British Airways pilot takes on Tesco online delivery role
A British Airways pilot has taken on the role of Tesco delivery driver during the coronavirus lockdown.
First officer Peter Login is among 30,000 BA staff who are out of work after the airline grounded most of its fleet last week due to Covid-19.
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He started his first shift for Tesco on Saturday and tweeted: “Back in the cockpit with Tesco. #EveryLittleHelps #ToDriveToServe #StayHomeStaySafe."
Twitter users were quick to praise Login. "Shows a lot of character, Peter. I hope you're back on the flight deck soon," said American Airlines pilot Brad Tate.
NHS worker Lara Prisco, who is having to self-isolate, said: "All supermarkets too far to drive and all delivery service suspended. You and Tesco are the reasons I still manage to have food and basic items! (I am not crying, you are crying!).”
Coronavirus omnichannel update
Last week, Tesco urged shoppers to ‘think before they click’ and shop in-store whenever possible.
In an email to customers, Tesco CEO Dave Lewis said: “We want to help as many people as possible who truly need our delivery service, so we have deliberately not restricted new online customers. We hope our existing online customers understand our approach, in these challenging circumstances. But to make it work, we also need your support.”
The retailer has expanded its home delivery and Click and Collect capacity to around 780,000 delivery slots, up from 660,000 two weeks ago, with plans to increase this by another 100,000 in the coming weeks. To help it pick more orders, stores with an online grocery operation will open their doors a little later – from 8am.
“The government has asked our industry to help people that they have identified as particularly vulnerable and who don’t have their own support network. We will prioritise orders for these people and will be in touch with them by email, as we receive the list from the government,” Lewis said.
In the last 10 days, more than 35,000 new colleagues have joined Tesco, including pickers and drivers. “The response to our call for new recruits has been incredible, with over one million visitors to our careers website.”
Stores
As for the bricks and mortar side of things, stock levels have returned to almost normal levels, with plenty of fruit and vegetables available. In packaged groceries, the recovery will take a few more days; most stores will have stock of just about everything, but in a few product areas, there may still have some gaps.
To get the supply chain running smoothly again, Tesco is focusing on simple pricing for single products, and has removed multi-buy promotions. Easter eggs are one exception – “we bought our stock before recent events, so there are plenty to go around and we’ll continue with our promotions as normal.”
The retailer has also extended its shopping times for NHS workers, and continues to hold priority hours for elderly and vulnerable customers.
