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TToday, BA has launched a new advertising campaign to celebrate its centennial. The name of British Airways is only 50 years old, but it can trace its lineage through a series of evolutions and corporate mergers until August 1919, when the first commercial flight operated by Aircraft Transport and Travel took off from Hounslow Heath to London. and half an hour's journey to Paris.
The advertisement – a "love letter" centered on the people and on the well-being of contemporary Britain – features images of BA employees with excerpts from a plane filled with celebrities boarding flight BA100. Olivia Colman accidentally hits Anthony Joshua in the face with his luggage, Paloma Faith laughs with Riz Ahmed and Grayson Perry is resplendent with shiny red eyeshadow. "We love you, Great Britain. You make us what we are, "is the sentimental signature in the end.
Everything is very smart. And there is no doubt that the soft power of marketing and image building can affect the perception of a business. BA's two recent flight safety videos, made in conjunction with Comic Relief, are absolute masterpieces of the genre, making people laugh and boosting in-flight donations to this charity.
But the reputation does not ultimately depend on the image promotions, but the substance. And from what we've heard from you, our readers, BA has reason to worry. Our annual survey, released last December, is the most reliable of its kind. In the category of short-haul flights, BA slipped to 10th out of 25 rated airlines – not great, considering that it was leading in 2015-16. In the long-haul category, it ranked 31st out of 50, tied with Kenya Airways. Long-time rival Virgin Atlantic was seventh.
The investigation did not tell us why the BA star could be in decline. The catastrophic blackout of 2017, when so many flights were canceled, and the revelation in September that hundreds of thousands of customer credit cards had been stolen could have played a role. But I have also seen much more specific emails from readers who are not satisfied with BA. Recurring problems have been the weakness of customer services – the difficulty of getting both a response and a satisfactory resolution of complaints, and dissatisfaction with how the issues were handled on the ground.
BA is also not in the lead with regard to the comfort at the rear of the aircraft, where most pbadengers fly. A footstep (indicating the amount of legroom) of 31 inches (79 cm) is typical of long-haul flights. Singapore Airlines, which won our survey, and Emirates, second, offer offers ranging from 32 to 34 inches (81 to 86 cm).
I made these points available to BA during a press preview of his new campaign this week, but I do not have much hope on the ground. it is clear that this is seen as a simple way to increase seat capacity, and therefore revenues, in the face of fierce competition. However, it seems to be acknowledged that improvements are needed in customer service and complaint handling. Carolina Martinoli, director of customer experience, promises to focus on training and staff resources as part of a £ 6.5 billion investment over BA's centennial.
Part of the investment will be devoted to "first contact resolution". This means that if you encounter a problem at the airport, for example, the first BA staff member you approach should have been trained to try to solve the problem themselves, rather than throw the ball away. There will also be new technology to badist in the handling of complaints and retraining of staff in this department.
On the issue of significant delays and cancellations (in bad weather, for example), which caused chaos in the past, BA will also make decisions earlier, to give more pbadengers the opportunity to cancel or make a new reservation before making a useless trip to the airport.
Hopefully by the end of the year, our next survey will show some improvements. In the meantime, happy centenary, BA.
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