Job satisfaction of chief pursers in vietnam airlines

Service quality of the full-service airlines includes the airport service and the in-flight service in which onboard service plays a key role, because passengers spend most of the time o

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UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

International School of Business

-TRANG THANH MINH NGUYET

JOB SATISFACTION

OF CHIEF PURSERS

IN VIETNAM AIRLINES

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2018 - 2020

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UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

International School of Business

-TRANG THANH MINH NGUYET

JOB SATISFACTION

OF CHIEF PURSERS

IN VIETNAM AIRLINES MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

SUPERVISOR: Dr LE THI THANH XUAN

Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2018 - 2020

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TABLE OF CONTENT

LIST OF TABLE 4

LIST OF FIGURE 4

LIST OF ABBREVIATION 5

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 6

CHAPTER1: PROBLEM CONTEXT 7

1.1 Company Overview 7

1.2 Vietnam Airlines’ Organization 8

1.3 Vision & Mission 12

1.4 Industry Context 12

1.5 Company Context 13

CHAPTER 2: PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION 14

2.1 Symptom Analysis 14

2.2 Potential Problems 17

2.3 Problem validation 29

CHAPTER 3: CAUSE ANALYSIS AND VALIDATION 31

3.1 Cause analysis 31

3.2 Cause Validation 41

CHAPTER 4: SOLUTION 43

4.1 Alternative Solution 43

4.2 Solution Validation 54

4.3 Implementation Plan (Action Plan) 56

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 63

CHAPTER 6: SUPPORTING INFORMATION 64

6.1 Interviewees’ Transcripts & Profiles 64

6.2 References 77

6.3 Appendix 80

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LIST OF TABLE

Table 1.2 - Postholders’ names and responsibilities 9

Table 2.1A - The rating result of cabin purser staff 15

Table 4.3A - Action plan 58

Table 4.3B - Internal training cost 62

LIST OF FIGURE Figure 1.2 A - Semi-Organization Chart 10

Figure 1.2B - Cabin Crew Division & Organization Chart 11

Figure 2.2A - Chief purser’s task card 19

Figure 2.2B - C-class cabin attendant’s task card 19

Figure 2.2C - Initial Diagram of Symptom and Potential Problems 29

Figure 3.1 - Initial causes and effect map 40

Figure 3.2 - Final cause and effect map 42

Figure 4.1A - Cabin attendant career path and progression 45

Figure 4.1B - Standard promotion line of CCD 47

Figure 4.1BB - Fast-track promotion of CCD 47

Figure 4.1C - Revised promotion line accompanied with coaching and instructor position 51

Figure 4.1CC - Coaching staff 51

Figure 4.1D - Promotion line amended coaching and management position 53

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LIST OF ABBREVIATION

IATA International Air Transport Association

CAAV Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam

VNA - JSC Vietnam Airlines Corporation – Joint Stock Company

VNA Vietnam Airlines

CCD Cabin Crew Division

FTC Flight Training Center

ANA All Nippon Airways

VASCO Vietnam Air Service Company

CAA Cambodia Angkor Air

SMS Safety Management System

C-class Business Class

Y-class Economy Class

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Executive Summary

Air transport captures a crucial segment of the global economics Nowadays, the appearances of many air carriers are the challenges among airline companies and create the harsh competition Passengers are provided the variety of choices Gaining passengers’ satisfaction which is influenced by service quality is vital for the airlines’ survival Service quality of the full-service airlines includes the airport service and the in-flight service in which onboard service plays a key role, because passengers spend most of the time on the flights and have much time for communication with the front-line staff

Passengers’ perception impacts their assessments on the airlines The front-line service personnel like cabin attendants who often face to workload, disorder sleeps, different time zones, work tension have

to keep smiling, courteousness and attentiveness in dealing with passengers’ demands and problems They are the important labor forces of the airlines onboard Also, they really love their jobs as their performance says the degree of job satisfaction The duty of the airlines is to drive their job

satisfaction toward the company’s goals and mission as their satisfaction results in the profit and productivity Vietnam Airlines is not the exception

Studying Skytrax report and rating on March 2019 for Vietnam Airlines, there is appearance of low performance resulting from job dissatisfaction of chief pursers who are managing the in-flight service quality of cabin crew The purpose of the thesis is to find reasons influencing job dissatisfaction of chief pursers and proposes the solution

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CHAPTER 1: PROBLEM CONTEXT 1.1 Company Overview

The history of Vietnam Airlines (1) began in January 1956 At that time, it was a small carrier starting

to operate with five small aircrafts The first domestic flight was opened in September 1956 The airline was recognized as marking the birth of the civil aviation industry in Vietnam Vietnam

Airlines (2) was established in April 1993 as a state-owned enterprise under the state management of Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) On 27 May 1995, the government formed Vietnam Airlines Corporation by bringing together 20 service companies in which Vietnam Airlines was the centerpiece

In 2006, Vietnam Airlines (3) became a member of the International Air Transport Association

(IATA) In 2010, it was renamed Vietnam Airlines Company Limited In June 2010, Vietnam

Airlines (VNA) became a member of Skyteam including 19 global airlines In 2015, Vietnam Airlines (4) marked the significant milestone to be a joint-stock company (Vietnam Airlines Corporation - JSC) On 12 July 2016, it received a 4-star certificate of Skytrax

Vietnam Airlines (5) has played an important role in the economy of Vietnam It is believed as the parent company owned 100% of Vietnam Air Service Company (VASCO) VASCO is serving

domestic flights in Vietnam and Vietnam Airlines wishes to use it as the conjunction with foreign partners In addition, Vietnam Airlines owned a 70% stake in the low-cost carrier named Jetstar Pacific Airlines (JPA) and a 49% stake in Cambodia Angkor Air (CAA) In addition, Vietnam

Airlines makes revenue from some of its subsidiaries Besides, it has diversified the investments by leasing The company controls and operates a cargo division - Vietnam Airlines Cargo On 1 July

2016, All Nippon Airways (ANA), the largest air corporation in Japan (6) holds 8,771% capital and has become a strategic shareholder of Vietnam Airlines

Vietnam Airlines’ aircraft fleet has been modernized Now, it (7) has owned the wide-body aircraft including Airbus 350 (A350) and Boeing 787 (B787) The aircraft fleet has ranked on the second scale of South East Asia and on the top scale of Asia-Pacific The fleet includes 14 Airbus A350-900,

11 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and 3 Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner The narrow-body aircraft fleet

consists of 52 Airbus 321 (A321), 14 Airbus 321-Neo and 6 ATR-72 The company will continue to expand the fleet of the modern aircrafts in order to replace aircrafts operated over 12 years

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1.2 Vietnam Airlines’ Organization

Vietnam Airlines’ headquarter is located in 200 Nguyen Son street, Gia Lam district, Hanoi Two hubs are Noi Bai International Airport in the North of Vietnam and Tan Son Nhat International

Airport in the South of Vietnam

Vietnam Airlines’ postholders (2) have been appointed in order to managing and supervising the areas including safety, flight operation and flight crew training, maintenance, ground operation and

security The President & CEO is Mr Duong Tri Thanh Five Executive Vice Presidents are

responsible for five postholders Safety Postholder is responsible for supervising Safety Management System (SMS) and solving safety matters Maintenance Postholder is responsible for managing and supervising VNA’ maintenance system to ensure safe and effective operation Ground Operation Postholder is responsible for supervising and managing ground operation activities Security

Postholder is responsible for “ensuring Vietnam Airlines’ aviation security and has full authority and responsibility to deploy the aviation security program” Flight Operation Postholder is responsible for flight operations to ensure safety and effectiveness Crew Training Postholder is responsible for supervising crew training in compliance with requirements of Civil Aviation Administration of

Vietnam (CAAV)

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Table 1.2 - Postholders’ names and responsibilities

No Postholder Name of postholder and title Responsibility

President & CEO – Mr Duong Tri Thanh

1 Safety Postholder Mr Nguyen Thai Trung – Executive

Vice President

Management System (SMS) and solving safety matters

● Supervising crew training in compliance with

Source: VNA’ Quality Manual - page 2.2/P5 (See Appendix 6.3.1)

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Figure 1.2 A - Semi-organization Chart (2)

Source: VNA’ Quality Manual - page 2.2/P4

MANAGEMENT

President & CEO Mr

Duong Tri Thanh

TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT

SUPPLY &

MATERIAL MANGEMENT

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT - CHIEF SERVICE OFFICER GROUND OPERATION POSTHOLDER

PASSENGR SERVICE DEPT.

