New enhancements to ba.com are making the journey even smoother for customers requiring special assistance.
The improvements follow feedback from customers needing special assistance who told the airline they didn’t want to have to keep repeating their needs. They enable customers to enter and find out more information about the service they require when using the ‘manage my booking’ tool.
Previously, customers had to book most types of special assistance by making a phone call to BA’s contact centres. The new ba.com service also allows airports to better forward-plan for providing specialist assistance to BA’s customers.
On ba.com, customers can select from mobility and wheelchair assistance; assistance for those who are visually impaired or deaf or hard of hearing; or assistance for those with learning disabilities. A full breakdown of the assistance these customers can expect is also provided on the website.
Ba.com users now have the option of saving their special assistance preferences, making the customer journey even smoother the next time they make a booking. They also have the option to edit, add to or delete these when making a booking.
“Previously customers requiring assistance had to re-enter their details every time they booked,” said Rob Thorne, customer data governance manager.
“Now, using technology developed as part of the Know Me project, we store the information in a profile so that it’s available automatically and each time a customer rebooks all they have to do is to confirm that they want us to use those details for that booking.”
Continuous improvement and delivery manager Janine Morgan was responsible for implementing the changes to the booking process, with project manager Helen Vincent and Matt Harrison looking after the introduction of the preferences element.
Janine explained: “This project was started at the close of the Paralympics in 2012 and the whole team really felt these changes would be a legacy for BA following the Paralympics.”
There are roughly 30,000 customers on the frequent flyer programme with special assistance needs, some 90 per cent of these using a wheelchair. That may include help for the partially sighted, needing a wheelchair or relying on oxygen for all or part of the journey.
“There are around 20 customers who fly with BA more than 30 times a year who need some form of assistance every time they fly,” said Rob Thorne.