EYE ON QUALITY
Commission also developing penalty and compliance matrix for airlines
MALAYSIAN Aviation Commission (Mavcom) is set to roll out a Quality of Service Framework from next year to enhance passenger comfort and ensure that airports prioritise consumer service levels and improve facility for better user experience.
MALAYSIAN Aviation Commission (Mavcom) will roll out a quality of service framework for airports in the country in phases from next year.
The framework will set out service standards and key performance indicators for airports.
This comes after Mavcom released the Malaysian Aviation Consumer Protection Code 2016 (MACPC) for those travelling by air to and from Malaysia.
Mavcom is also developing a penalty and compliance matrix that quantifies proportionate financial penalties for airlines which fail to comply with the MACPC.
Mavcom consumer affairs director PushSubramanipalatha am said a grace period of 15 months had been given to airlines before the commission implemented the penalty.
“The financial penalty of RM200,000 will be effective this month. Announcements on which airlines will get the penalty will be made next year. We will introduce a framework that quantifies financial penalties for non-compliance based on the penalty and compliance matrix,” she said in an interview recently. Meanwhile, the quality of service framework covers cleanliness of washrooms, wayfinding, availability and quality of infrastructure, queuing times and quality of Internet connections. Pushpalatha said the objective of the framework was to enhance passenger comfort and ensure that airports prioritised consumer service levels and improved facilities.
With this framework, airports and other agencies were anticipated to improve their service levels, she added.
Pushpalatha said the framework was being developed and an announcement would be made in due course.
“We are in the midst of deciding the amount of financial penalty for airports that fail to comply with the framework.”
As Mavcom plans to include consumers complaints based on airline and airport standards in upcoming consumer reports, Pushpalatha expects the number of complaints to spike.
“We expect the number of complaints to increase in future reports as more people become aware of these two standards (airport and airlines).”
Mavcom received a total of 677 complaints from March to August in its latest consumer report, a 92 per cent increase compared with the same period a year ago.
In the report, Malaysia Airlines had the most number of complaints, followed by Malindo Air and AirAsia.
The top three categories of complaints filed with Mavcom were refunds, mishandled baggage and flight delays, which collectively made up 62.6 per cent of total complaints.