United Airline Case

MARKETING OF SERVICES
SUBMITTED BY
SUBHAM CHAKRABORTY
PGDM SAP
0191PGM002
 Q=1 What happened on United flight 3411?

• United Flight 3411 was over booked and customers were asked to
voluntarily give up their seats for some compensation of $800. When no
one did, the airline chose four passengers to leave the plane and forcibly
dragged out Dr. Dao who refused to leave the plane. The flight’s crew
lacked proper training how to interact with customers in such instance.
Additionally, the freedom to be creative is not given to employees. The
management of United is responsible for what happened on flight 3411.
 Q=2 What service expectations do customers have of airlines such as
United? How did these expectations develop over time?

• For a company flying approximately 143 million passengers a year and winning the
“Best Overall Frequent Flyer Program” for about 12 years in a row, customers’
expectations are usually very high. Customers would expect premier services with
United airline having their best interest in mind. From the point where they placed
an order for a ticket, one would expect some level of personalized customer
service.
 Q=3 Discuss the importance of customer satisfaction and CRM for airlines such as
United. Broadly classify the areas where CRM plays an important role in the aviation
industry.

• Customer satisfaction should always be a top priority for an airline like United.
United is aware that an unhappy customer will lead to a downward shift in
revenue. Customer experience to include on-time flights, availability of airport
kiosks for check-in services, good in-flight service and more leg room will obviously
be important for United. Additionally, with a company with many awards for “Best
Overall Frequent Flyer” I would note that customer relationship will be as
important as every other factor mentioned earlier.
 Q=4 What is service failure? Suggest a plan for a root cause analysis of service
failure. Discuss the gap model of service quality to highlight the various instances of
service failure in this case.

• A service failure is an example of what took place on United flight 3411.

Passengers booked their flight and expected to fly to their destination without
inconvenience. Below is an example of a plan for root cause analysis of a service
failure:
• • The first thing to do in establishing the root cause is know what the service
failure is
• • Secondly, we dive into why did it happen (5 whys approach to establishing root
cause)
• • Lastly, we take preventative steps to prevent said service failure from taking
place
 Q=5 How can United prevent such incidents from occurring in the
future?
• I will consider 4 ways United can prevent Flight 3411 incident from occurring in the
future.

• 1. Increase incentives for customers who might want to give up their seats
voluntarily

• 2. Be proactive by asking customers if they would like to give up their seats for
compensation before check-in.

• 3. Train flights crew how to handle situations like what happened on flight 3411

• 4. Stop the unnecessary overbooking of flights and focus more on recovering lost
revenue through the transportation of cargo
 Q=6What steps can United take to rebuild its tarnished brand image?

• United should take the following steps to rebuild its tarnished brand image:

• 1. Acknowledge that their process of premier service failed their customers

• 2. Take full responsibility for the failed service

• 3. Inform customers of what led to the failure

• 4. Communicate with customers on the plan to improve service delivery

• 5. Create a customer driven service plan

• 6. Do everything humanly possible to ensure customers are getting the best

service going forward.