It is importance that business organisations focus on providing the best service to their customers. The survival of the organisation depends ultimately on the service provided. This study explores the elements which affect the provision of service excellence to passengers by flight attendants at South African Airways. The study is adequately supported by a proper and detailed literature study which, in turn is founded on an empirical study on the relevant topic. A field study was conducted on the various stakeholders of the supply chain pertaining to in-flight catering to determine what specific viewpoints, suggestions and limitations there were, with regard to existing packaging, catering utensils and galley equipment used by flight attendants personal service on board the aircraft. Alternatives were considered that could result in the improvement of service provided by flight attendants. The literature review within the scope and limitations of the study therefore concentrated on the specific nature and impact that packaging, catering utensils and galley equipment have on the quality service which flight attendants provide to passengers. The study included a detailed investigation into this part of the supply chain. The reality is that flight attendants are the front-line employees not only for the airline they are employed at, but also for all the stakeholders involved in the supply chain of in-flight catering. By not supporting them and providing them with the right tools to execute their duties affects more than one stakeholder in the supply chain. The empirical part of the study was conducted by interviewing flight attendants employed at South African Airways. The objective was to determine the impact that current packaging, catering utensils and equipment had on the execution of service by the flight attendants. A further survey was conducted to determine passenger perception towards packaging, catering utensils and galley equipment. The research findings clearly indicate the problems passengers and flight attendants are experiencing. The findings indicate the impact of passengers and flight attendants and makes suggests (makes recommendations) improvements to reach the objectives of improved service delivery. / Dissertation (MCom (Business Management))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Business Management / unrestricted

The in-flight catering industry is a major contributor to food wastage. This wastage is a direct result of the deliberate overproduction of in-flight meals to protect against meal shortages and dissatisfied passengers. With the global strive towards sustainability and the resulting impact of wastage on a company's corporate image, in-flight catering companies need a solution that strives to achieve zero waste and a 100% passenger satisfaction level. This dissertation evaluates the value of combining product substitution and demand uncertainty within an inventory decision-making model as a potential solution opportunity for the wastage dilemma faced by the in-flight catering industry. The decision-making model's purpose is to assist in-flight caterers to make improved decisions regarding the quantity of each meal type to produce for the specific flight under consideration. The model developed is defined as a stochastic multi-objective mixed-integer programming model with fixed recourse and two-way, stock-out based, partial consumer-driven (static) product substitution. The model relies on the output of a forecasting model, that consists of a time-inhomogeneous Markov Chain and a multiple regression model, to forecast the probability distribution of a flight's aggregate meal demand. Due to the lack of available data from public sources, synthetic data is generated to evaluate the model developed. The model is compared against three alternative models that lack either demand uncertainty, product substitution or both to validate the value of including these elements in the decision-making model. The comparison results indicate that the inclusion of the passenger load uncertainty improves the model's average reliability to achieve a 92% minimum passenger satisfaction level with at least 9.2%. Furthermore, it is shown that the stochastic passenger load model produces an average of 2.2 fewer surplus meals per flight instance at the expense of a 3.3% lower reliability when including the substitution behaviour of passengers. This substitution model's superior waste minimisation is attributed to the model's inherent risk-pooling capabilities, and further analysis shows that the value of product substitution increases when the model becomes more constrained. It is, therefore, concluded that the value of product substitution depends on the in-flight caterer's bias towards maximising either reliability or performance. / Dissertation (MEng (Industrial Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2021. / Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) / Industrial and Systems Engineering / MEng / Unrestricted

