Singapore Airlines: what it takes to sustain service excellence – a senior management perspective

Abstract

Singapore Airlines (SIA) is internationally recognized as one of the world’s leading carriers. This article details the results of a series of in‐depth interviews with SIA’s senior management on their views on what made SIA a service champion, and what it will take to maintain its lead in the industry. Excerpts from there interviews were broadly organized into four sections. They are: “SIA’s perspective of service excellence and key challenges”; “Understanding customers and anticipating their needs”; “Training and motivating the front line”; and “Managing with an eye for detail and profits”. The interviews show what SIA’s senior management sees as their key drivers of service excellence. The drivers are then related to key frameworks and models from the services marketing/management literature. Implications for current and aspiring service champions are derived.