Dear Reader

SEAN DOYLE, the boss of British Airways, told a group of journalists this week that the airline is looking to make big improvements to its customer service. That will come as some relief to passengers who lose the will to live while waiting to speak to ‘an agent’, only for the line suddenly to fall silent. Or go round in so many circles that, giddy with rage, they slam the phone down.

Mr Doyle said that in the past 24 months there have been 1,500 new recruits to BA call centres around the world, including in Manchester and Newcastle.

Call centres (pictured) are big, lucrative businesses for the firms running them.

A friend made a fortune from investing in a call-centre company based in Scotland. I was invited to visit one a few years ago and was impressed by the effort made to keep up morale.

After all, the majority of calls are from people unhappy about something or other.

One reason there is such hostility to utility companies is because they want to take your money but absolutely don’t want to talk to you. I’m an OVO Energy customer and have been at war with this wretched outfit ever since it took over SSE in 2020. There’s no ceasefire in sight. If you ever get through, you’re dealing with a person, but it’s the computer that’s in charge. It’s not their fault.

After my mother died, it took two years to persuade NatWest that she had departed this world. I almost expected them to demand in writing from her that she was no longer with us.

Mr Doyle told me that unpicking the rules in the system is going to take time.

He’s made a start by revoking more than 50 ‘policies’ since taking over. For example, changing the name on a booking was impossible without starting a whole new one. Not any more.

Far be it from me to advise BA, but the airline could steal a march on its competitors if it could only garner a reputation for supersonically efficient customer service.