To prevent damage to the cabin crew an optimal coffee- and teapot in a number of aspects in airline catering was developed, so called “SAS-kannan”. It was launched in 1980 and has been manufactured in over 300 000 copies, which has worn out the mold and it is in need of replacement. The mold is advanced and it will be expensive to manufacture a new one. August Lundh who is the manufacture of “SAS-kannan” today, want to develop a new product for serving drinks with a cost-effective manufacturing. It should involve the positive qualities on the “SAS-kannan” and be adapted to today's airline catering. The objective of the thesis was to develop an ergonomic and functional product for serving cold drinks with cost-effective production and the adaptation to today's storage trolleys on aircrafts. The research began with a comprehensive theoretical framework consisting of scientific articles and academic approved books. Interviews were made to complement the theoretical framework and primary data was collected. All the gathered information was examined in the next step to ensure the validity and reliability. A case study was conducted at August Lundh by a product development that was based on the examined information. To do more detailed tests 3Dprintings were created of each development. The result was a pitcher that is designed to enable an uncomplicated and ergonomic use. It is also adapted for efficient and stable storage in the ATLASboxes, easy filling of the beverage and washing. The pitcher holds 1.5 liters and is a perfect combination of the number of servings, refills of the pitcher and a low weight. The pitcher is made with injection molding and is made out of the Bisfenol A free plastic Tritan. The grip is designed to give the pitcher an ergonomic use for different sized hands and it is symmetrical to allow equal use of both left and right handed. The spout provides a controlled and even beam, and a drip free serving by cutting the beam properly. The spout is designed so that the pitcher only needs to be tilted 90 degrees from an upright position to be emptied. The lid is a separate part which is put on the pitcher with press-fit and it helps to control the beam during serving and to prevent spills in case of turbulence. The authors believe that the objective has been accomplished by a thorough theoretical framework and an empirical study through interviews and a case study. / För att förhindra skador på kabinpersonal utvecklades SAS-kannan som var en optimal kaffe- och tekanna i ett flertal aspekter inom flygcatering. Den lanserades på 1980-talet och har idag tillverkats i över 300 000 exemplar vilket har medfört att formverktyget blivit slitet och är i behov av att bytas ut. Det befintliga formverktyget är avancerat och det blir dyrt att tillverka ett nytt. August Lundh som idag tillverkar SAS-kannan vill därför utveckla en ny produkt för servering av dryck med en kostnadseffektiv tillverkning. Den ska kunna jämföras med SASkannans positiva egenskaper och vara anpassad för dagens flygcatering. Syftet med examensarbetet var att ta fram en ergonomisk och funktionell produkt för servering av kall dryck med kostnadseffektiv tillverkning samt anpassning till dagens förvaring i serveringsvagnar på flygplan. Forskningsprocessen påbörjades med en omfattande teoretisk referensram bestående av vetenskapliga artiklar och akademiskt godkända böcker. Intervjuer gjordes för att komplettera den teoretiska referensramen och primärdata samlades in. All insamlad information granskades i nästa steg för att säkerställa validiteten och reliabiliteten. En fallstudie utfördes hos August Lundh i form av en produktutveckling som var baserad på den granskade informationen. För att kunna göra utförligare tester skapades 3D-utskrifter av varje utveckling. Resultatet blev en kanna som är utformad för att möjliggöra en enkel och ergonomisk användning. Den är även anpassad för effektiv och stabil förvaring i ATLAS-lådor, enkel påfyllning av dryck samt rengöring. Då kannan rymmer 1,5 liter ger det en perfekt kombination av antal serveringar, påfyllningar av kannan samt en låg vikt. Kannan är formsprutad och är tillverkad i den Bisfenol A-fria plasten Tritan. Greppet är utformat för att ge kannan en ergonomisk användning för olika stora händer och är symmetrisk för att möjliggöra lika användning av både höger- och vänsterhänta. Pipen ger en kontrollerad och jämn stråle samt en droppfri servering genom att skära av strålen ordentligt. Pipen är utformad så att kannan endast behöver vinklas 90 grader från upprätt läge för att kunna tömmas. Locket är en separat del som sätts på kannan med presspassning och hjälper till att kontrollera strålen under servering samt förhindra spill vid eventuell turbulens. Författarna anser att syftet har uppfyllts genom att en grundlig teoretisk referensram och en empirisk studie genom intervjuer och en fallstudie utfördes.