BA opens helpdesk to deal with Fresh Approach queries

BA opens helpdesk to deal with Fresh Approach queries

British Airways’ new payment scheme was launched yesterday. Louise Longman and Lydia Wilson report

Call me: the BAhelpdesk is manned by a team of 10 employees

BRITISH Airways opened its ‘Fresh Approach’ help-desk yesterday in anticipation of extra calls from agents worried about the effect of the airline’s commission cuts.

The biggest worry, according to BA, was the effect the raft of new fares would have on agents’ systems. The reduced fares, which were promised by BA at the beginning of the year, were added throughout the day, with not all of them entering the system at the same time.

A BA spokeswoman said a “flood of calls” was not expected, but added the fare changes coming on-line at different times could prompt calls from agents.

The helpdesk, on 0870 6000 654, is manned by a team of 10 staff trained on ‘The Fresh Approach’ system, and went live in December last year to ease the number of calls on BA’s trade enquiry line Rapport.

Lines are usually open from 9am to 5.15pm, Monday to Friday, with lines open yesterday to deal with the changeover.

The spokeswoman added: “Over the past couple of months we’ve had a steady flow of calls, at the rate of about 20 per day. Questions range from travel agents calling to say they haven’t received the latest mailing to agents asking about the implications on a particular routing.

“The staff on the helpdesk have not been overstretched, but we’ll keep a watching eye to see if we need more people once ‘The Fresh Approach’ system is in place.”

BA has also been advising agents to check its two websites. Business agents should visit www.e-business.britishairways.com, while leisure travel agents can access information on www.ba-online.britishairways.com.