<p><em>The way to address the problem is not to remove the problem but to find a sustainable and balanced solution<br><br><strong>By Ameya Joshi</strong></em><br><br>This case beautifully describes the challenges faced by airlines in managing expectations of internal stakeholders for cost and of passengers for service quality. Airlines are a mix of transportation and hospitality industry. While the core business is to take people from one place to another, most of the time passengers take the transportation part for granted and look forward to the hospitality part.<br><br>The case depicts how the management of SwiftAir tracks good and bad publicity of competition to learn and be prepared for any eventuality at its own airline. The bigger issue is response of media. A booming media industry has led to increased competition and catchy headlines with the buzzword being “narrow escape”. Media is quick to remove the word “suspect” from the headline and thus “Rat suspected on board” could becomes “Rat on board”.<br><br>Chief of accounts and finance Ambi Iyer’s argument is unreasonable since the food cost is less than Rs 1,000 per passenger and the average losses of airlines exceed this. However, discontinuation of food will also result in fewer passengers.<br><br>The letter from Ruzbeh’s cousin Dilshad represents the ignorance of family and frequent fliers regarding food in an airline. People, at times, expect a fine-dining experience onboard by paying much lesser than that which also includes the cost of travel from A to B.<br><br>While fusion foods don’t go down well, as mentioned by Duleep, it is easier in a space-constrained airplane and offers some variety. The choice is to make some people happy, unhappy or to have everybody 50 per cent satisfied. More often than not airlines opt for the latter. The way to address the problem is not to remove the problem but to find a sustainable and balanced solution and that is how the case ends.<br><br>Passengers hate airline food yet they eagerly wait for the food tray. Seasoned fliers choose seats based on where the food trolley starts service from to get food first! Even when the coffee does not taste good, most want to try it. It is either a sign of eternal hope, genuine desire or an attitude of having everything on offer because it’s free. The airline ought to select its menu that is palatable and presentable. The shift towards low-cost carriers denotes that a sandwich or a small meal is better than the free meal of soggy rice and mush.<br><br>In the US, the largest aviation market in the world, airlines offer only water and non-alcoholic beverages for free in economy class while the meals available for purchase; but in Asia, especially in India, meal seems to be an integral part of airline travel.<br>Food review websites incentivise people to post photos since people tend to like something more if it looks nice and a possible solution to the food problem could lie in suitably packaging the food.<br><br>There is a cue for customer services here. When a passenger complains, he wants to know if his complaint matters enough for the airline to improve its services. Whereas, at SwiftAir, the PR ends up giving unwanted explanations.<br><br>Airlines need in-flight audit team, which travels randomly, speaks to co-passengers, photographs the food and compares what was served on ground and how that tastes in-flight.<br><br>My experience in the airline industry tells me that Indian customers are cost sensitive and will shift loyalty for cheaper tickets. IndiGo does not offer hot meals yet attracts corporate and VFR (visiting friends & relatives) traffic because of affordable fares, connectivity and on-time performance. SpiceJet offers hot meals onboard but has high loads due to cheaper fares and innovative discount offers. A recent entry in the category, AirAsia India, even after introducing its popular hot meals to India, is struggling to make profits. So does Vistara (the TATA-Singapore Airlines joint venture), which recognised the importance of food and introduced gourmet food onboard. While its food is the best among the competition, the airline has lowest occupancy as the tickets are expensive.<br><br>While it is true that food remains an important factor, it is clearly not the only factor. People say food is the least important aspect in flight selection yet they talk the most about it post-flight and that’s where the airlines need to find the balance. <br><br><em>The writer is a management professional having worked with leading full service and low-cost carriers in the country. He currently works as a solutions consultant in aviation, travel and hospitality industry</em><br><br>(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 02-11-2015)</p>
