Adaptations in SCOR Based Performance Metrics of Airline Catering Supply Chain during COVID-19 Pandemic

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial License, to view a copy of the license, see: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.Purpose: There is the propensity of airline catering supply chains to adapt their performance measures in order to meet desired service level due to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this paper is to develop a set of metrics for airline catering organisations and explore the choices of SCOR based performance metrics during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: Case study approach involving an airline catering supply chain organisation is adopted in this research. The SCOR framework is applied in the context of the case study supply chain to develop a performance metrics model for the chain. The performance metrics model is analysed and validated by a set of experts in the case study organisation. The experts are formed into a focus group. The performance metrics were prioritised using MoSCoW method based on the experience of the focus group participants on COVID-19 challenges. Findings: A hierarchical performance measure framework is proposed, and a set of 55 metrics from the SCOR framework is identified and validated for airline catering supply chains. MoSCoW based prioritisation of the metrics by the focus group participants results in 7 Level-1 SCOR metrics and 13Levels 2 & 3 SCOR metrics been considered as necessary to better mitigate COVID-19 pandemic challenges. Research limitations/implications: This research is based on a single case study and a small number of participants, which limits the generalisability of the results. Practical implications: With the development of performance metrics and the prioritisation presented in this paper, airline catering organisations can monitor their catering logistics performance and use techniques such as MoSCoW to decide performance measures priorities in situations such as theCOVID-19 pandemic. Originality/value: The work contributes to measuring performance in the airline catering supply chain and the need for considering adapting performance metrics using techniques such as MoSCoW, during challenging periods as in the COVID-19 pandemic.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Measurement of post-flight food waste: A case of South African Airways.

The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development promulgated 17 Sustainable Development Goals in September 2015. The overarching aim of these goals was to promote a socio-economically and environmentally sound development agenda across all countries worldwide in order to curb global social, economic and environmental issues that manifest themselves in widespread poverty, starvation, ill-health, inequality, inequitable resource distribution, pollution, climate change and many other indicators. This study was aimed at determining the contribution that the airline catering industry could make towards the attainment of some of the 169 2030 targets of the UN particularly those that speak to starvation, food waste and environmental destruction. The methodology was quantitative using data collection sheets in order to quantify the amount of food that returned from all economy class flights over a period of 4 days at the Johannesburg kitchen of Air Chefs South Africa. The design was a cross-sectional case study as data was collected at a specific point in time using one airline only. The study exposed that there were a lot of different categories of food that returned untouched but was regarded as spoilt and unfit for human consumption and this was not donated to charity organisations for fear of liability in case of food poisoning events

An Investigation of Airline Catering Supply Chain Processes, Performance and Practices using SCOR Model

Supply chain management is critical to airlines' ability to provide high-quality in-flight dining experience to passengers. Managing airline catering supply chain can be complex and difficult because the chain frequently delivers a large volume of airline meals, manages the resulting reverse flow, and is required to meet performance requirements, often under uncertainty. This thesis delves into the business processes of airline catering supply chains, develops performance metrics for the chain, and proposes an approach for improving the chain's practice effectiveness. The thesis is divided into three main areas of study known as research projects, which are based on the portfolio of research work completed during the study. In this thesis, the supply chain operations reference (SCOR) model is used as the reference model for airline catering supply chain. The SCOR model is generic and provides a common definition of business processes, metrics, and best practices for supply chain evaluation. The model must be adapted to fit different industry settings. SCOR-based approaches to improving airline catering supply chain effectiveness have been developed in the thesis, by selecting the appropriate supply chain processes, performance metrics, and practices that are essential to the airline catering service. The first project adapts the SCOR model to create a framework and reference models for integrated business processes regarding the airline catering supply chain. The relevant standard processes were chosen from the SCOR model and expanded to define the specific workflow of airline catering logistics using Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) techniques. As a result, a hierarchical process structure is defined, including how the SCOR framework's processes of source, make, and deliver map to the airline catering supply chain process. The second project is concerned with selecting performance metrics for airline catering supply chain. In adapting SCOR performance metrics for airline catering supply chains, a method of selecting performance metrics for the chain is presented. A set of 55 relevant metrics is identified from the SCOR model and prioritised using the MoSCoW based prioritisation method. Results of the prioritisation show that an emergency, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, can influence performance considerations, including the selection of appropriate performance metrics. Finally, the third project focuses on practice effectiveness. It develops a SCOR based methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of airline catering supply chain practices and identifying weak performing practices. The methodology incorporates relevant supply chain practices, practice categories, and performance attributes adapted from SCOR. The methodology uses fuzzy logic, and it is applied in this thesis to a case study of a large airline catering supply chain. The case study company is found to operate highly effective practice, and areas requiring further improvements were recommended. The thesis demonstrates that the airline catering supply chain must pay attention to business processes, performance metric selection, and seek to continuously improve practice effectiveness. The methods and models developed in the thesis will help airline catering supply chains in all three areas. Insights from the chosen case study are valuable. Research limitations are identified, and future directions are suggested

