EXCLUSIVE: BA to introduce car discount scheme and switch company car provider

British Airways (BA) is to introduce a car discount scheme and new dedicated reward website for its 38,000 employees, and switch provider of the company car scheme for its 200 senior staff.

A key issue for the airline when offering company cars is alignment with its wider business policy of minimising its impact on the environment. As part of the change, BA’s job-need drivers have been provided with Renault Meganes, which will cut emissions from 109g/km to 90g/km of CO2.

Janine Sparks, reward manager at the airline, said: “BA is doing a lot to try to reduce emissions from its aircrafts. It was key for us to find a car that was very low in CO2 emissions to demonstrate that among our company car drivers.”

The company selected a new fleet provider, Lex Autolease, after a tender process. BA had been with its previous provider for 14 years, and will make the change in June. Sparks added: “Since I joined BA three years ago, I have gradually been going through all the employee benefits providers, looking at their contracts and going out to tender, and it was the company car provider’s turn to go through that process.”

BA’s car discount scheme, Cars for Staff, which will launch this month, enables employees to buy a used car from Lex Autolease at a discounted price. Sparks said: “It has got thousands of cars out on lease with lots of organisations like BA. When the companies come to the end of their lease, Lex Autolease takes the cars back in and re-markets them on its Cars for Staff site.”

The car discount scheme will be communicated on BA’s new reward website, Reward@BA, which will bring together all of its reward offerings. The scheme will also be promoted in the company magazine.

“Our reward information is spread liberally across our intranet site, so we are now bringing it together under one page,” said Sparks. “It can be accessed via the homepage of the intranet.”

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