British Airways shared today how its investments in technology have helped with on-time operations at London. The airline stated that “…AI, forecasting, optimisation and machine learning have transformed the airline’s operational performance and become an integral part of getting customers to where they need to be with minimal delay to their travel plans.”
During the first quarter of this year, British Airways claimed that 86% of London Heathrow flights left on time, up from the low number of 46% in 2008.
My immediate thought upon reading this was some cherry-picking with the 2008 number. Choosing that year probably made the improvement look better, but it’s an improvement nonetheless. The 86% D-15 (on-time pushback within 15 minutes of the scheduled departure time) rate was their highest on record.
“Whilst disruption to our flights is often outside of our control, our focus has been on improving the factors we can directly influence and putting in place the best possible solutions for our customers when it does happen. That’s why we’ve invested £100m in our own operational resilience, putting funding into technology and tools,” said Sean Doyle, British Airways Chairman and Chief Executive.
Some of the technology involved in the airline’s £100 million investment includes the development of a range of digital tools and apps, a real-time weather program for rerouting aircraft, and predictive technology to bring together and assess vast amounts of live real-time operational data to highlight routes that could face delays.
A big part that British Airways seems to be going after is the en route delays. Since flights in the middle of the day and at night rely on their inbound flights to be on time, having efficient routings in the air helps with the next flight’s on-time departure. Smart technology, without a doubt, helps with this.
All photos taken by the author.
