Customer complaints in the airline industry : a case of domestic and international air travellers in South Africa

Abstract: Service failures are inevitable in business. Understanding the nature of service failures that customers experience is critical to ensuring that proper measures are put in place to address them and avoid loss of customers. The study examined the types of customer complaints experienced by domestic and international travellers in South Africa. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire from 300 travellers at selected South African airports. The findings reveal that flight delays, baggage delays and poor food quality were some of the most complaints raised by travellers. Airlines were recommended to avoid those flight delays which are not naturally caused at all cost, and ensure that such delays are not repeated by securing pro-active strategies and that domestic airlines should consider the upgrading of their seats to better quality seats that can result in reduced customer complaints in this area

Micropropagation of Livingstone Potato (Plectranthus esculentus N.E.Br)

Livingstone potato (Plectranthus esculentus N.E.Br) is an underutilised indigenous root vegetable grown by communal farmers in the eastern provinces of Zimbabwe. It is vegetatively propagated using unimproved retained tubers from the previous season. The risk of disease carryover is therefore high, leading to poor yields. The objective of the study was to exploit the tissue culture technique of micropropagation to produce a mass supply of healthy planting material for improved productivity. Two experiments were conducted: firstly, to determine the best explant type and secondly, to determine the best landrace and plant growth regulators for the growth of plantlets. The landraces, namely, Ndurwe, Musande, Chibanda, and Chizambezi, were sourced from communal farmers in the stated production areas. Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and benzyl amino purine (BAP) were the auxin and cytokinin used, respectively. The first experiment was laid out as a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with two factors: landrace and explant type (shoot tips, nodes, and leaves). After culturing the explants on a plain Murashige Skoog (MS) medium for ten weeks, the best explant was the node with regards to the number of nodes, shoots, and roots of the plantlets which were significant (P<0.05). The second experiment was laid out as a RCBD with two factors: landraces and the plant growth regulator combinations. The nodes were subcultured on an MS medium supplemented with the 16 combinations of plant growth regulators (0 mg/l, 0.5 mg/l, 1 mg/l, and 2 mg/l BAP concentrations: 0 mg/l, 0.2 mg/l, 0.5 mg/l, and 1 mg/l NAA concentrations), respectively. Chizambezi performed best and is, therefore, highly recommended for the rapid multiplication of Livingstone potato. Results from this study have clearly demonstrated that the addition of NAA: BAP at varying concentrations was significant and is essential for optimizing the growth media for micropropagation of Livingstone potato in Zimbabwe. Commercial production of plantlets can, therefore, be carried out to provide healthy planting material for the communal farmers for improved productivity while preserving the germplasm of the underutilised crop at the same time

The Zimbabwe Council of Churches and 'Crisis' Ecumenical Groups

This chapter analyses the emergence of ‘non-conformist’ ecumenical groups that emerged due to the paralysis of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) during the crisis years in Zimbabwe. The author interrogates the limits of ecumenism in relation to political engagement and charges that the ZCC has not succeeded in promoting unity and cohesion. He charges that by withdrawing from active political engagement, the ZCC could not make a decisive contribution towards national development. He argues that the ZCC failed to implement the principles of ecumenism and ecumenics, namely, unity, dialogue, peace and reconciliation, that could provide the basis for resolving the Zimbabwean crisis. He describes how groups such as the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance (ZCA) and Churches in Manicaland (CiM) sought to contribute towards resolving the crisis. The chapter shows how they adopted different models and ways of working that enabled them to connect with the grassroots communities more effectively. Without glamorising these initiatives, it can be argued that they provide insights into how ecumenical bodies can contribute to developmen