British Airways has launched a visual guide to flying, becoming the first airline in the UK to do so. This initiative aims to assist customers with autism in traveling with ease and confidence.
The visual Guide, created in collaboration with the Learning Rose, an organisation that develops support material for people with autism, provides passengers with autism with detailed information on each stage of their journey, from check-in to landing.
The Visual Guide is endorsed by the National Autistic Society and is designed to help customers prepare for their trip and make them feel as comfortable as possible during their journey. Each section of the Guide, which can be downloaded from ba.com, describes a different part of the flying experience, using simple icons and text to describe the sights, sounds, and smells passengers can expect.
Learning Rose was founded by Rebecca Taylor, whose son has autism, mitigated echolalia and sensory modulation dysfunction. Rebecca previously worked at British Airways as a cabin crew, before founding Learning Rose to help others better understand autism by designing support materials to enhance the lives of those with autism and other disabilities.
Rebecca Taylor, Founder of Learning Rose, said: “I am really proud to partner with British Airways to create a newly updated and expanded Visual Guide and provide additional training and support for the airline’s colleagues. I know from both my experience working as cabin crew and from travelling with my son that flying can sometimes be overwhelming for people with autism, so I am delighted to be working with British Airways to help ease any travel anxieties that people with autism may face.”
Calum Laming, Chief Customer Officer at British Airways said: “At British Airways we welcome more than half a million customers who require special assistance each year and we’re fully committed to making sure our service is accessible to all. We’re always looking for ways to improve the experience for customers with visible and non-visible disabilities. Our partnership with Learning Rose is just one of the many initiatives we have in place to make flying as stress-free as possible and we’re looking forward to further strengthening and enhancing our partnership going forward.”
