INTER V IEW
aircraftinteriorsinternational.com
088 MARCH 2020
Accessibility
agenda
BA has joined The Valuable 500, a global
movement to make accessibility a business
priority. Almost 500,000 customers requiring
additional assistance fly with BA each year,
and the airline’s analysts predict that this
figure will grow by a further 8% year on year.
With a view to attracting more customers
with hidden and visible disabilities, BA has
invested in a number of initiatives.
The Beyond Accessibility training
programme helps enable almost 30,000
customer-facing colleagues to improve
assistance for customers with hidden and
visible disabilities. BA is also the first airline
to be awarded the Autism Friendly Award
by the National Autism Society following
investment in the support available, including
visual guides to help with flight preparation.
The airline has also created a dedicated
team of 20 accessibility experts, the majority
of whom have experience of living with or
caring for someone with a disability, and
who have received specialist training to help
customers who get in touch via a dedicated
phone number or email address.
Claire Mason Burnett, a member of BA’s
accessibility team said, “I have two children
who are profoundly deaf so I know how
difficult it can be for customers with a
disability to navigate unfamiliar places such
as an airport. Lots of customers contact us
because they have never travelled before and
they believe their disability means they never
will, and the best part about my job is being
able to give them the support they need to
feel confident to travel and explore the world
for the first time. It’s an incredible feeling.”
Airways is also investing in the best quality onboard wi-fi
for every aircraft, and access to power at every aircraft
seat. Other technology is also being researched, including
AI-powered personalisation, which will enable passengers
to bring cloud-based work and entertainment profiles to
their seats.”
DIFFERENTIATION
While BA once helped to revolutionise the skies (along
with Air France) through the introduction of fully lie-flat
beds incorporated into seating, this feature is now
common, even among lower-cost competitors. That
includes WestJet, which already flies to the UK, and
JetBlue, which has announced plans to do so. We asked
Ismail how BA can stay ahead of this lower-cost
competition and continue to differentiate the British
Airways brand so that customers appreciate the value
of its offering. This, she argues, is where service and
network reach can make a difference.
“We are committed to providing our customers with
the best possible service from the moment they book
their flights. We have been investing £6.5bn in our
customers over five years, which includes new aircraft,
cabins, lounges, food and technology. We have also been
investing in world-class customer service training for our
colleagues and always strive to offer our customers the
highest level of personal service,” she says.
“Unlike some of our low-cost competitors, we operate
an extensive route network to more than 200 destinations
in almost 80 countries on a fleet of around 200 aircraft.
We are currently operating our most extensive route
network in more than a decade.”
BA also looks to industry partners to help fuel
imagination through collaboration. “When we work with
industry suppliers to deliver projects such as the Club
Suite, it’s all about collaborative approaches. We work as
a team with design agencies, suppliers and the aircraft
manufacturers to provide an optimal solution and deliver
the best possible outcomes,” Ismail says. “It is important
that area expertise as well as customer feedback are
brought to the table. British Airways is a strong and
recognisable brand, so everyone involved must
understand the brand and how we can take it forward
in an innovative and engaging way.”
“We work as a team
with design agencies,
suppliers and the aircraft
manufacturers”
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