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Service Agents: Service excellence Service excellence You make the difference You move people every day Service excellence at Lufthansa is part of our corporate culture and concentrates on our service performance and the aspects of personal dealings with our customers and among ourselves which can be directly influenced. Other airlines fly, too. In fact, the customer is spoilt for choice. Your personal service makes the difference for him to choose Lufthansa. Therefore service is the key to our mutual success. With service excellence, we wish to co-operate with you in focussing on service in order to further improve our quality. The fact that we are already very good is reported back to us by our customers. Maintaining this level means giving our customers our undivided attention every single day. This is only possible with your support and your firm conviction. Only you can enable our guests to feel and experience true service excellence. 40
Service Agents: Service excellence Our 5 promises to our customer should give them the feeling of being special and make their flight a personal experience We take care of you personally We show professionalism in appearance and performance We respect your status and culture We have an eye for details We ensure safety you can feel Even if you do not often have that much time with your guests, we are convinced of the fact that you can supply and integrate many good ideas in order to fill these service promises with life. We will be delighted to hear your thoughts on this and are counting on your support. These service promises will also accompany you during your training for Lufthansa. 41
Service Agents: Our Style Your Smile Grow with us to become a service agent: Our Style Your Smile We would like to put you on course for Lufthansa at the airport to ensure that you are well prepared for your future tasks. The motto under which training and interaction is organised is Our Style Your Smile. This motto is a clear indication that we are all important: you and us. Only this way can we further develop your service competence. Your Smile symbolises your talents, your positive attitude and your charm. Our Style stands for exactly that as well as our training methods which help to prepare you for your future tasks at the airport. Our aim is for you to feel at home with the Lufthansa team and during your trainings. Regardless of the issue at hand, you should feel a positive attitude during training which you should also take with you for your work at the airport. Only then can the foundations be laid for the service performance we expect of you in your future everyday working life. At Lufthansa, we refer to these key talents for service: Sociability Service orientation Diplomacy Team orientation Discipline Attractiveness Language skills These talents are a good basis for your success at Lufthansa. One of our aims in training is to promote your talents and underline them with expert knowledge and skills enabling you to comply with the two primary tasks at the airport working in a service- and safetyoriented manner to a high degree. But you won t be alone: you will always be part of a team of colleagues, experts and supervisors. By means of the appropriate uniform performance at the airport, you convey to customers a positive feeling of being welcome and safe. And one thing goes without saying: our customers have every right to expect both of these. During your application and employment interviews you will have become aware which criteria characterize service excellence. Or maybe you have experienced already which key tools are important in customer contact. 42
Service Agents: Our Style Your Smile After the initial training, you will be fit for service and fit for Lufthansa, which simply means that you will have been prepared for your tasks thoroughly, modern concepts and teaching materials. You will be learning on PC and experience a modern media mix. In the real world at the airport, you will be accompanied by on-thejob supporters during your start into the practical phase. We expect from you good performance and in return are going to offer extensive support, not only methodical but also by means of the committed involvement of our very well-trained instructors. Your training is broken down into phases of theory and practice. Depending on the training goal and area of application, training and progress thereof may vary. You will learn more about this from your training coordinator or Lufthansa Manager. As a Service Agent, you will come into contact with a range of other ground services and areas within the framework of your tasks, or even have to deal with them personally if working at a less frequented airport. 43
