Sky Airways Case PDF

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Case Exercise Robert Johnston and Bridgette Sullivan-Taylor, Warwick Business School Sky Airways is a major European airline with routes predominantly in Europe but offering daily flights to New York, Johannesburg, Mumbai and St Petersburg. At the last meeting of the board of directors the airline’s chief executive, Bernie Williamson, expressed concern at the growing number of complaints his airline was receiving. His analysis of the increasing trend revealed a strong link between number of complaints and minutes’ delay. This did not surprise him. What did surprise him was the large number of underlying complaints that were, in the main (around 72 per cent), about the on-board catering. Given his desire to increase RPK (revenue passenger kilometre), which had declined by 5 per cent over the past three years, he was keen to hear ideas from his team as to how they could deal with the problem. This was an opportunity seized upon by Angela Carter-Smith, Sky’s recently appointed marketing director. She suggested that the airline should consider moving away from pre-packed and reheated meals in tourist class to the business-class style of service, whereby food is pre-cooked but heated, assembled and served in front of the customers. She explained: ‘Many international airlines are attempting to enhance their competitive edge by differentiating their in-flight service offering across their global network.’ The food costs, she suggested, would be little different but simply require more time by cabin attendants, which they have on the longer flights. If this proved to be successful on the long hauls, it could then be considered on the short hauls. When Bernie reminded her that they needed to provide an upgraded service for the premium-fare passengers, she added that the answer here was to provide ‘culturally sensitive’ meals: flying to and from Mumbai, the food should be Indian, while to Johannesburg it should have a distinct African flavour. All eyes then turned to Peter Greenwood, the operations director, who had his head in his hands and was groaning. He promised to ‘look into it’ and report back at the next meeting.

The next day Peter made time to talk about the rising trend in complaints to Christina Towers, the catering subcontract manager, Justin Maude, a senior cabin attendant, and David Goh, senior gate manager. Christina Towers explained: The problem we have, like all other catering companies, is consistency. Although we can specify menus, portions and costs there are inevitably wide variations in quantity and quality loaded at various airports around the world. We have the biggest problems at the furthest destinations. You also put us under pressure to reduce costs, so we only try to load the precise number of meals required in order to reduce wastage and space required. It is not easy making pre-flight predictions about both numbers and choices, and you cannot expect it to be right 100 per cent of the time without substantially increasing the number of meals loaded over and above passenger predictions. It is not cost effective and it is weight prohibitive to load two of every meal option, even for a business-class passenger who would expect, more than anyone else, to receive their first choice. I think we would get fewer complaints if we reduced choice of menus. Justin Maude added: You would not believe the difficulties we face in providing something as simple as meals to passengers. We frequently have to explain to passengers, in all the cabins, why they can’t have their first choice of meal. This creates a great deal of stress for the crew. There is just no room for more meals on board; the galleys are really tight for space. The biggest problem we have is over passengers who order special meals for religious, dietary or health reasons. I reckon one in five is not loaded on to the aircraft. Sometimes we have passengers on board who ask whether the food contains nuts and we have no idea. We can only offer them water and bread rolls to be safe. I think we should ensure the caterers let us know the contents of every meal and always provide extra vegetarian and kosher meals because passengers don’t always remember to pre-book them. Another problem is caused by the last-minute passengers whom you want us to take to fill seats, so we often have to ask for more meals shortly before take-off. I know this causes problems but, unlike a restaurant, during flight there is nowhere to find additional supplies. I think it would help if we could have meals that needed less preparation time and take less space, so we can load more meals in anticipation of an increase in passengers and also load additional special meals, just in case. David Goh then added his views: The main problem I have is ten minutes before take-off when we find that the incorrect quantity, quality and meal type are loaded and the crew request extra meals. We often end up delaying a plane and missing a slot while the caterers rush over half a dozen extra meals. We should let the plane go. I am sure not everyone actually wants a meal. They only eat because they are bored. I think we should stop providing meals altogether, certainly on the short hauls. Tourist-class passengers often eat at the airport anyway and we already provide food for business class in the executive lounges. Peter had not dared raise the idea of changing the methods of service in tourist class and increasing the range and type of meals to business-class passengers. His thoughts turned to how he could explain to the board the difference between what might be desirable and what is deliverable and appropriate.

Questions 1 What problems does Peter Greenwood face? 2 If you were Peter Greenwood, what would you say to the board?...