Top BA marketers roll up sleeves to clear T5 chaos
British Airways has been forced to draft its top marketers onto the shopfloor as part of the efforts to alleviate the chaos at Terminal 5.
Tiffany Hall, BA’s head of marketing and distribution, and Stuart Beamish, head of loyalty, in charge of BA Miles and Executive Club, have joined volunteer teams helping staff working in the terminal, as they try to restore the airline’s battered reputation.
A BA spokeswoman says volunteers have been assisting check-in staff, aiding passengers and even handling baggage.
The debacle is expected to cost BA more than £50m and airline and branding experts say the damage to the brand will be huge.
BA has pulled a high profile ad campaign by Bartle Bogle Hegarty, due to break this week, and has removed links to the T5 microsite from its website.
Rival airline Silverjet has been running ads featuring the chaos at T5 to promote its terminal at Luton, while Virgin Atlantic claims more than 400 passengers have transferred to its flights since Thursday.
Virgin has already taken out poster sites at T5 advertising the speed of its check-in procedure and says it will maintain the ads for at least a year.
Other mischief makers have also put the boot in. A viral game featuring BA chief executive Willie Walsh trying to check in bags was released at the website weewilliewalsh.co.uk.
However, outdoor specialists believe the problems will pass. Glenn Wilson, deputy MD of Posterscope, says: “We are keeping a watchful brief on any detrimental effects on the audience, but it is a still a positive advertising experience.”
BAA says none of the T5 retailers have contacted them to express concern about the problems, but one retailer commented: “You can never take anything for granted, and we must rely on BA and BAA to deliver the proposition”.
