Question

Can you identify few main examples of "perception gap" in service quality with HK express airline? And also provide reasonable solution to close the gaps identified?

I need paragraph answers with explanation with reasoning.

Answer 1

HK Express is a budget airlines and due to this, there are various aspects of service quality that are questioned by the customers. I personally have not flown with them but looking at customer reviews we can find examples of perception gap in service quality.

Let’s look at the perception gaps using the GAP model components

Gap between customer expectation and Management perception: There have been instances where customers expected free water (to drink) on board but were charge $10 for it. There have been instances where customers expected rescheduling of flight due to storm but were refused. Now, these gaps arise when management’s perception about the customer expectation does not match. For instance, as a budget flight customers expect to pay for food and does not expect free meals. However, they do expect free water and when that is not provided it creates a perception gap.

In order to solve this gap, the best approach is to include cost of water, etc. into the ticket price so that the customer expectation is met.

Gap between service quality specification and service delivery: This is a common area for airlines and HK express is not exempted from it. This gap arises when customers expect a service but it does not meet their expectation because the delivery was not up to the mark. An example of this is delayed flights. There have been multiple instances of flight delays in HK Express. This is likely due to technical issue but the service quality specification provides a flight departure time. If the flight is delayed it means that the service delivery did not meet the specification. This is a perception gap in the operation.

Unfortunately there is nothing much that can be done in this gap. However, a proactive communication strategy may help reduce the grievance from the customers.