The Recommended Boarding Scenario
The boarding method designed by Southwest using three groups is quite effective but can be confusing for first-time travelers. Therefore, there is no need to embrace a new approach, and an educational video explaining the process should be offered to passengers instead. Essentially, the company needs to use scenario number seven to provide passengers with guidance on how to engage in the company’s boarding process (Krajewski et al., 2015). The use of three groups is the best scenario because it enables the passengers to undergo the boarding process efficiently and solves the problem of bottlenecks.
Evaluation of the Gate Boarding and Plane Turnaround Process
There are several ways in which the company can evaluate the gate boarding and plane turnaround process. First of all, to measure the efficiency of different boarding scenarios, Southwest can conduct a survey and assess the satisfaction level of passengers in relation to various approaches to boarding (Gardiner & Reefke, 2019). Additionally, the company can measure how many minutes the boarding takes depending on scenarios to observe the time limitations. Similarly, to evaluate the plane turnaround process, Southwest needs to analyze the time spent from the start to the end of the turnaround process (Bazerman & Moore, 2013). Moreover, the company needs to evaluate the efficiency of all activities involved in the plane turnaround by measuring the time they require and making changes if needed.
How Southwest Will Know the Bottleneck Is Eliminated
In order to understand whether the bottleneck has been eliminated, the company will need to first measure the default time and customer satisfaction level. Specifically, in terms of the boarding process, if the company registers an increase in customer satisfaction among clients with the new approach, then the elimination of the bottleneck will be achieved successfully (Franke, 2020). At the same time, the new boarding process needs to outperform the previous one in terms of time to ensure that there are no bottlenecks. Thus, Southwest will need to compare the time spent during the new boarding scenario to that of the default boarding process.
References
Bazerman, M. & Moore, D. (2013). Judgment in managerial decision making (8th ed.). Willey.
Franke, M. (2020). Managing airline networks: Design, integration and innovative technologies. Routledge.
Gardiner, D., & Reefke, H. (2019). Operations management for business excellence: Building sustainable supply chains. Routledge.
Krajewski, L., Malhotra, M., & Ritzman, L. (2015). Operations management: Processes and supply chains, student value edition (11th ed.). Pearson.