NOIBAI OPERATION CENTER

TSN OPERATION CENTER

DANANG OPERATION CENTER

CABIN CREW DIVISION

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT - CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER

CARGO PLANNING

& MARKETING DEPARTMENT

PASSENGER SALES

& MARKETING DEPARTMENT

CORPORATE PLANNING DEPARTMENT

NORTHERN REGIONAL BRANCH

MIDLE REGIONAL BRANCH

SOUTHERN REGIONAL BRANCH

VNA BRANCHES

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT

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Figure 1.2B - Cabin Crew Division & Organization Chart

Source: Quality Manual of Cabin Crew Division, Revision 08, 12 December 2018

Cabin Crew Director is the legal representative of Cabin Crew Division (CCD) Director assigns tasks for 3 Vice Directors The head office of CCD is located in 108 Hong Ha street, Tan Binh district, Ho Chi Minh city The Northern Region Office of CCD is located in Hanoi Two Vice Director assist to the Director in the head office, and another Vice Director manages and operates the Northern Region Office

Cabin Crew are assigned into 6 inter-groups including many small groups Each inter-group consists

of one general manager and one deputy manager Each small group has a group leader Cabin crew of inter-group 1, inter-group 2 and inter-group 3 live in the South and their main base is in Ho Chi Minh city Cabin crew of inter-group 4, inter-group 5 and inter-group 6 live in the North and their main base is in Hanoi capital city

Cabin Crew Inter-groups are specialized some specific flight routes Inter-group 1 and inter-group 4 frequently fly to London, Osaka (Japan) and Korea Inter-group 2 and inter-group 5 carry out the routes of Paris, Melbourne and Nagoya (Japan) Inter-group 3 and inter-group 6 fly to Frankfurt, Sydney and Narita (Japan) Hence, in the case of lacking cabin crew, they may be assigned in other flight routes that they have never flown before

TRAINING DEPARTMENT

HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT

CABIN CREW INTER-GROUP 3

CABIN CREW INTER-GROUP 4

ADMINISTRATION

DEPARTMENT

FINANCE &

ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT

PARTY &

YOUTH UNION OFFICE

DEPUTY DIRECTORS

CABIN CREW INTER-GROUP 5

CABIN CREW INTER-GROUP 2

CABIN CREW INTER-GROUP 6

CABIN CREW

INTER-GROUP

1

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1.3 Vision & Mission

Vietnam Airlines’ slogan is “REACH FURTHER” Its vision is to be the leading air transport force in Vietnam and the leading airlines in Asia gaining the customers’ trust The airline company’s mission

is to provide and diversify air transport with high-quality services, creating friendly work

environment and promotion opportunities for employees, achieving business effectiveness for

ensuring shareholders’ sustainable benefits

1.4 Industry context

Air transport with its worldwide networks becomes essential for global business and tourism and facilitate the world’s economic growth It connects people and remote areas from all over the world Nowadays, air transport is demanding as its safety and convenience It also provide time-saving for movement of millions of people and transporting worthy goods to the global markets It generates millions of jobs in the aviation and in the world Thus, its development and achievement significantly contribute to the progress of the global society

In Vietnam, the valuable contribution of air transport impacts the economy According to the

International Air Transport Association (IATA), air transport and tourists arriving Vietnam by air (8) provide 2.2 million jobs and support 5.2 percent GDP in the country In addition, it facilitates “the flows of goods, investment and people” Also, air transport is the connections between Vietnam and the world The bridges in the air are the crucial drivers for the growth of economy

Vietnam Airlines play a key role in the aviation industry of Vietnam In the past, Vietnam aviation industry (9) impressively held the growth of approximately 20 per cent a year With the aviation industry growth, Viet Jet, a low-cost carrier joins to the market In the end of the year 2018, other air transport service providers including Bamboo, Viet Travel Airlines, Vinpearl Air also enter Vietnam aviation market

The births of domestic airlines are the challenges to Vietnam Airlines in the nation as sharing the

market Analyzing the future of aviation industry, Cataldo (10) concludes that “Customer loyalty and

retention will rely on value-driven and personalized offers which require an understanding of fair exchange and commitment to data security” Thus, Vietnam Airlines has been forced to change,

improve service quality to impact and retain customers as well as maintaining its position in the aviation market

Skytrax established in 1989 in London, United Kingdom (11) is the international air transport rating organization known by airlines and media throughout the world The achievement of Skytrax

that “Skytrax officers may be the secret customers before informing Vietnam Airlines about the flight

checks” At this point, Mr N Tr confirms that “Sometimes, I and other chief pursers recognized these Skytrax officers on the flights without any notices of Vietnam Airlines They may be secret customers to supervise the flights for rating purposes”

Alkhatib & Migdadi (12) demonstrate that the rating scales of Skytrax 2017 indicate from 1-star to the prestigious 5-star 5-star ranking is objected to the airline of the highest service quality

performance 4-star ranking is for the airline of good service quality performance 3-star ranking is about the airlines of the fair or average service quality performance 2-star ranking mentions the airlines delivering low service quality performance 1-star ranking indicates poor service quality performance

In the world, nine full-service airlines (11) have achieved Skytrax 5-star ranking and 44 airlines have received 4-star ranking including Vietnam Airlines

1.5 Company context

Vietnam Airlines is a national flag carrier in Vietnam The mission of Vietnam Airlines stipulated by the Vietnamese Government (13) is to attain 5-star ranking in the near future At the 60th foundation anniversary of Air Transport Regiment 919 which was a precursor of Flight Crew 919 (Vietnam Airlines Corporation) and Vietnam Civil Aviation, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc emphasized that the mission of Vietnam Airlines was to bring the nation’s image and culture to the world Thus, the Prime Minister believed that Vietnam Airlines would be the first airline in Vietnam reaching 5-star rating as soon as possible

At the ceremony, Mr Duong Tri Thanh, the General Director & CEO of Vietnam Airlines stated that the previous generations were the leaders, so the next generations were responsible for Vietnam Airlines’ development and advancement in the nation and the region The General Director & CEO

between consumers and airlines to influence their perceptions and the airlines’ appearance The airlines’ benefits rely on the service quality considered as the consumers’ perception Therefore, certificated service quality standard is the robust factor for survival in the sharp competition of the aviation industry

CHAPTER 2: PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION 2.1 Symptom analysis

“Low performance of chief pursers” is a symptom influencing the service quality on VNA’ flights

According to Skytrax (15), three airline rating types consist of full-service airline, low-cost airline and leisure airline Vietnam Airlines (VNA) is a full-service airline Rating for full-service airlines is awarded after the in-depth assessments and analysis of 500 to 800 product and service delivery

attributes for both the home-base airports and onboard environments on aircraft types, utilizing the unified and consistent rating system

