More BA A350 Madrid flights in October
Whether you want to try a fancy business class seat for next to nothing, you are an aviation geek or just fancy a weeknd break a trip to Madrid could be in order.
BA’s second A350 is due for delivery in autumn and they have scheduled more training flights to and from Madrid.
Currently, it is only scheduled to operate for 7 days between 1-7 October . However, it will do two return trips per day.
- 06.20 Heathrow – 09.20 Madrid (BA456)
- 10.55 Madrid – 12.15 Heathrow (BA457)
- 16.45 Heathrow – 20.05 Madrid (BA464)
- 21.20 Madrid – 22.25 Heathrow (BA465)
If you fancy trying another type of long haul aircraft one way, both BA and Iberia operate long haul aircraft on the route. BA460/1 is a Boeing 777 and Iberia flights BA7059/8 are due to be an A330 or A340.
If you are going solely for the A350 it would be wise to book using Avios or on a refundable ticket since we all know how common aircraft swaps are and with a new aircraft it is even more unreliable.
HT: Flyertalk
BA invest in customer service on board
British Airways has announced that all of its 15,000 cabin crew will be issued with iPhone XRs to help them offer a more personalised service to customers. The investment for all cabin crew members follows a successful trial of iPads for senior cabin crew onboard every flight.
The new phones will be loaded with a selection of apps to help crew offer customers instant additional assistance during their journey. Cabin crew will be able to:
- Provide flight and airport information
- Confirm requests for airport assistance
- Confirm details of new bookings when onward flights are delayed or cancelled
- Book special meals
- Amend personal preferences
They will also have access to each customer’s preferences at their fingertips, enabling them to personalise every interaction.
The investment is part of British Airways’ continued commitment to ensure customers receive the best customer service at every stage of their journey.
Bradley Smith, 27, one of the first cabin crew to receive a brand-new iPhone XRs says the phones are enabling a step-change in customer service: “Recently, when a customer realised that he had forgotten to order a special meal, he was really impressed when I quickly took out the phone, logged onto ba.com and ordered a meal for his return journey – all within a matter of minutes in the middle of the flight.
“It felt so rewarding to be able to immediately resolve the situation for the customer. All my crew reference guides are also loaded onto the phone, so everything I need is in my pocket throughout each flight; it really has made a huge difference already.”
Karen Slinger, British Airways’ Head of Inflight Customer Experience, said: “Our customers spend up to 14 hours with our cabin crew on a single flight and we know from the recent success at the Skytrax Awards that the care provided by our people has a huge impact on the overall customer experience and is what sets us apart from other airlines. This investment is about further empowering our crew and providing them with everything they need to deliver the very best service to our customers while in the air.”
The rollout of these devices is the latest initiative to enhance customer service at British Airways. Earlier this year, the airline launched Help Me; a brand-new section of ba.com to help customers make changes to their bookings and find out more about their consumer rights if their journey doesn’t go to plan. The airline also announced a multi-million-pound investment in training for its staff based at Heathrow, with every agent now trained to help customers with a range of different queries and personally reach out to them at the airport using iPads loaded with a host of specialist apps.
1 comment
Let’s be fair, it’s no more than any tech happy person can do themselves on most BA aircraft, login to ba.com and get a meal ordered. Most planes have WiFi etc. I’d rather do a lot of that stuff myself and I can now.
My biggest fear is two fold.
Pay staff proper wages!
Make staff feel part of the product you are trying to deliver.
Part 1 is simple economics and not penny pinching. Part 2 is harder to achieve but starts with upper senior management imho.
I’ve take ten or more First flights this year over 8 or 9 hours in duration. I’ve taken the time to speak to cabin crew, young and old on all those flights to establish what makes the place tick. Additionally I was on two flights with Prince William and Princess Kate (and family) and it was interesting to see how things changed when they were onboard.
I could write a whole blog on what I’ve been told but the over bearing conversation is on “being appreciated”, cabin crew are not being appreciated and they need to be! They are the heartbeat of an experience onboard and speaks out loud and clear when one is, dare I say, miffed with their bosses!
So lastly, tech, yea great, it is good staff know what’s going on, communication at key times, in the modern day and age that is a given. Seems they are the last to get them, the customers have had tech for years and know more than the staff many times. (I once told a cabin crew member I was using her planes WiFi’s, she didn’t even know the plane had it, I was in First). Oh and make WiFi free for First… another annoyance for me. Pay £5k to go to Australia and you then have to pay for WiFi …mmmm.
Small steps.
Les
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