British Airways has announced a string of changes to its service as the UK continues to emerge from worst of the Covid crisis.
In an email to customers issued yesterday, BA CEO Sean Doyle confirmed that the airline will bring back offering customers complimentary water and snacks during short haul flights.
British Airways got rid of free snacks on its short-haul flights in 2016, forcing passengers to pay for sandwiches.
Efforts are also being made to work on improving the quality of its meals and choice that are served across all of its cabins.
The airline will continue to provide table service at its branded lounges - which was introduced during the pandemic.
And work is also being made to replace its phone systems to ensure that customers get through to a member of its support team quicker.
Mr Doyle said that phone lines had been overwhelmed by a large number of flyers that experienced problems amid the “complicated travel restrictions”.
He also told customers that the issues faced by the company during the pandemic was the ‘worst crisis in its 102-year history’.
The email read: “I’m writing to you directly today in the spirit of transparency, which is the ethos we’re striving to promote at British Airways in 2022 as we emerge from the worst crisis in our 102-year history.
“We know that for many months now, we’ve been asking you to be patient with us. Patient while we bring multiple aircraft back from airfields around the world. Patient while we rebuild our network, retrain and recruit people to serve you better, and patient while we deal with the thousands of customers that need our help.
“To be frank, we’ve been moving from one set of restrictions to another and the amount of change we’ve been dealing with over the past couple of years from week to week has been relentless.
“I’m not seeking to make excuses for things that should have gone better. What I am doing is making a personal commitment to you that we will build a better British Airways. An airline you can trust and rely on and that offers great customer service, with someone always available to help.”
He added: “I want to thank you for staying with us. I know your loyalty has been tested and I want to assure you that we don’t ever take it for granted.
“I hope that in the coming months, you’ll notice a significant move towards a better BA, driven by our people to deliver a better experience for you, our most loyal customers.”
The announcement of the changes comes after the Scottish Government announced that the day two testing requirement will be scrapped for fully vaccinated passengers from next month.
Unvaccinated passengers will not be required to quarantine for 10 days, but they will still have to take a pre-departure test and another within two days of their arrival into Scotland.
Both changes will come into effect from 4am on February 11.
The government also announced that it is working to develop a new surveillance system to monitor the border while the pandemic rages on globally.