Skytrax Star Rating applies the quality scale from 1 star to the exclusive 5 stars Vietnam Airlines has gained Skytrax 4-star rating and its objective is to achieve 5-star airline in the near future Thus, Vietnam Airlines focuses on improving the front-line product and service quality covering both two hubs of Noi Bai international airport and Tan Son Nhat international airport and in the aircraft cabins Annually, Skytrax evaluates Vietnam Airlines for product and service quality improvement To

achieve 5-star airline, all service attributes are not postulated to reach 5-star rating Hence, on Skytrax report and rating of March 2019, the service attribute of cabin purser staff is evaluated less than 4.0 stars in total The management staff need to be concerned as they supervise and control service

quality of cabin crew onboard The rating result of cabin purser staff is shown as following:

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Table 2.1A The rating result of cabin purser staff

Staff – Cabin Purser Long Haul Short Haul

Source: Skytrax report and rating for Vietnam Airlines on March 2019

Skytrax concludes that “No changes have been made to the role of the purser” According to Skytrax, the role of cabin purser staff is evaluated by the prominent duties and responsibilities shown in Table

2.1A The ability of interacting/ PR with customers during flights, purser presence during main

service and general cabin presence during flights are individually evaluated 3.0 stars The ability of problem solve and service organization during flights are separately assessed 4.0 stars Purser

language ability is 4.5 stars Skytrax report explains that pursers spend time in Y-class cabins rather than in C-class cabins during in-flight service When senior staff can not interact with all customers, pursers have not been proactive in communication between the company and the customers Also, they have not increased monitoring the staff during rest period

The name “purser” in Skytrax report means “chief purser” in VNA Chief pursers are the highest positions in VNA’ aircraft cabins Chief pursers are crucial on the flights, as they are representatives for the company to solve the in-flight problems, in accordance with the regulations and rules They are responsible for managing and supervising cabin attendants’ performance to ensure the in-flight service quality Also, the front-line staff as chief pursers delivering good service are good examples for cabin attendants on the flights

Mr M T, a senior general manager of QA Department (see details 6.1.1) states that “On Skytrax

report, items relevant to aircraft equipment and facilities, or onboard catering can not be changed as depending on Vietnam Airlines Corporation - JSC Hence, the result of onboard service staff should

be concerned and analyzed in the research, because solutions can be suggested and will be feasible

is vital for the airline company’s survival and sustainability They also refer that “The cabin crew are

the representatives of the airline on board The quality of the crew service was highly effective on customer satisfaction”

Vatankhah & Raoofi (17) indicate that cabin crew play the significant role in the airlines’ success and brand promise Cabin crew have the opportunity in intensive interaction with passengers and impress them by their quality performance

The rating result of (chief) purser staff issuing 3.58 stars in the average is really low Their

performance that has not met 5-star rating can not ensure to achieve the exclusive service quality

standard on VNA’ flights Consequently, “Low performance of chief pursers” is the symptom

affecting the in-flight service quality The symptom is validated by Skytrax rating data in Table 2.1A Karatepe & Vatankhah (18) indicate that management of delivering service and handling passenger complaints in the aviation industry is crucial Lip Ryan Shin and Sunghyup Sean Hyun (19) assume that performance indicates how employee behavior is seen according to company desirability

Leaders’ behavior influences others to gain the company goals

Terence (20) indicates that “Leadership was found to be a critical factor affecting service quality performance Management commitment and true leadership to be the cornerstones of good service quality”

In order to investigate the real problem, the researcher carries out the in-depth interviews with a senior general manager and one instructor Then, the telephone interviews are proposed with chief pursers and instructors as they are carrying out the flying duties abroad One executive is applied telephone interview as well Questions for the interviews are prepared and the interviewees’ answers are taken notes During the interviews, probe questions are issued to get more information

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2.2 Potential problems

According to Skytrax, the role of cabin pursers is assessed by the ability of language, organizing services, solving problems, interacting with passengers during flights, purser presence during main service and during flights “Low performance of chief pursers” is the symptom of potential problems

Leadership is critical in good time and bad time The role of chief pursers is important to operate during main service and during flight to have the problems solved and services organized to ensure service quality Chief pursers are postulated good leadership to delegate cabin attendants effectively and control the in-flight service quality

However, some chief pursers have not demonstrated their management role on the flights Poor

leadership is a potential problem for “Low performance of chief pursers” affecting service quality Studying the phase of the flight such as after take-off will investigate their performance Straight after take-off, chief pursers and cabin attendants are busy to organize services as soon as possible In C-class cabins, chief pursers assist cabin attendants to prepare serving C-class passengers Almost, they

do not manage time to supervise Y-class cabins during main service Some real situations happen in twin-aisle aircrafts where cabin attendants are organized to serve on two aisles (New) cabin

attendants serve much slower than others and less experienced pursers can not control the situations, chief pursers’ presence during main service is helpful to generate services for not keeping passengers waiting Waiting for service impacts the assessments of passengers on service quality

Ms N Thg (see details 6.1.1) states that “Skytrax assesses 4-star for service organization, because of

waiting time for service In this case, the role of chief pursers is important to operate services

effectively”

Taylor (21) assumes that “Waiting for service is a negative experience” He believes that “Waiting

will affect service evaluation negatively” Managers’ role becomes more important in controlling the

situation and finding the ways to speed up services Waiting can not be avoided, hence, managers’

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options are to make the wait least unpleasant as the wait experiences ultimately impact customers’ evaluations of service quality

Mr M T (see details 6.1.1) states that “Chief pursers’ leadership is crucial in delivering service

quality Every onboard service quality relies on chief pursers’ management They are considered as the bridges to communicate between the company and customers about service, image, branding and reputation”

Another case of cost reduction, low performance of chief pursers resulting from poor leadership affects service quality For these flights, the number of cabin attendants and the positions on the flights are planned to maximize profits Except the long-haul flights to Paris (France), the flights having flying time between 4 hours to less than 12 hours are not scheduled qualified pursers Chief pursers must assign senior cabin attendants to be pursers Senior cabin attendants are in charge of managing and supervising Y-class cabin services They have not been trained leadership and qualified

as pursers They meet difficulties in leading Y-class cabin attendants and managing services Chief pursers’ presence during main services in Y-class cabins is crucial to control services and solves problems Hence, due to scare resources, some chief pursers assist in C-class cabins and seemly do not care much about Y-class cabins Y-class cabin attendants work without chief pursers’ supervision

or vise versa Skytrax report also says that “While they spend most of the flight in Business class, the

cabin manager is clearly responsible for the Economy class inflight service”

Ms L D (see details 6.1.1) says that “Chief pursers have much pressure onboard as lacking the

qualified pursers to assist them In these cases, they have to spend most of the time in managing and controlling Y-class cabins”

Mr N Tr (see details 6.1.1) states that “Everything depends on chief pursers’ leadership to manage

the flights Even when the number of cabin attendants are reduced or scare resources, chief pursers with good leadership are able to assign tasks appropriately, organize services to ensure service quality onboard

Wirtz, Heracleous & Pangarkar (22) define that human factors are assets of service company Right management helps improve higher performance, produces high service quality and productivity Service staff called front-line service directly contact to customers and drive customer loyalty to the company They are considered as a source of competitive advantages that competitors are unable to imitate

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Inappropriate Task Card

Cabin attendants’ task cards are accompanied with service procedures Service procedures mention

about VNA standard of meals and drinks served on the variety of flights and time for serving Cabin

attendants’ task cards detail the duties and responsibilities of all positions on the flights Task cards of

chief pursers and C-Class cabin attendants are shown in Appendix 6.3.3

Figure 2.2B – C-class cabin attendant’s task card

Take C-class passengers’

