The largest transformation in British Airways’ history is putting its people at the centre of its operations, the Amadeus Altitude25 conference heard this week.
Colm Lacy, chief commercial officer of the UK flag carrier, said the £7 billion the airline has committed to its modernisation is the largest investment in its history.
A significant part of that sum will be spent on fleet renewal that will support its bid to become net zero, he said, but at the centre of the strategy is its people.
“We want to grow and strengthen in terms of London, the world’s biggest airline market, particularly around premium travel,” Lacy said.
“It’s all about NPS [Net Promoter Score] – the consumer. Happy employees mean they look after our customers.
“It’s no mistake that at the middle of our strategy are our colleagues; they are at the centre of it. We will make sure we look after them to make sure they look after our customers.”
Lacy said the airline will look to drive cost efficiency and discipline, operate more sustainably and embrace DEI [Diversity, Equity and Inclusion].
“That’s still a key part of what we do at BA – it’s also about good business and corporate practice,” he said.
“We have to look after our customers, however whatever we do we have to focus on our business. Investment in operations and engineering is key.”
Lacy added that BA is committing to enhancing its product, including lounges, a new Club Suite and first class offering, improved food and beverage and loyalty.
But the airline is also investing in its MRO engineering capacity and has recently announced the acquisition of a hanger at Gatwick airport to bring more stability to its operations.
“If we continue to operate late, if we cannot do the basics of getting you from A to B, it does not matter if you have your Champagne and caviar, you are not going to be happy.”
BA is moving its IT infrastructure from legacy data centres to the cloud and is working on a new website and mobile app to offer a modern digital retailing experience.
“When we look back, the world has changed since Covid. What we have learned about our customers is they demand experiences.
“One of the key things we have recognised is even the least tech savvy people actually became digitally enabled.
“It’s so important we give our customers what they want. We are developing a whole new BA.com and mobile app.
“Today everybody demands an experience that they get in modern retailing and we were not able to deliver that. It’s about giving customers control over their journey.”
Lacy said the next generation of BA technology will support 100% customer self-service online should they opt for it.
Data analytics and Artificial Intelligence will be deployed so BA is able to bring new products to its customers and revenue management capabilities that will ensure the business is “future proofed”.
The process will see the airline get rid of some of the technical debt it has amassed over the years. “We are working in a true agile way transforming our business,” said Lacy.
BA is one of the early customers of Amadeus’s Nevio modern retailing platform and expects full transition during this year. The airline will also bring in a new payments orchestration layer.
“We want to modernise our foundations and our tech stack,” Lacy said. “We recognise the ecosystem we have as an industry is out of date.
“We recognise we need to have an ecosystem that meets our customers’ needs. That requires change.”
BA expects to see reduced costs and increased revenues and profitability from this digital transformation with a target of increasing its EBIT margin from 10% to 15%.
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