US lawmakers warn that “more military spending is absolutely necessary” to ensure Pentagon’s readiness
The US Congress has raised concerns about how inflation rates and cuts in main acquisition programmes could affect the US military.
AirAsia upgrades call centre services
AirAsia has announced a comprehensive upgrade of its call centre services that, among other developments, now includes a 24-hour self-help option and the ability to shorten call waiting time drastically.
The upgrades are part of AirAsia’s efforts to quickly and vastly improve services as its passenger volume surges across its entire network.
AirAsia’s free 24-hour self-help option provides automated responses to the most common enquiries, such as those on flight schedules, booking status, flight status, refund status and baggage tracking. The option employs interactive voice response technology.
Alongside this, AirAsia has introduced a free web chat facility on its website for all guests registered online with AirAsia. The carrier has assigned more service agents for the efficient handling of concurrent chats. The web chat service is available daily from 9 am to 6 pm.
In what it describes as “a huge step up”, the airline is halving its turnaround time for e-mail responses to pre-flight inquiries from 24 hours to within 12 hours. For post-flight inquiries, guests may fill in the online feedback form on airasia.com.
AirAsia is also rolling out a full-service phone line for guests who may opt for personalised premium services. This Premium Customer Service Line, which aims to engage callers within 20 seconds, is designed to provide a wide range of fast high-quality services for bookings, changes to booking, payments and much more. The Premium Customer Service Line is available only to guests calling within Malaysia and using local landline and mobile phone numbers.
Bo Lingam, chief operating officer, AirAsia, commented, “Our increased focus on service improvement is in line with our efforts to position AirAsia as a low-fare airline with products and services at par with those of the best legacy carriers. While we offer low fares, we also offer premium quality. The upgrades are there to give our guests a pleasant experience starting from their first point of contact with AirAsia.”
“We get an average of 6,000 calls a day, and we had to find a solution for easing traffic. Thus the comprehensive upgrade of our call centre services that now include much faster responses and better self-help facilities,” Lingam added.
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