Turn on airshow/

movie

Check

&

Serve cockpit crew

Make announcemen

Take class passengers’

C-orders Assist serving

in C-class

cabinn

Supervise C/I/Y class Cabin

10 minutes after take-off

15 minutes after take-off

AFTER TAKE-OFF (WHEN “FASTEN SEATBELT SIGN” HAS BEEN TURNED OFF)

Turn on

electricity

in galley

Draw curtain

Offer baby bassinet

Assist serving cockpit crew

Serve

C-class passengers Tidy up cabin

after serving

Communicate, assist, take care

of passengers

According to task cards, chief pursers are tied to serving tasks rather than flight management

Inappropriate task card is a potential problem for “Low performance of chief pursers” Chief pursers are engaged to serving meals to pilots Then, they almost work in the galleys for preparations to assist C-class cabin attendants in order to ensure time of serving and landing at the destinations They do

not present frequently during flights and main service to supervise the in-flight services Once, they

involve much in serving, they are unable to have adequate energy for the whole flights to supervise cabin attendants or communicate with passengers Low performance of chief pursers affects the in-flight service quality

Ms N B (see details 6.1.1) assumes that “Service procedures are inappropriate Chief pursers are

unable to communicate with passenger during main service and during flights for both Y-class and class cabin” She also says that “Chief pursers concentrate on meal service, they have no much time

C-to control the cabin especially Y-class cabin Thus, after serving, they feel C-too tired C-to check cabin during flights and take care of passengers Their energy has not been spread equally throughout the flights That is why they less concentrate on other stages”

Ms T Th (see details 6.1.1) states that “Service procedures say that chief pursers take passengers’

orders straight after take-off for the preparation of meal services, but at that time chief pursers are busy with making announcements So cabin attendants take orders, they serve meals for cockpit crew They are unable to serve C-class passengers at that time If chief pursers concentrate much on meal service, they have less time to control cabins especially Y-class”.

Interacting with passenger is also one of service attributes assessed by Skytrax on chief pursers’ performance This duty is mentioned in task cards, but chief pursers have no chances to present in cabins to interact with passengers during main service and during flights

Good interacting with passengers can demonstrate their competency and skill in leading cabin

attendants Their willing to interact with passengers drives the passengers’ satisfaction influencing

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passengers’ evaluation on the in-flight service quality Communication during service delivery helps

to recognize the errors so that the improvement will be noticed Positive attitude can reduce

passengers’ complaints in delivering service However, chief pursers’ task cards with full of serving duties affect their chances to interact with passengers and influence the in-flight service quality

Ms L D (see details 6.1.1) says that “Chief pursers are too busy straight after take-off such as making

announcements, serving captains and first officers (co-pilots) Thus, they are unable to interact with passengers during main services”

Kumari & Patyal (23) show that the interaction taking place during delivering service obtains the greatest impact on the customers’ perception of service quality

In addition, task cards do not indicate the touch points for effectiveness Some chief pursers proactive

to interact with passengers at any time It is just some short conversations about the methods of

cooking meals if passengers confuse while deciding their choices

Ms N.B (see details 6.1.1) says that “Chief pursers are able to interact with passengers in most of

the time Starting long stories with passengers is inappropriate as depending on many factors Hence, they can begin with small talks, such as asking C-class passengers about meals, wine, cocktails or

other onboard service they have been enjoyed to show your caring towards them”

Mr N Tr (see details 6.1.1) states that “Chief pursers have chances to communicate to passengers at

any time, especially C-class passengers, but the touch points are crucial for the effectiveness”

service quality

Ms N Thg (see details 6.1.1) says that “Less experience, language constraint are problems for chief

purser presence during the flights”

Ms N B (see details 6.1.1) says that “Chief pursers feel less confident in solving problems on the

flights because of language ability Although many communication practices in English have been

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trained, they have not applied in real flights They still scare that passengers ask something beyond what they have learnt”

Mr N Tr (see details 6.1.1) says that “Language ability impacts chief pursers’ problem solving They

have got difficulties in expressing ideas and debating to passengers in real situations Sometimes, the situations are beyond their experience”

Nations’ culture

Nations’ culture is a potential problem for “Low performance of chief pursers” Chief pursers are trained the interaction skill and the cultures, characteristics of many countries in the world that VNA has the destinations The culture (or sometimes personal characteristics), Vietnamese chief pursers are not confident to interact with foreign passengers Nations’ culture results in chief pursers’ language ability and their willing to present during flights to communicate with passengers Indeed, passengers are not as strictly as they have thought Simply, welcoming them with smiles or honestly

communicating with them can start the conversations Hence, to some extend, nations’ culture

impacts passengers’ perception on the in-flight service quality

Ms N B (see details 6.1.1) assumes that “The Asian, particularly Vietnamese people have not feel

confident in communication with foreigners Although all chief pursers have been trained in

customer interactions to deal with many typical situations, they afraid of starting communication with passengers”

Ms M Th (see details 6.1.1) says that “Interaction with passengers is seldom conducted as most of

people are not willing to communicate with cabin attendants In addition, interaction effectiveness depends on the passengers’ cultural characteristics”

Gnanlet & Yayla-kullu (24) indicate that nation’s culture has significantly affected on employees’ communication Culture characteristics may cause bias in delivering messages Cultural barriers may affect the ways of dealing with information, impact service expectations

Wrong application of 360 degree feedback

VNA has been launching 360 degree feedback by using the web-based system After flights, chief pursers give feedback to all cabin attendants and pursers Vise versa, pursers and C-class cabin

attendants give feedback to chief pursers Y-class cabin attendants give feedback to pursers

360 degree feedback provides the company with the performance information of all around

employees Generally, the purpose of 360 degree feedback is for development rather than payments Hence, the management tool is misunderstood by both managers and cabin attendants, then causes

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negative effects With bad feedback, the managers require chief pursers’ reports If the evidences of feedback are proven, chief pursers’ month salaries are deducted Chief pursers feel loosing faces with cabin attendants Many of them assume that 360 degree feedback is bias and they issue negative reactions onboard

Wrong application of 360 degree feedback is a potential problem for “Low performance of chief pursers” Chief pursers do not issue the role of managers on the flights They seldom present during main service or during flights as they afraid of facing to problem solve or mistakes while interacting with passengers or even cabin attendants They do not participate in organizing service to assist

pursers while pursers also need chief pursers’ advices They let cabin attendants deliver services without supervision Though some chief pursers are not affected by 360 degree feedback, many of them still care about it 360 degree feedback is a good management tool, but wrong application affects chief pursers’ performance and then the in-flight service quality

Mr M T (see details 6.1.1) says that “360 degree feedback does not affect chief purser’s in-flight

management Chief pursers’ good examples will influence cabin attendants’ respect and trust”

Ms N B (see details 6.1.1) also says that “360 degree feedback has never affected experienced chief

pursers”

Mr N Tr (see details 6.1.1) states that “360 degree feedback is not a matter Once cabin attendants

want to reflect something badly, they surely double-check the chief pursers’ names”

However, Ms T Th and Ms L D (see details 6.1.1) agree that “360 degree feedback is unfair and

make chief pursers loose power on the flights It brings troubles to many chief pursers as in cases of any bad assessments from cabin attendants, inter-group managers ask chief pursers to make reports, even being disciplined Some chief pursers feel loosing faces with cabin attendants They are fear of responsibilities, so they let cabin attendants work without chief pursers’ supervision on the flights”

Namukasa (25) says that services onboard provided by cabin attendants impacts passengers’

satisfaction Experiencing cabin attendants’ services is “the moment of truth” Due to the intangibility

of most services, cabin attendants should concentrate on tangible service attribute by interacting to passengers The in-flight service quality significantly impacts their satisfaction

