New BA manager spells out priorities

JOY ORLEK
IN A move to drive up customer service efficiency, British Airways World Cargo has restructured its Africa management profile. Patrick Fehring has been appointed area commercial manager – Africa while Andrew Jaye has joined him from London as area customer services manager based in Dubai. Both functions previously fell under one area manager. “Customer service will be one of our joint areas of focus over the next few weeks and months,” says Fehring, who has notched up seven years with the airline, most recently as European business manager based in Frankfurt. After four months in South Africa, Fehring believes the challenges in the local market are not vastly different from global challenges facing airlines worldwide – volumes, yield and capacity optimisation. But ultimately the airline believes that the solution both locally and globally lies in added value services, says Fehring, and that’s the motivation behind several initiatives that are already in place. “London-terminating business is generally driven by perishables and our facilities at Heathrow support that. Our Perishable Handling Centre fast tracks perishable produce to the production line and gets it ready for the supermarkets – and that’s where we really add value not only for SA cargo but for our global business.” The airline’s recently launched Prioritise service adds another link to the value-add chain, providing a fast-track solution for all cargo, regardless of weight or size. This will open up new opportunities for diversification, according to Fehring, who sees strong potential in the automotive and pharmaceutical industries. One of his early priorities will be to examine commodity flows and establish the opportunities based on the airline’s recently-launched product range. In a further move to improve customer service efficiency, the airline has restructured its call centre and appointed one team leader for each station – Johannesburg, Durban/Port Elizabeth/East London and Cape Town. “It’s all designed to strengthen relationships and provide a more efficient service,” says Fehring.