British Airways has extended its staff-led First Contact Resolution programme to all airports at which it operates, following what it said was a successful launch of the initiative at Heathrow airport.
Staff are equipped with iPads loaded with specialist apps and are required to walk the terminal floor reaching out to customers, rather than waiting for them to visit desks.
The airline said that the training “empowers airport hosts to use their expertise, initiative and judgement to solve customer queries on the spot, without waiting for management approval”, adding that this “allows them to provide instant solutions and peace of mind for customers and send fewer issues to Customer Relations colleagues”.
The staff training programme was piloted at Heathrow last year, and when BA’s CEO and chairman Alex Cruz spoke to Business Traveller in March 2019, he said the following:
“What I can tell you is that the negative NPS (Net promoter Score) of bad days is today less negative than it was a year ago. And that is because we are investing a lot of money in technology and people training, so there are more people there to solve problems. It’s called First Contact Resolution, and we have nearly 2,000 people trained, and we will have finished by the end of September.”
Commenting on the news Tom Stevens, British Airways’ Head of Airport Operations said:
“We’ve seen a fantastic response to the First Contact Resolution programme at Heathrow, which is about going back to basics and emphasising the age-old concept of ‘treating others as you would want to be treated’.
“The roll out worldwide will provide consistency for our customers, giving everyone the unique and personal attention that they deserve, wherever they are in the world.”