Wrong implementation of Specialized flight route

Wrong implementation of specialized flight route is a potential problem for “Low performance of chief pursers” Previously, cabin attendants were scheduled to fly to all destinations of VNA In recent years, VNA implements specialized flight routes Specialized flight routes improve chief

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pursers’ competency and intensive knowledge Chief pursers will gain much experiences about

passengers’ characteristics and serve better

Nevertheless, specialized routes are not strictly followed In lacking of chief pursers, they are

scheduled to other routes Chief pursers who do not possess much knowledge of the flights’

characteristics, experiences in problem solve and service organization affect service quality on those flights Wrong implementation of specialized flight routes can lead to the ineffective interacting with passengers as the level of satisfaction depends on the ability of dealing with passengers’ complaints Additionally, 360 degree feedback may be bias as the tendency of chief pursers and cabin attendants within the routes is upward or influenced by the “crowd” appraisal Specialized flight routes are applied for many airlines in the world Hence, wrong implementation affects chief pursers’

performance

Mr N Tr (see details 6.1.1) states that “Specialized flight routes are the best for services It

demonstrates weaknesses as chief pursers have not obtained intensive knowledge of passengers’ characteristics on those flights Specialized flight routes may produce partial in assessments”

Ms T Th (see details 6.1) says that “Specialized flight routes can cause bias in assessments Further,

cabin attendants feel bored, as they do not feel challenges on the regular flights”

Karatepe & Vatankhah (18) state that management of delivering services and dealing with

passengers’ complaints on the flights are crucial Cabin attendants always expect to solve these problem effectively and send reports as feedbacks to the management of the company

Unchallenged Recruitment

Recruiting chief pursers is important as they are representatives for VNA to manage the flights

Choosing good, qualified, reliable staff can create positive images to passengers Recruiting the internal sources of cabin attendants requires less orientation and training than outsiders Internal recruiting promotes their loyalty and competency VNA also implements career-oriented appraisal while recruiting chief pursers Additionally, the participants of recruitment committee consist of instructors and experienced chief pursers who are inter-group managers of cabin attendants So, candidates’ qualification and skill may reveal their potential for the positions

To some extend, the internal recruiting may not be much challenging Unchallenged recruitment is a potential problem for “Low performance of chief pursers” Chief pursers are assured of the promotion with less competition After promotion, they develop a tendency for not updating their skill that can lead to stagnation of skill or be obsolete Thus, chief pursers afraid of interacting with passengers and

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other duties have not been done Unchallenged recruitment can cause low performance of chief

pursers on the flights, impact service quality and the future of the company

Mr N Tr (see details 6.1.1) says that “Recruitment plays a key role in developing good staff influencing

service quality The recruitment should not only focus on cabin attendants having good knowledge, experience, but also good job attitude and having potential leadership skill”

Wirtz, Heracleous & Pangarkar (22) state that “The right people are your most important asset” They believe that “The wrong people are liability”

Ineffective Training

Recruiting the potential chief pursers is not enough Carefully selecting does not guarantee that their performance will be effectively Training becomes an important stage to make them know what to do and how to do as chief pursers onboard The purpose of training is to give them knowledge and skill

to perform their jobs Training has to provide adequate practices and motivation for the optimal levels

of performance The similarity between training program and work situation must be maximized Ineffective training is a potential problem for “Low performance of chief pursers Ineffective training impacts chief pursers’ performance when they can not transfer what they learned to execute their jobs VNA has frequently trained cabin crew following the regulations of CAAV Training programs are accordingly designed for chief pursers’ skill and experience To improve chief pursers’ performance, training programs issue possible situations accompanied with solutions and references Hence, real solutions onboard have not been demonstrated as evidences to make them believe what the company have done So, chief pursers have not been adequate confidence to communicate with passengers They afraid of more complaints while they are not sure of the policy to solve passengers’ demands

Ultimately, training should be close to the reality to facilitate their skill for dealing with passengers

Ineffective training affects their performance linking to service quality

Ms N B (see details 6.1.1) states that “Training programs of communication skill need to be

enhanced communication tools, practices more to be confident and help them have knowledge of the nation’s culture in the world”

And, Ms T Th (see details 6.1.1) assumes that “The company policy of compensation is not clear

This affects chief pursers’ problem solve” She also states that “Training should be more practical”

Iswahyudi, Dewie, Soedjarwo & Hartono (26) states that training is systematically process of

changing one’s behavior to company goals Training relates to expertise and ability of a person to

Insufficient Corporate Communication

VNA issues a manual of manners and postures for 4-star airline cabin attendants and chief pursers It has not issued 5-star standard for chief pursers VNA objective is to achieve 5-stars, but the

employees have not known how to gain and what criteria are Even not many employees know and understand clearly the company’ vision and mission

Insufficient corporate communication is a potential problem for “Low performance of chief pursers” They have not known 5-star image of cabin attendants, so they can not recognize the failures affecting the company objectives

Mr M.T (see details 6.1.1) says that “In reality, the service quality among chief pursers is different

VNA’ objective is to gain 5-star service quality standard Hence, cabin attendants, front-line staff have not known how the cabin attendants’ images should been built”

Mr N Tr (see details 6.1.1) states that “Vietnam Airlines has not built the standards of chief

pursers”

Choy (27) assumes that corporate communication is a factor of job satisfaction Nowadays, the

organization is in the environment of rapid changes Thus, the employees highly expect to know the instant information and implications of changes within the organization The employees always need

to understand the organization’s goal and objectives, vision and mission They need to know the plan

of the organization Communication make them feel that they are members of the organization to contribute to the quality system and deal better with changes

Job Dissatisfaction

Job dissatisfaction is a potential problem for “Low performance of chief pursers” According Skytrax, the role of chief pursers is determined by service attributes such as chief pursers presence during main service and during flights, problem solve, service organization and communication with passengers All these chief pursers’ duties and responsibilities are issued in the company policy, but they have not done as expected For example, it says that cabin attendants check cabins every 15 minutes after

27

services (even when passengers are sleeping) This is not only for dealing with passengers’ demands during flights, but also for safety reasons However, cabin attendants do not carry out as frequently as the policy mentioned Some chief pursers do not prompt them to ensure service quality, even chief pursers have not followed the regulation

Mr M T, Mr N Tr and Ms T Th (see details 6.1.1) shares information that “The company policy

says that cabin attendants check every 15 minutes, but they seldom implement due to being tired Chief pursers have not reminded cabin attendants to follow the policy”

Mr N Tr (see details 6.1.1) says that “Some chief pursers have no sense of job responsibilities Job

attitude impacts service quality on the flights”

Ms T Th (see details 6.1.1) assumes that “Cabin attendants themselves have not had high

responsibilities in jobs They have no passion and appropriate personality for jobs”

Choy (27) indicates that the employees experiencing job satisfaction are able to gain higher

performance and engage to service-oriented behavior

Another new policy is debriefing in English after flights Its purpose is to draw experiences between chief pursers and cabin attendants for service quality improvement However, most of chief pursers

do not implement as they feel dissatisfied with the policy To their experience, debriefing time is necessary when abnormal situations occur on the flights And, they are exhausted after flights, so they lack of energy to do more tasks that they have not gotten more salaries

Ms T Th (see details 6.1.1) states that “VNA’ new policy is to implement debriefings in English

after flights, but most of chief pursers have not done They are too tired after the flights, and want to

go home as soon as possible No one check if they implement the policy or not Additionally, no

matter what they have done, they have never received more pays”

