BRITISH Airways has given agents until the end of next month to complete a new training programme to qualify for bonus commission payments.
The Focus training scheme is part of the Interim Bonus Agreement the airline was forced to set up in August after the European Commission ruled previous incentive deals were illegal.
Some 60,000 agents have been sent the first module of Focus. An assessment sheet, to be completed by December 31, checks agents have completed the programme in order to trigger bonus payments.
Extra payments are on top of the 7% basic commission rate.
Focus’ first part concentrates on BA’s Executive Club frequent-flyer programme, franchise and partner airlines and brands including the economy World Traveller cabin and Concorde.
A second module will go out to retailers in January for completion by the end of March.
BA head of UK and Ireland sales Tiffany Hall said the training programme was drawn up with the help of agents.
BA’s Club and first-class bookings have risen since October 1998 by 8.2%. In October 1998, premium traffic was down 2.4% on the previous year.
Across its network, BA traffic dropped from 3.33m passengers in October 1998, to 3.27m last month.