INTERVIEW
why there was no vegetarian main course on the First Class menu: “Outbound LHR- LAX [London Heathrow to Los Angeles] main course options are beef, trout, lamb or chicken. Return LAX-LHR options are beef, halibut, chicken or salmon. What does a vegetarian do? “I know that I can eat in the CCR [Concorde Room] and that I am not going to starve. It’s the principle really with BA forcing vegetarians to work out how they can get a decent meal while fl ying First. Surely they could manage one veggie option on the menu alongside the meat and fi sh.”
The question prompted a lively debate among fellow forum members. Tobias replied: “Why not just order a veggie meal in advance? My colleague pre-ordered a veggie meal on a First trip last December and got quite a nice dish. It will be top- quality food. All cabins have the option to pre-order special meals for dietary needs, and that includes First.” Bicester Terrier added: “Remember it’s called British Airways. This great country was not built by pulse, vegetable and leaf-eating anaemics; it was built from the rock and stone by real men, meat eaters. It’s only right that they should not encourage such behaviour!” And G-Boac chipped in this pearl: “Incidentally, I had one of the best steaks I’ve had on any fl ight anywhere in F [First] to LAX at the end of August. Lovely and rare in the middle.” It is an exchange that would humour
Walsh, who enjoys cracking jokes and sharing work stories when relaxing with his business customers. I ask whether complaints are the norm
from his paying customers when he’s travelling in First and Business Class? “Everybody has a nice story to tell about BA or Iberia,” he parries, with a glint of mischief in his eye. “Most people are more positive when
they are talking to you personally like that. It is rare that I have someone being really negative. I think that refl ects the transformation of Heathrow since the opening of Terminal 5. That has clearly made a huge difference.”
He continues: “What a lot of people will do is highlight individuals who have made a great difference to them. They will say you have a great person in the lounge here or that station manager you have in this airport is an excellent guy. But to be honest with you, it is positive stories rather than negative.”
And does he follow them up? “Oh yeah. It is always nice to send someone an email and say I met someone on a fl ight who was complimenting them. They generally are very shy about it then. They don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
He adds: “What is useful is that I always use the opportunity when I travel to talk to business people about what they are seeing. “You can read the newspapers and watch the TV, but you can get a much better sense when you get out and talk to people on the ground.” He recalls talking to a Brazilian call
centre entrepreneur who said that his local and Mexican operations were picking up new customer service contracts from some of the world’s largest companies.
“They say that they are going to take business away from India and you think to yourself I have not heard that one yet, but it is going to be interesting to watch,” says Walsh.
He also thinks business people speaking publicly tend to be much more cautious in their outlook than when sharing their thoughts in private. “That was true of pretty much every business person during 2010,” he says. “Publicly they would say it was not great, but privately they were a bit more optimistic. It was a case of people being afraid of being optimistic.” And with that observation, Walsh is
off to catch his fl ight home, a smile on his face and his telescopic travel bag in tow. ■
UKTI and BA exclusive offer
Recent recruits and new users of selected UK Trade & Investment services can access an exclusive offer from British Airways’ On Business Club loyalty programme. Between 1 October and 31 December 2011, businesses which have joined UK Trade & Investment’s Passport to Export and Gateway to Global Growth schemes will receive an enrolment bonus of 3,120 On Business Points, enough for a reward fl ight to most short haul European destinations.
NEXT STEPS TO FIND out more call 020 7215 8000
or visit
www.ukti.gov.uk
20 | springboard |
www.ukti.gov.uk
IMAGE: PHOTOLIBRARY
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