Mr N Tr (see details 6.1.1) agrees that “VNA’ new policy is to implement debriefings in English after

flights, but most of chief pursers have not carried out”

Kanyurhi & Bugandwa Mungu Akonkwa (28) indicate that the equity theory proves “employees

evaluate their jobs by comparing what they put into their work with what they get out of it”

Therefore, companies investing more specific practices will possess employees with higher levels of job satisfaction

Chief pursers also complaint about senior cabin attendants who have not promoted for years They are not eager to serve passengers or seldom smile or not smile, etc They produce low performance

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onboard Chief pursers are unhappy as these cabin attendants affect their duties on the flights and service quality

Ms L D (see details 6.1.1) states that “Some cabin attendants seems to be no passions in job,

especially the seniors May be, these cabin attendants have not had efforts in the career advancement

On the flights, they serve passengers like the machines”

Choy (27) indicates that The employees’ apathy feeling in job is set when they feel their jobs lead to

no promotions or increased pays

Ultimately, job dissatisfaction impacts chief pursers’ performance resulting in the service quality onboard Job dissatisfaction links to job attitude that is the outcome of their performance on the

flights The more they are satisfied with jobs, the higher performance is delivered

Ms N Thg (see details 6.1.1) says that “Job attitude is so important to influence performance and

service quality They have not been career orientation before being recruited as this impacts job satisfaction, then service quality So, they are not willing to serve”

Mr M.T (see details 6.1.1) states that “Job satisfaction connected job altitude is a focal element

impact service quality on the flights”

Limpanitgul & Jirotmontree (29) say that job attitudes are connected to job performance Job

satisfaction is assumed to be the vital attitude of the employee The more employees satisfy with their job, the higher performance is likely to achieve In addition, motivating employees would facilitate to improve job satisfaction Job satisfaction is more likely to engage employees in service behavior Rageb, Eman Mohamed Abd-El-Salam, El-Samadic & Farid (30) define that “Performance is what the organization hires one to do, and do well” Therefore, job performance is what employees do in their job situations Performance is crucial for the employees as it is a source of satisfaction

accompanied with the feeling of pleasure and pride Low job performance might result in job

dissatisfaction or a personal failure

performance to fulfill their tasks They are productive when doing extra efforts or flexible in

management to follow the company procedures, regulations and rules Whereas, many of them expose negative altitude and low performance

All chief pursers are trained the difficult situations of demanding passengers, but their responses on the flights are in different ways Chief pursers need to improve knowledge, skill, experience through the reality for making progress They need to face to the in-flight difficulties to improve skills and competences They should report service failures to the company for better advancement They need

to be flexible in delegating cabin attendants, managing time to supervise the cabins, organizing

services or interacting with passengers to ensure the in-flight service quality However, many chief pursers have not done with reasons They are not happy as task cards assign them multi-tasks onboard

or 360 degree feedback produce bias in assessments In addition, specialized route makes them less

NATIONS’

CULTURE INEFFECTIVE

TRAINING UNCHALLENGED

RECRUITMENT WRONG

IMPLEMENTATION OF

SPECIALIZED ROUTE

JOB DISSATISFACTION

POOR LEADERSHIP INAPPROPRIATE

TASK CARD LANGUAGE

BARRIER WRONG

APPLICATION OF 360

DEGREE FEEDBACK

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confident in problem solving and service organization, or corporate communication have not

indicated them the directions They are not happy as the internal recruitment with less challenging creates less experienced chief pursers that become their burdens onboard They have not satisfied as

training is ineffective, so they can not apply much on the flights

In general, potential problems including poor leadership, inappropriate task card, nation’s culture, wrong application of 360 degree feedback, wrong implementation of specialized flight route,

unchallenged recruitment, ineffective training, insufficient corporate communication affect chief pursers’ performance onboard Challenges in jobs are unavoidable Some chief pursers can overcome the difficulties, while many of them can not do Thus, any of these potential problems is not the focal problem as it can not totally impact the roles of chief pursers or their performance Chief pursers with positive feeling in jobs can perform well and always find the best solution to accomplish their duties Under the same circumstances, their feeling towards the jobs are different This creates the

inconsistent service quality onboard influencing the quality assessments of passengers, while Vietnam Airlines is targeting to 5-star standard achievement The feeling producing the positive or negative effects on their roles and responsibilities at work is recognized as job satisfaction Their performance

is pivotal to measure the level of their satisfaction on jobs On the other hand, the quality of chief pursers’ performance is the interpretation of job satisfaction

Ultimately, job satisfaction prevails other potential problems and becomes a main problem for “Low

performance of chief pursers”

Abbas, Ishaq & Ullah (31) say that “The employees who are happy with their jobs will even give extra

time for their job activities” Rakhi & Kumar (32) indicate that “Job satisfaction is the feeling a worker has towards his/ her job” Demirkol & Nalla (33) states that job satisfaction is as

“pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job or job

experiences”

Mr M T, a senior general manager (see details 6.1.1) concludes that “Main problem in the problem

mess is job satisfaction This is a real problem of VNA The rate of leaving jobs is high in recently

years”

In the meeting of January 2020, Mr Duong Tri Thanh, the General Director & CEO of VNA states

that “The managers should lead effectively so that the employees feel happy and engage to the

company” Additionally, Choy (27) confirms that “Happy employees are productive employees”

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Aamir, Salman, Asif & Bahar (34) say that “Job satisfaction and dissatisfaction not only depends on

the nature of the job, it also depends on the expectation what’s the job supply to an employee”

Oyinlade & Garay (35) admit that job satisfaction is the “Extent to which employees like their work”

Barakat, Lorenz, Ramsey & Cretoiu (36) define that job satisfaction is “The general altitude and

positive emotional state reflecting an affective response, reaction or appraisal of an individual

toward his or her work experience conveying the meaning of work success Job satisfaction is

considered as a work outcome” Martínez-martí & Ruch (37) indicate that “Job satisfaction roughly

refers to the degree to which people like their work (Milla ´n et al 2013), and it seems to have a series of effects on the performance of individuals and organizations”

Job satisfaction is utmost important for better operation of the company and improve the service quality Job satisfaction is the outcome of the employees’ performance The more they satisfy with jobs, the higher performance they demonstrate Job satisfaction also has connection to the employees’ altitude that predisposes them to behave in certain ways They will deliver good services to retain customers Job satisfaction drives employees to be more productive and innovative Once, they are happy, they focus well on their tasks Additionally, job satisfaction stimulates the employees to learn and improves knowledge for jobs advancement Satisfied employees always accept challenges and deliver services at the best levels It is crucial for strengthening the company to keep the employees happy

CHAPTER 3: CAUSE ANALYSIS AND VALIDATION 3.1 Cause analysis

To investigate potential causes, the researcher carries out the in-depth interviews with a senior general manager The telephone interviews are proposed with chief pursers and instructors as they are

carrying out the flying duties abroad Questions for the interviews are prepared and the interviewees’ answers are taken notes During the interviews, probe questions are issued to get more information

Low salary and benefit

One of potential cause of “job dissatisfaction” is low salary and benefit VNA possesses both the permanent cabin attendants and the part-time ones Previously, cabin attendants signed the long-term contracts are called the permanent cabin attendants In recent years, VNA selects cabin attendants provided by Alsimexco company (38) They are called the part-time cabin attendants and sign 3-year contracts

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The differences in salaries between two types of cabin attendants depend on their categories of the labor contracts Basically, salaries of all cabin attendants are relied on the number of the flying hours The more they fly, the higher salaries they are paid

Most of chief pursers do not satisfied the salary policy Chief pursers managing and supervising both C-class and Y-class passenger cabins on A321 are paid as pursers They feel unfair as they carry out all duties and responsibilities of qualified chief pursers Although the aircrafts are smaller than A350

or B787 and low workload, the positions are still postulated chief purser qualifications

