Case study : British Airways

Training People to Deliver Service Excellence

CASE:
Founded in 1924 as Imperial Airways ,its mission : Worlds favorite Airline. In the early
1980s ,the airline industry faced one of the worst financial and operational slack. The implication
for British Airways was heavy losses. At a point it soared as high as loss of 200 Pounds per
minut ,in 1981-82. With heavy losses ,it was on the verge of bankruptcy.
British Airways was infamous for awful service.
Colin Marshall was appointed as the Chief Executive in 1983.

Change in Perception
Colin called for a fundamental change in perspective in how the business of airline was
perceived. He saw air travel as an experience driven service industry instead of just a mere mode
of transport. He looked at the industry as one with constant and continuous touch points with
customers.

Change in Philosophical Bedrock

Staff downsized by 40%.
Unprofitable routes were discontinued.
And surplus aseets were sold off.
Then, concerted efforts were made towards bringing about a cultural change in the organization.
Backed by organizational structural change ,signs of revival started to appear. Profitability
increased ,and so did the employee morale.
The change underlined the new philosophy : Customer first.
A one day event conducted by external consultants was also organized regarding this. It also
considered the employees not directly involved in direct customer interaction.
The emphasis was on teamwork ,individual contribution and owning the problem.

Preemptive Change
In 1992-93 the perception was reinforced and taken one step further, with the adoption of
philosophy of : Winning for Customers.

The research department of the British Airways carried out large scale surveys on people
travelling by air ,across the airports around the world.
This helped them to know the expectations ,requirements ,wants and feedback of the customers.
And thus they were able to adapt to customer preferences and liking. Sometimes even
preempting the change.
This became significant in creating loyalty among customers ,and thus retaining most of them ;
and also creating new customer base.