easyJet is trying to drive bookings away from the telephone to the internet.
The no-frills carrier already receives 93 percent of bookings through the internet, but hopes to boost that figure by discouraging passengers from picking up the phone.
It is doing this by changing its telephone booking rules, so customers can only buy flights over the phone if they are departing in the next seven days. Previously flights departing in the next 30 days could be bought over the phone. EasyJet has not confirmed when the policy will take effect.
An easyJet spokesperson told TravelMole that easyJet was not envisaging acheiving 100 percent bookings online, and would always have a telephone facility of some sort.
The carrier says it is also adding more functions to its website to try to reduce calls to customer service centres. These include the ability to view ticket details online, make changes to a ticket and a travel management function that allows companies to keep track of multiple bookings.
In response to the drop easyJet hopes to see in the number of calls it receives, it has decided to close the call centre at Stansted. The carrier has given staff a 90-day consultation period during which it will either place them at the Luton call centre, find them another position at the airline, or make them redundant.