In VNA, A321 and ATR72 are called narrow-body aircrafts or single-aisle aircrafts A350 and B787 are called wide-body aircrafts or twin-aisle aircrafts

Mr H Kn (see 6.1.2) says that “According to company policy, chief pursers manage and supervise

both C-class and Y-class passenger cabins on all types of aircrafts Pursers manage and supervise the whole passenger cabins on A321 and ATR72 or Y-class cabins on A350 and B787 Hence, the

salaries of the flying hour for the permanent chief pursers are equally to those of the part-time

pursers”

Mr Đ Ht (see 6.1.2) states that “They have not satisfied a new salary policy Chief pursers working

on A321 are paid as pursers They are fully paid as chief pursers if they fly on A350 or B787”

They are not happy when a flight is scheduled two chief pursers, but a chief purser with less seniority will be a purser Badly, although he (she) is qualified a chief purser for all flights, he (she) will be paid as a purser on that flight

Ms L D (see 6.1.2) also says that “The flight is scheduled two chief pursers However, the chief

purser with lower priority will manage Y-class cabin and receive lower salary as a purser They feel dissatisfied with this policy”

In addition, the permanent chief pursers are paid the expenses of the overnight stop-over abroad They were previously paid in cash of US dollars, but now they are paid in Vietnam dong They are not paid

in advance, the amount of money is received in monthly salaries

Mr Đ Nt (see 6.1.2) says that “They are not satisfied as they must pay the income taxes”

The company benefits also cause their dissatisfaction One of VNA’s benefit is MyID Travel

Benefits (see Appendix 6.3.5)

The MyID Travel Benefits are really interesting with many employees Annually, they have chances

to go vacation with their families as the benefits are issued to their husbands, wives, children and

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grandparents The permanent chief pursers can obtain MyID Travel Benefits even when they are retired The tickets’ value is as the same as the full-fare tickets Chief pursers also complaint much of MyID Travel Benefits If the flights are full of passengers, they will be in the waiting lists They feel dissatisfied as they are offered the benefits that could not be used

Ms T Th (see 6.1.2) says that “Employees holding MyID Travel Benefits of VNA have not been

gotten privilege to confirm the onboard seats”

In general, VNA uses direct and indirect financial payments to motivate the employees’ performance The permanent chief pursers are provided salaries and benefits such as the in-flight position

allowances, the expenses for overnight stop-over abroad, myID travel benefits, the employer-paid annual health examination, vacation, etc Whereas, the part-time cabin attendants only receive the salaries of the flying hours The salary of each flying hour of the part-time cabin attendants is higher than those of the permanent cabin attendants, but the total income of the permanent chief pursers might be higher However, the prominent factor of salary policy affecting their “job dissatisfaction” is that chief pursers are not paid for their qualified positions, but paid for the actual positions on the flights

Alshammari, Al Qaied, Al-Mawali & Matalqa (39) say that pay satisfaction is positively involved in performance When the employees are satisfied with pay and salary, they exert more efforts in their jobs, work harder and increase the engagement Once, the employees recognize that their attempts are appreciated by the company and rewarded in monetary term, they will evolve the positive feeling and altitude

Work Intensification

Air crew rostering is the focal part of the flight operations as its cost efficiency The rosters are legal

as describing the rules and regulations The creation of rosters and cost reduction are objected to satisfy cabin attendants The optimized schedules often propose intensive and extensive

intensification to cabin attendants

Work intensification is a potential cause for “job dissatisfaction” of chief pursers as they usually fly with the minimum number of cabin attendants onboard The crew positions and the number of cabin attendants are planned to minimize costs For a medium-haul flights to Japan or Korea on A321, six cabin attendants are scheduled for serving 184 passengers in which one chief purser and one C-class cabin attendant serve 16 C-class passengers, four cabin attendants serve 168 Y-class passengers Therefore, chief pursers are tiring of pressure and work intensification The working processes need

to be as quickly as possible to minimize the time that passengers wait for serving and ensure the time

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that the cabins are secured before landing, especially the short-haul flights of less than 2 hours So, chief pursers exert more efforts in their tasks and assist to serve in C-class cabins

Ms T Th (see 6.1.2) states that “Chief pursers are pressure and workload On A350 or B787, a chief

purser and two C-class cabin attendants individually serve 28 to 32 C-class passengers; and seven cabin attendants serve more than 270 Y-class passengers”

Also, chief pursers feel burden onboard as the flights are not scheduled qualified pursers managing and supervising in Y-class cabins Anyway, qualified pursers are much better as they are trained leadership, service organization and other necessary skills These pursers are replaced by senior cabin attendants as profit maximization Thus, chief pursers are added more tasks when controlling and solving problems in Y-class cabins

Ms Đ Nt (see 6.1.2) says that “Chief pursers feel pressure as lack of qualified pursers in Y-class

cabins to help them on the flights, thus they are also stress”

Intensive intensification is also recognized when turnaround time in minimum and workload at

maximum They have less time at home or on stopover to recover between shifts If the flights are full

of passengers, they have to work harder, not to mention that passengers are demanding

For the long-haul flights such as Paris, London, Moscow, Frankfurt, chief pursers are tiring After flights, they need more time to sleep for recovery Hence,they may be planned 4-sector flights after a day This means that they have to spend 4 times of take-off and 4 times of landing for a flight

Ms T Th (see 6.1.2) says that “Flight rostering should be more flexible and attentive to chief purser

I have just finished the long-haul flight, but take 4-sector flight for the next days If they report sick, their salaries are deducted on that month”

In addition, extensive intensification is irregular wok schedules, though cabin attendants were already planned to fly within the month Their duties have to be ready for changes at the last minute This is a pressure for their work and family life

Bergman & Gillberg (40) states that “The intensification that cabin attendants experiences was both

extensive (longer working hours) and intensive (higher energy level required during work)” Work

intensification is not just to speed up the working process Work intensification is manifested in the form of “adding more tasks to the same time unit” or exerting intensive efforts of physical and mental input

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Toxic Work Environment

Work environment significantly impacts physical and mental health of employees Some chief pursers are totally working on the flights Some of them work both in the air and on the ground (in VNA’ offices) including cabin attendant instructors or managers They can work 50 per cent of the time in the air and 50 per cent of the time on the ground every month Working at offices can lead to many conflicts rather than in the air This may cause toxic work environment

Toxic work environment is a potential cause for “job dissatisfaction” within chief pursers Toxic work environment impacts employees worldwide One typical factor of toxic work environment is toxic interpersonal conditions recognized as interpersonal conflicts The robust type of interpersonal

conflicts is with direct managers The interpersonal conflicts can be the unpleasant interpersonal interaction while working Also, the conflicts can happen when managers exposure bias in job

assessment or do not motivate or poor treatment with the employees

Mr L Kh (see 6.1.2) states that “I completely carry out all assigned tasks that others can not do, but

I have never been honored in the Vietnamese Teachers’ Day every year A direct manager treats well and offer good rewards to others that she likes Now, I decided to leave VNA as I always feel unfair”

Chamberlain & Hodson (41) states that “Conflict with supervisors can be a product of role conflict,

in which workers perceive supervisory demands as unreasonable, but can also be unrelated to job demands and be simply an unpleasant interpersonal interaction that occurs on the job and is bounded

by workplace role relations Poor management and unclear communication can lead to role conflict”

Mr Đ Nt (see 6.1.2) also says that “Working environment is not good anymore Many chief pursers

and cabin attendants are dissatisfied and leave VNA”

