British Airlines passengers flying to and from Gibraltar will be able to take advantage of a new website and mobile app. Also including new short-haul seats and free onboard messaging, the modernisation initiatives form part of a £7 billion transformation plan unveiled at the airline’s first “In the Skies” showcase event in London.
Outlining details of the plan, chairman and CEO Sean Doyle said British Airways was committed to delivering a world-class customer experience, modernising IT, growing pride among colleagues and focusing on sustainability, as well as driving on-time performance.
“We’re on a journey to a better BA for our people and for our customers, underpinned by a transformation program that will see us invest £7 billion over the next two years to revolutionise our business.
“We’re going to take delivery of new aircraft, introduce new cabins, elevate our customer care, focus on operational performance and address our environmental impact by reducing our emissions and creating a culture of sustainability. We’re also heavily investing in the development of a new ba.com website and app and are laser-focused on transforming our business and fixing any pain points for our customers.”
According to British Airways (one of the two main airlines operating regular services between the U.K. and Gibraltar International Airport), the plan will include an overhaul of its digital user experience with a new website and mobile app offering deeper personalisation. “The new ba.com browser is already in BETA testing with platforms designed to offer a range of new services, including empowering customers to self-serve if they wish, taking control of and making changes to their journeys online, rather than having to call one of the airline’s customer care centres to alter their plans.” Initial changes are due to start rolling out by the end of the year.
Customer Wi-Fi Enhancements
From 3 April, British Airways Executive Club members will will be able to send messages free of charge on a single device using the airline’s Wi-Fi, from whatever cabin they’re travelling in.
The airline says it has also become the first to offer a Wi-Fi-enabled inflight customer care solution to solve issues “in the moment – even at 35,000 feet”.
The service has been created especially for British Airways by Microsoft, enabling customer care teams on the ground to connect with cabin crew colleagues across more than 300 flights a day. “The functionality allows crew to help solve any unexpected issues before a flight lands at one of the airline’s more than 200 destinations.”
Operational Improvements
The airline is investing £100 million in machine learning, automation and AI across its operation, “driving improvements from bookings to baggage handling and helping to revolutionise its operation, speed up departures and respond to disruption.
“Innovative new tools are helping to predict delays (prompting pre-emptive action to reduce disruption) and analyse real-time weather, aircraft capacity and customer connections data to help teams make better decisions. Since the introduction of the systems, alongside a number of new processes and ways of working, the airline has seen improvement to its on-time departures.”
British Airways is also creating around 350 new roles at Heathrow to improve customer experience at its home and hub airport, and is investing in new equipment, such as baggage tugs and towing vehicles, and £750 million in its IT infrastructure to move 700 systems and thousands of servers to the cloud by early next year.
Updated Cabins and Seats
New short-haul seats and cabin interiors will feature on the next generation of British Airways’ Airbus A320neo and A321neos, with eight aircraft set to arrive from May this year. “The airline is working with the best of British suppliers from England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, with the new short-haul Euro Traveller and Club Europe seats reflecting a modern yet classic British interior.” The re-designed cabins will also be fitted with extra-large bins for overhead luggage.
Sustainability Commitments
Noting that “significant and urgent action to address aviation’s impacts is critical to make the industry much more sustainable in the long term”, British Airways says its “BA Better World” program and its commitment to “People, Planet and Responsible Business” allows it to drive continual improvement in its environmental, social and governance business performance and meet its net zero target by 2050 or sooner.
At the start of the month, the airline’s parent company, International Airlines Group (IAG), announced its largest SAF purchase agreement to date with e-SAF (power-to-liquid) producer “Twelve”, which will supply advanced e-SAF made from carbon dioxide, water and renewable energy to support IAG’s five European airlines, including British Airways.
“The next-generation fuel will reduce life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90 per cent versus conventional jet fuel. IAG is the first European airline group to announce an e-SAF deal, and the agreement will enable it to continue increasing its SAF use towards the goal of 10 per cent by 2030.” 