Service Agents: Other task areas Other task areas on the ground 44 Information services Information services provide our customers with a general information service as well as providing orientation aid at the airport. Baggage services Lost & Found As implied by the name, the Lost & Found area concerns the task of tracking lost baggage and organising dispatch of found items of baggage if something happens to go astray. All claims concerning lost or damaged baggage are handled here. Other baggage problems, e.g. irregularities, are also handled by the colleagues at Lost & Found. Support service The support service, also referred to as the escort service takes care of all customers requiring special aid. For one thing, they take particular care of our younger passengers, i.e. children aged 5 to 12, when they are travelling alone. In airline jargon, these children are referred to as UMs (unaccompanied minors). We bring the children to their respective departure gates, pass them on to cabin crew and meet them again at the airport of arrival. Children are taken care of until being transferred to the responsibility of those collecting them. Disabled guests are also entitled to special service. If they require a wheelchair, they are accompanied by an escort to their departure gates and assisted again upon arrival at their destination. We distinguish between 3 types of physical disability: WCHR: the passenger is able to board independently but requires a little extra time and support WCHS: the passenger is unable to climb stairs WCHC: the passenger requires assistance from medical staff and must be carried to his/her seat. All wheelchair passengers as well as blind or deaf passengers and UMs are entitled to pre-boarding, i.e. they are brought on board before all other passengers in order to make their trip as comfortable as possible. Incapacitated passengers are given particular attention: if necessary, they can be brought on board on a stretcher by medics. Once on the plane, additional seats are blocked to enable the passenger to lie during the flight as well as avail of the best possible assistance. Operations IWithin the framework of your tasks, you will collaborate closely with colleagues in Operations (OPS) who are responsible for planning aircraft loading based on the permissible maximum weights and permissible centre of gravity. For this reason, aircraft loading is subject to stringent monitoring taking consideration of safety specifications followed by generation of the appropriate documents for the respective flight (flight log). The tasks associated with Operations include in particular coordination of aircraft loading as regards safe and punctual take-off as well as baggage transit and safety. The Ramp Agent, Loading Foreman or Ramp Manager in position co-ordinates and controls all of the work steps, e.g. baggage and cargo loading, fuelling, catering, cleaning etc. Furthermore, the
Service Agents: Other task areas Ramp Agent or Loading Foreman also co-ordinates all of the flightrelevant data in his loading plan. Prior to take-off, the captain receives the Load and Trim Sheet a document required for every flight. This document includes essential details concerning the aircraft weight, weight breakdown and distribution as well as aircraft centre of gravity. Service Assistants The Service Assistants support you and your colleagues at the ticket counter by helping in the event of irregularities, e.g. delays, cancellations, over-bookings, short transit times or the like. If necessary, they can change bookings for your passengers affected by flight delays and organise hotel accommodation or other special services. They issue vouchers and basically go wherever there is an emergency. Reservations, ticketing and advice at the station The sale of tickets as well as customer advice on routes and flight prices is the task of the Ticketing area. Our colleagues at the ticket counter are responsible for reservations and bookings as well as changes in bookings but also take care of car rentals and hotel accommodation. In the event of flight delays, vouchers are also issued here for food and drinks, hotel accommodation or alternative means of transport such as taxis in addition to Service Assistants. If tickets need to be re-issued or bookings changed because customers have changed their travel itinerary, these tasks are also performed at the ticket counter. Other interfaces in your area of responsibility Duty Manager The Duty Manager represents the Station Manager on the respective shift. He decides on all crossarea measures to ensure proper procedures at the entire station. He also co-ordinates safety measures in accordance with the alarm specifications. Gate Assignment Clerk The Gate Assignment Clerk is the contact person for the respective airline and co-ordinates the gate assignment and positioning of all Lufthansa flights as well as other airlines flights handled by LH. Company Frequency Clerk This is the contact person for all crews reporting via the station frequency. In exceptional cases, he/she is in a position to set up a wireless connection to the aircraft. Flight Desk Clerk The Controller is the interface between all departments involved in Operations and therefore a central contact person, e.g. responsible for announcing delays and allocating delay codes. Passage Operations Manager The Passage Operations Manager is responsible for all EDP Passage issues. It prepares LH, OAL and charter flights as regards seating plans, stretchers (for transporting incapacitated passengers), mechanics and the like. Furthermore, it makes new booking in the event of cancelled or delayed flights and processes delay queries for connecting flights. The Passage Operations Manager also coordinates the provision of operating information such as arrival crews, last-minute changes in departure gates, aircraft cancellations etc., as well as group bookings for the current day. Apart from processing telexes, he/she also provides assistance in the event of EDP problems affecting Passage. 45
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