Bloomberg British Airways (BA) Chief Executive Officer Alex Cruz defended his decision to start charging for food on short-haul routes, saying the measure was necessary in order to compete in an environment of falling ticket prices. “Given some of the fares in the marketplace, we make no apology for making ourselves more efficient in various ways so we can consistently …

Bloomberg Louis Vuitton is bringing in some robotic help for the holidays. The maker of $1,370 canvas duffle bags and $575 monogram belts has launched a “virtual adviser” on Facebook Messenger for US clients, Palo Alto, California-based AI startup Mode.ai said in a statement. The chatbot will answer queries for all things Louis Vuitton: searching the brand’s online catalog, pulling …

Bloomberg Brick-and-mortar retailers hoping to fend off Amazon.com Inc. need to deploy the one weapon that could set them apart: top-notch customer service, provided by actual humans. But making that goal a reality relies on something they’ve not really invested in—well-trained employees with the kinds of wages and regular hours that make them want to stick around. This illustrates traditional …