
this consideration have a mean value of 3.83. It implies that
there is no role conflict to cause widening of GAP3.
Role ambiguity: Role ambiguity was evaluated through
the employees certainty about what managers or supervisors
expect from them, how to satisfy those expectations and how
their performance would be evaluated and rewarded. The
mean value of 3.97 indicates that the employees have no
problems of role ambiguity to influence the size of GAP3.
D. Analysis of GAP 4
This GAP is the difference between what the company
promises to deliver in its communication and what they
actually deliver to the customers. In this study, Gap 4 was
proposed to be a function of horizontal communication (with
a mean value of 3.24) and propensity to over-promise (with a
mean value 2.40). The advertising was developed
independently and tended to over-promise. Therefore, GAP4
would be substantial.
E. Analysis of GAP 5
This gap represents the potential discrepancy between the
expected services from the customers point of view. In
order to evaluate the existing service quality level, the
questionnaire was adopted from SERVQUAL model with
some modifications appropriate for airline passenger service.
As illustrated in Table III, this GAP is analyzed under five
measurements of service quality.
Tangible service quality: The tangible measures in this
study are a modern aircraft fleet, accessibility of flight
service units, convenience of facilities, food service, fares,
etc. After asking the passengers, it was found that the
performance of this company is less than the expectations of
their passengers. Since the performance mean is about 3.08,
indicating influence of tangibles on GAP5.
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 TABLE III
MEANS OF VARIABLES OF GAP5
Measures Mean
Value
GAP5
Tangibles 3.08
Reliability 2.73
Responsiveness 3.17
Assurance 3.57
Empathy
2.95
Respondents: Passengers
1: very dissatisfactory, 5: very satisfactory
Reliability: Reliability performance of this company for
all the items such as on time schedule, flight status
information, frequent flyer/mileage program, reputation, etc.
have a mean value of 2.73. It implies that reliability
perception of customers significantly impacts on GAP5. In
addition, we found that the most critical item is timely
performance.
Responsiveness: The result of analysis (with a mean value
of 3.17) implies that these factors contribute to GAP5
because of the lack of willingness and helpfulness of staff,
prompt baggage delivery, and the need for waiting long time
at the ticket counter and boarding gate. The most critical
item of responsiveness is the need for helpfulness/courtesy.
Assurance: Mean value of this dimension is 3.57. It
implies that these factors also contribute to GAP5. The most
critical item is the need for adequate support from the airline
in resolving these problems.
Empathy: The performance of the airline does not satisfy
passenger expectations for all items under this dimension
such as personal attention, understanding of customer needs,
etc. It results in a mean value of 2.95.
V. DISCUSSION AND FURTHER STUDIES
Based on analyzing mean values of each gap in
SERVQUAL model, these results significantly reflects
existing service operations (reservation, before-flight
service, onboard service, and after- flight service) of a
selected airline company. It could suggest following
recommendations:
Marketing research should be done frequently to perceive
customers needs/expectations. Then the research information
should be used to design various service-operations such as
providing more flight schedule, conducting the business
feasibility study on the low-cost airline route, providing
more systems/facilities for safety and comfortable purposes
and providing self-check-in or on-line check-in services.
Voice of customer should be communicated through out
the company by using in-housing newsletter, on-line
information or call center services.
The information of present business performance should
be accessed to all employees concerned. Service agreement
should be carefully made based on the existing information
provided. The over-promise of service level could lead to
dissatisfaction of customer if employees are unable to
meeting the promise.
The designs of aircraft fleet should be continuously
752 2006 IEEE International Conference on Management of Innovation and Technology
renovated and modernized. Such features are the design of
comfortable seats and the designs of up-dated in-flight
service technology.
All customer-contacted employees particularly in
checking-in and baggage claim services should be
encouraged to show helpful/courtesy to gain passengers
royalty to the company
The risk of missing baggage should be kept at minimum to
gain passengers confidence towards companys service
processes. Moreover giving personnel attention to
passengers is essential.
However, it should be noted that the degree of passengers
perceived on service quality could be varied from time to
time. Thus, there is a need to continual monitor the
requirements and the level of customer satisfaction.
Seasonal effect (high-low season) of traveling should be also
investigated for further study.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank all management and
employees of the airline company in facilitating this study.
The contributions of all passengers in both domestic and
international flight are also appreciated.
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