Passengers’ Airside Food and Beverage Patronage Intentions in Commercial Airports: A Case Approach

This thesis investigates the factors that influence air passengers in their food and beverage outlet patronage intentions in the airside areas of commercial airports. Commercial operations, including the provision of food and beverages are becoming more important for airport operators. Air passengers’ behaviour in the airside setting is not always following rational decision‐making processes. Due to the nature of the setting and due to a loss of behavioural freedom, behaviour is influenced by the airside context. Extant literature on airport commercial operations has not yet addressed the question of factors influencing passengers’ outlet patronage intentions. Consumer theory usually accepts one of three perspectives: The rational‐choice, the behavioural influence and the experiential perspective. The review of literature on consumer behaviour in the field of food and beverage shows that none of the three theoretical perspectives sufficiently explains behaviour in the airside context and the need for a less paradigm‐dependant approach is derived. This methodological gap around the need for a less paradigm‐dependent approach is addressed through a mixed‐methods case study approach, during which both qualitative and quantitative evidence is analysed in order to explore the effect of the airside context and other factors on air passenger outlet patronage intentions. One medium‐sized German commercial airport serves as typical case for a class of German commercial airports. Evidence is collected mainly in‐situ in the airport’s airside area. The findings reveal that, besides the airport context, personal and outlet‐related factors have an influence on behaviour. Those factors can then be related to three emotional states that passengers may experience, namely AirsideFear, AirsideStress, and AirsideEnjoy. Depending on the type of trip, air passengers show different outlet patronage intentions, resulting in the need to adjust the extant view on passenger typologies. The role of service brands in the airside setting is explored, revealing that service brands are important for very frequent flyers mainly. Findings are discussed in light of extant literature and an Airport Airside Outlet Patronage Model is developed. The thesis concludes by offering a new perspective on airside consumption. This study contributes to the knowledge of the subject field by highlighting the conceptual gap in the literature, as well as by aiming to close it. This is achieved by exploring the factors that influence food and beverage outlet patronage intentions. On a methodological level, the mixed‐methods case approach aims at overcoming the limitations caused by the application of one of the three different paradigms in extant consumer behaviour literature

Effects of circadian rhythm phase alteration on physiological and psychological variables: Implications to pilot performance (including a partially annotated bibliography)

The effects of environmental synchronizers upon circadian rhythmic stability in man and the deleterious alterations in performance and which result from changes in this stability are points of interest in a review of selected literature published between 1972 and 1980. A total of 2,084 references relevant to pilot performance and circadian phase alteration are cited and arranged in the following categories: (1) human performance, with focus on the effects of sleep loss or disturbance and fatigue; (2) phase shift in which ground based light/dark alteration and transmeridian flight studies are discussed; (3) shiftwork; (4)internal desynchronization which includes the effect of evironmental factors on rhythmic stability, and of rhythm disturbances on sleep and psychopathology; (5) chronotherapy, the application of methods to ameliorate desynchronization symptomatology; and (6) biorythm theory, in which the birthdate based biorythm method for predicting aircraft accident susceptability is critically analyzed. Annotations are provided for most citations

Sleep Environment Recommendations for Future Spaceflight Vehicles

Current evidence demonstrates that astronauts experience sleep loss and circadian desynchronization during spaceflight. Ground-based evidence demonstrates that these conditions lead to reduced performance, increased risk of injuries and accidents, and short and long-term health consequences. Many of the factors contributing to these conditions relate to the habitability of the sleep environment. Noise, inadequate temperature and airflow, and inappropriate lighting and light pollution have each been associated with sleep loss and circadian misalignment during spaceflight operations and on Earth. As NASA prepares to send astronauts on long-duration, deep space missions, it is critical that the habitability of the sleep environment provide adequate mitigations for potential sleep disruptors. We conducted a comprehensive literature review summarizing optimal sleep hygiene parameters for lighting, temperature, airflow, humidity, comfort, intermittent and erratic sounds, and privacy and security in the sleep environment. We reviewed the design and use of sleep environments in a wide range of cohorts including among aquanauts, expeditioners, pilots, military personnel and ship operators. We also reviewed the specifications and sleep quality data arising from every NASA spaceflight mission, beginning with Gemini. Finally, we conducted structured interviews with individuals experienced sleeping in non-traditional spaces including oil rig workers, Navy personnel, astronauts, and expeditioners. We also interviewed the engineers responsible for the design of the sleeping quarters presently deployed on the International Space Station. We found that the optimal sleep environment is cool, dark, quiet, and is perceived as safe and private. There are wide individual differences in the preferred sleep environment; therefore modifiable sleeping compartments are necessary to ensure all crewmembers are able to select personalized configurations for optimal sleep. A sub-optimal sleep environment is tolerable for only a limited time, therefore individual sleeping quarters should be designed for long-duration missions. In a confined space, the sleep environment serves a dual purpose as a place to sleep, but also as a place for storing personal items and as a place for privacy during non-sleep times. This need for privacy during sleep and wake appears to be critically important to the psychological well-being of crewmembers on long-duration missions