June 2010

A Warwickshire man who helped British Airways customers rearrange flights during the ash cloud crisis has been rewarded with a trip to watch the World Cup.

Jason Buck, a business travel account executive at Leamington's Travel Management Group, was among dozens of staff who put in serious overtime to help stranded travellers find accommodation and travel while they waited for delayed flights in the aftermath of Iceland's volcanic eruption.

As a reward for TMG's support during the problems, British Airways offered its staff the chance to enter competition to win a five-day trip to Cape Town, including a ticket to see England v Algeria and have brunch with football legend Gary Lineker.

Jason, of Bilton, Rugby, was the lucky winner and jetted off from Heathrow on Wednesday (June 16).

"I got an email from BA saying that I'd won and I couldn't believe it. I told the girls in the office and they didn't believe me - but when they saw the message, they were all ecstatic for me," Jason said.

"I'm a big football fan and I've been looking forward to the World Cup. I've only seen England once - against Spain at the Bernabeu - and I was escorting supporters for TMG Sport on that occasion, so I'm very excited about going as a fan.

"I've been ribbed by the lads at the pub but they're just jealous that I will get to go over there. I'm delighted though. I think it's great that BA is saying 'thank you' to its business partners and it's nice to know how grateful they are to us."

Jason, who has worked for the firm for 12 years, was one of the 'frontline' staff during the crisis, dealing with stranded clients to find alternative travel and hotels.

David Moore, director of business travel at TMG, said it good to see the hard work by Jason and his colleagues acknowledged.

"This was a very nice way of British Airways rewarding the efforts partners like TMG showed during one of the most testing experiences our industry has ever faced," he said.

"Virtually all of our staff were in from the crack of dawn and burning the midnight oil to make sure our customers, whoever they were flying with, had the support they needed and arrangements in place.

"I'm thrilled for Jason - he's been wearing a permanent smile around the office - and we're grateful that BA went to the trouble to offer our staff this competition."