BA's New Year resolutions

Back to Forum
Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)

  • Mark Caswell
    Keymaster

    We’ve written about all of the newsworthy entries below – I’ve added in a few links where appropriate…

    1) New destinations – the airline has already announced nine new routes for 2020 including the Kosovan and Montenegrin capitals Pristina and Podgorica, Perugia in Italy, Antalya, Dalaman and Bodrum in Turkey, San Sebastián in Spain, Rhodes in Greece and Portland, Oregon, and it’s promising even more new destinations for customers to come.

    British Airways to launch London City-San Sebastian service

    British Airways to launch year-round Portland route

    British Airways adds six European routes from Heathrow for summer 2020

    2) New aircraft – the airline is due to take delivery of more than 20 new aircraft in 2020, including 787-10s and A350s which are up to 40% more fuel efficient than the aircraft they replace.

    British Airways to fly first B787-10 from February 2020

    3) Club Suite – more aircraft will be flying with the airline’s new business class seat, Club Suite, which offers privacy via a suite door, 40% more storage space and a 1-2-1 layout with direct aisle access for all passengers.

    British Airways unveils new Club Suite

    British Airways A350-1000 routes

    4) Caring for the environment – from January British Airways will be offsetting all its domestic flights, customers travelling further afield can offset their individual emissions. The airline will be making additional announcements about sustainability throughout the year.

    British Airways to offset emissions on all UK domestic flights

    5) First – customers can expect to see more aircraft fitted with the airline’s newest First seat, currently available on its 787-9 aircraft.

    6) World Traveller comfort – in addition to enhancements made in 2019, customers travelling in the airline’s economy cabin will experience refreshed bedding.

    7) Designed by Savile Row tailoring expert Ozwald Boateng OBE, new uniforms for a new decade will be revealed.

    Ozwald Boateng to design new British Airways uniforms

    8) Food for thought – the airline is introducing new menus across its network thanks to new partnerships with gourmet caterers Do&Co at Heathrow and Newrest at Gatwick.

    British Airways revamps menus on flights from Gatwick

    9) Lounge luxury – the airline’s lounges at Heathrow, Edinburgh and Berlin will be refreshed to ensure customers are relaxed ahead of their flights. The Elemis Spa at JFK will also be re-designed and re-launched.

    10) Connectivity – the majority of eligible aircraft will be WiFi ready by the end of 2020.

    11) BA.com – expect a newly re-designed Manage My Booking experience enabling customers to navigate to information and services in a more intuitive way.

    12) Appy days – customers using the British Airways’ app will benefit from a slicker design and additional functionality improving the experience as they make and manage their bookings.

    13) Robots – British Airways is trialling new autonomous wayfaring robots at Heathrow to help customers navigate through the airport.

    British Airways to trial robot helpers at Heathrow

    14) 3D printing – the airline’s tech experts will continue their trial of printing non-essential aircraft parts like tray tables, to ensure flights are able to depart on time and without seats going out of service.

    15) Concorde – British Airways Premier Card and Gold Guest List Executive Club members will be looked after by new Concorde teams when they travel through Los Angeles, New York JFK, London Heathrow, Delhi, Los Angeles and Mumbai.

    16) Customer service training – thousands of British Airways’ airport hosts worldwide will receive additional training to provide a service that goes above and beyond expectations.

    British Airways extends First Contact Resolution programme worldwide

    17) Executive Club – the airline has committed to making continuous improvements to the Executive Club with new partners and exciting deals throughout the year

    18) Flying Start – British Airways celebrates the 10-year anniversary of its Flying Start charity which has so far raised more than £24m+ for good causes in the UK and overseas.

    19) Internships – from summer, British Airways will become the first UK airline to offer paid summer internships to future aviators.

    20) Documentary – customers will have the chance to watch the 2019 documentary about British Airways, British Airways Access All Areas, 24/7 on board long-haul flights.

    British Airways behind-the-scenes documentary to air days before pilot strike


    Raffles99
    Participant

    9) and 15) are actually brand new announcements, and I am not entirely sure that BA intended them to come out like this! Someone may have forgotten what was and what was not already public.


    Gold-2K
    Participant

    [postquote quote=984456][/postquote]

    Maybe the release was managed by the same team who managed the New Years Honours List 🤷🏻‍♂️


    Tom Otley
    Keymaster

    Good spot, and Merry Christmas.
    I’d be surprised if the Heathrow lounges were to be refreshed this year because when I’ve tried to get a date for it in the past (in interviews this year) I’ve been told no date was set.


    MartynSinclair
    Participant

    3) and perhaps 17) interest me. It would be nice to try out the new seat during 2020..

    Regardless though, I will largely remain with BA, not because of the above, but because of competitive fares, they fly where I need to go and generally, good or bad, you know what to expect.


    canucklad
    Participant

    BA Resolution number 21)
    Look after canucklad’s low expectations

    Rule of thumb, I try and avoid BA “long haul Y” at all costs, alas a really great deal mean’s I’ve been tempted /bribed to forego my “at all costs “ policy and will once again give BA a chance to win me back to the fold

    I’m not expecting Cathay class service ,maybe not even Lufthansa service, but I’m definitely not expecting the bollocks service I’ve experienced with you in the past.

    A decent meal , a decent IFE experience, a decent comfortable seat and most importantly , an attentive welcoming crew would be a start
    All that failed to materialize the few times I flown long haul “Y” with you in the past.

    So when I fly to HK with you in March , please make it possible for me to look forward to my return flight rather than dread as I have in the past!!

    1 user thanked author for this post.

    rferguson
    Participant

    The A350 has had much fanfare mainly due to the focus on the Club Suite.

    In economy though, not much seems to have changed:

    Already worn: A review of British Airways’ A350 in economy from London to Dubai

    IMHO BA still has a lot of work to do to get the basics right – like having aircraft cleaned properly.

    Have you ever known an airline that does not have a ticket desk at its hub? Yes, there is no BA Ticket Desk or ticket staff at LHR anymore. Any check in agent that has issues with a ticket now needs to get on the phone and call an internal number where hold times are apparently causing issues.

    2 users thanked author for this post.

    canucklad
    Participant

    [quote quote=984517]Have you ever known an airline that does not have a ticket desk at its hub? Yes, there is no BA Ticket Desk or ticket staff at LHR anymore. Any check in agent that has issues with a ticket now needs to get on the phone and call an internal number where hold times are apparently causing issues.[/quote]

    Unbelievable – imagine the chaos when LHR is blanketed with a millimetre of snow and BA’s delivery team opt to hit the super cancellation button

    1 user thanked author for this post.

    capetonianm
    Participant

    New Year’s Resolution for BA :
    Get an app/website designed by people who actually book travel and fly, not a bunch of nerdy programmers. Programmers should programme, not design.

    3 users thanked author for this post.

    cwoodward
    Participant

    @rerguson

    The BA economy on the A350 does indeed look a poor offering when compared with other major users of the A350

    BA Width Pitch Screen
    17.5 31 10″
    SQ
    18 32 11″
    CX
    18 32 11.5″

    As a very late comer to the A350 party it would have been reasonable to expect something rather better from BA.

    Canucklad – Given the above and iffy BA service good luck – no A350 to HK in March of course.

    1 user thanked author for this post.

    Tim2soza
    Participant

    BA offers free Wi-Fi in First

    Self explanatory. Don’t think it has been covered on BT yet. If it has, my apologies.

    Free Wi-Fi if you are flying in First
    Use one device and stream for the entire flight

Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Be up-to-date
Magazine Subscription
To see our latest subscription offers for Business Traveller editions worldwide, click on the Subscribe & Save link below
Polls