Røssberg, Eiring & Friis (42) indicate that “The working environment is strongly related to staff

satisfaction The working environment should be regularly measured, as one way to measure service quality”

Inappropriate Promotion Line

The purpose of new promotion line (see Appendix 6.3.6) is to help cabin attendants define career

goals, encourage for profession advancement and build the good front-line staff being appropriate for the company’s strategies Hence, due to flight operational needs, the changes of promotion line

become inappropriate and unable to encourage chief pursers for making advancement

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Inappropriate promotion line is a potential cause for “job dissatisfaction” According to the promotion line, examiners are considered as the highest positions onboard In fact, examiners are also chief pursers obtaining the additional duties of the in-flight assessments Base on the role of cabin

attendant, there are higher positions than chief pursers such as cabin attendant instructors or managers

on ground-based offices of VNA These positions have not been mentioned in the promotion line

(Senior) Chief pursers have not satisfied with qualification requirements for selecting new chief pursers New promotion line focuses much on the educational qualification such as regular bachelor degree and TOEIC score, whereas experiences are quite important to become chief pursers New promotion standards are acceptable for the positions of Y-class cabin attendants, C-class cabin

attendants and pursers However, fast-track promotion standards for chief pursers should be

considered as the disadvantages Pursers with one-thousand flying time have not been adequate

experience and confidence to be chief pursers, because one-thousand flying time is approximately one-year experience The longer the pursers take positions, the more experiences they can gain Also, they need the time to be build their own image and prestige before being chief pursers In fact, it is not necessary to take over the positions of pursers for too long, but at least two-year experience

accompanied with two-thousand flying time of pursers are appropriate The positions of pursers proposing many experience, interaction skill, service organization, problem solve for both onboard services and cabin safety situations are crucial for the in-flight management of chief pursers in the future Chief pursers with less experience, but high score of TOEIC still afraid of interacting with passengers as they may ever encounter the difficulties

For example, on the long-haul flight of 13 hours from Vietnam to Paris, a flight is scheduled two chief pursers After a main service, a senior chief purser assigns task to (new) chief purser to manage and supervise the entire cabin while he (she) takes a rest In this case, a senior chief purser believes that an experienced chief purser will make him (her) feel more pleasant and secure than the new one Although some (new) chief pursers are good knowledge and performance, those chief pursers are rare The fast-track of new promotion line may not ensure the in-flight service quality

Mr A Tr states that “Good chief pursers will deliver good service quality on the flight They must be

mature enough to be chief pursers VNA should not be in hurry as everything needs the time The core value of chief pursers is experiences to response to emergency situations or solve problems onboard

No books teach them Their experiences have been accumulated everyday Cabin attendants feel trust and satisfied with those chief pursers than others”

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In addition, new promotion standard for being chief pursers requires bachelor degrees Chief pursers have not satisfied as some senior pursers who used to be chief pursers’ good assistants on the flights are resigned To some extend, these pursers may not be happy when flying and affect service quality

in the future These permanent pursers become Y-class cabin attendants and this significantly impacts their salaries They feel unfair as they are all seniors Previously, the minimum requirement for

recruiting cabin attendants is announced the high school diplomas Their jobs’ characteristics are work shifts They have less chances to achieve the university degree New promotion lines issue the advantages toward the part-time cabin attendants as most of them gain the university degree and high score of TOEIC Promotion line frequently changes, but cabin attendants have not been informed

before years So, it is reasonable to think that the company wants them to leave

Mr H Kn (see 6.1.2) states that “Some permanent pursers have been resigned, though they are all

experienced ones This causes psychological instability They assume that VNA wants to fire them Sadly, they have less promotion opportunities, but they have not left VNA Some of them spread bad attitude to the new ones”

Ms T Th (see 6.1.2) says that “Cabin attendants increasingly leave their jobs in recent years New

cabin attendants have not assisted much to chief pursers’ in-flight management, so this may affect service quality

Now, VNA has about 2.800 cabin attendants including 1.000 permanent cabin attendants who are flying and the remaining is part-time cabin attendants Approximately, 100 permanent pursers are resigned to become C-class cabin attendants and 70 permanent pursers are resigned to be Y-class cabin attendants

In brief, cabin attendants put more efforts in job for promotions Now, most of the permanent chief pursers become instructors or managers in VNA’ offices Some still work as in-flight chief pursers or pursers, even cabin attendants This labor forces are experience and helpful for developing young generations The positions of chief pursers define their value and encourage them to dedicate for the company’s reputation and success

De Souza (43) indicates that promotion is a crucial component of job advancement in the company Promotion is the company reward offered to the employees

Job Stress

Job stress can be a potential cause for “job dissatisfaction” of chief pursers Typically, cabin attendant profession is a stressful job They travel through different time zone and have limited sleep Irregular shiftwork causes more sudden changes in sleep timing of cabin attendants On the flight, they spend

negatively to job satisfaction

Ms L D (see details 6.1.2) says that “High workload is due to deduction of cabin attendants

onboard Chief pursers have to make so many announcements after take-off Recorded

announcements have not been updated to the company’s regulations, so their usages are restricted Entertainment system starts slowly After finishing these tasks, chief pursers have to serve cockpit crew as soon as possible”

Yang & Yang (44) says that job stress impact on job satisfaction Cabin attendants remaining constant stress depress mood reactions Job stress is caused by “performing daily work tasks” Job satisfaction among these cabin attendants remain low In order to improve job satisfaction, job stress need to be reduced

Unmotivational Training

Choosing high potential chief pursers is the purpose of recruitment However, this does not make sure that they are able to deliver good performance without training Training is to ensure that they know what to do and how to do chief pursers’ tasks or other in-flight positions Also, training issues up-to-date knowledge required by the company and the aviation authorities Training provides them

adequate knowledge, skill and experience to perform the jobs

Unmotivational training is a potential cause for “job satisfaction” of chief pursers In VNA, cabin attendants take the recurrent courses every year to have their certificates updated This training

programs focus on review and update knowledge, rules and regulations to reduce risks of failures Some instructors are very strict and their teaching methods are not motivated Their assessments affect cabin attendants’ promotion in the future And, due to scare resources, VNA recently accepts to select executives who have never been chief pursers to be instructors if they obtain adequate

educational levels These instructors demonstrate their disadvantages in the recurrent training courses for not being able to discuss or debate the real situations with chief pursers Some instructors do not created motivational training environment to meet chief pursers’ training needs Besides, another training policy that chief pursers have not satisfied is to pay fee if they fail

39

Mr A Tr (see 6.1.2) says that “Recurrent training every year makes them stress Also, we have not

satisfied when paying for training fee if we fail Instructors must be good in order to create good cabin crew delivering service quality ”

Also, Ms T Th (see 6.1.2) says that “Cabin attendants feel pressured by annual training to have

their certificates changed according to the CAAV Some instructors’ teaching methods make them more stress”

Ms L D (see 6.1.2) says that “Every year, training is another stress as its unrealistic programs The

instructors’ assessments affect their promotion in the future”

Limpanitgul & Jirotmontree (29) training conveys the company’s messages of being value the

employees and expecting them to increase high productivity The information makes them satisfied with adopting new knowledge and skills

In brief, potential causes of “job dissatisfaction” are low salary and benefit, work intensification, toxic work environment, inappropriate promotion line, job stress or unmotivational training

40

Figure 3.1 – Initial Causes and Effect Map

INSUFFICIENT CORPORATE COMMUNICATION

WRONG IMPLEMENTATION OF SPECIALIZED ROUTE

UNCHALLENGED RECRUITMENT

INEFFECTIVE TRAINING

POOR LEADERSHIP

LOW PERFORMANCE

OF CHIEF PURSERS