British Airways is reportedly planning a slightly stalky new scheme which will see its staff looking up future flyers on Google to find pictures of their faces so that these travellers can be recognised and personally greeted as they board for their flight.
The new scheme is called “Know Me” and British Airways will combine BA’s own information held on passenger database with publically shared information and photos through the internet search engine. Google will help the airline find the face and cater to personal needs, while the database will offer previous flight history and details of any complaints or delays for which the staff will apologise for when meeting the customer with a personal greeting.
As reported previously cabin crews and BA staff are already being armed with iPads as part of the airline’s Enhanced Service Platform and its Head of Customer Services told news rag the Evening Standard that “We’re essentially trying to recreate the feeling of recognition you get in a favourite restaurant when you’re welcomed there, but in our case it will be delivered by thousands of staff to millions of customers” – However, we don’t remember the last time the staff at KFC greeting us by name. And if they did, we’d be pretty freaked out!
With heart in the right place – but with head clearly in the clouds – BA continues to say “The airline is aiming to send 4,500 personal recognition messages a day by the end of the year” and currently there appears to be no chance for passengers to “opt-out” of the scheme which takes off soon.
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