British Airways has achieved its highest operational performance ever, thanks to AI and machine learning solutions introduced across its services. The technology has resulted in 86% of BA flights departing ahead of schedule or on time, the best figures on record and a 46% improvement over the last two decades.
In recent years, power failures have dogged the British flag carrier’s IT systems, including one in 2017 that affected over a thousand flights and disrupted 75,000 passenger journeys. To tackle that reputation and customer complaints about its app, website, and check-in machines, the airline set aside £7 billion (€8.3 billion) in 2023 for work on a “world-class customer experience and better on-time performance.”
“Game-changer”
Around £100 million (around €118.7 million) has gone on automation alone. The tech, which BA said in a press release has been brought into “every part” of its business, is credited with helping to achieve the highest D-15 punctuality, or on-time performance (OTP) on record. In the last quarter, the carrier achieved over 90% on-time departures on 38 of the 89 operational days.
Sean Doyle, British Airways Chairman and Chief Executive, told the Financial Times the investment in tech was a “game-changer”, driven by the company’s understanding of “the impact delays and disruption can have on our customers.” Recognising that some disruptions are “often outside our control”, Doyle said BA’s “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.” Part of the has been “a better way of working on the ground at Heathrow as well as creating an additional 600 operational roles into the airport,” Doyle added.
Among the innovations is the deployment of range of digital tools and apps and over 100 data scientists now working for the airline on business-wide projects, 830 of which have been rolled out. They include the migration of data centres to the Cloud to boost digital stability, and an application to perform live analysis of the onward travel plans of customers on any given flight, cutting missed connections and disruption to onward journeys, which has saved 160,000 minutes of delays. In addition, a new “Runway support tool” calculates the most appropriate schedule intervention to choose when disruption does occur.
Avoiding poor weather and speeding up departures
What’s more, a real-time weather program has gone into action. It can communicate directly with control towers across Europe and proactively reroute aircraft to avoid areas of poor weather, so far preventing a total of 243,000 minutes of delays, BA says.
New programmes and tools are coming “over the coming months,” says the carrier, including new apps for pilots, cabin crew teams and aircraft dispatch teams to further speed-up aircraft departures.
IAG, British Airways’ parent company, reported €198 million in operating profits for the first quarter of 2025, beating forecasts, despite a decline in demand for US travel. Following the recent US-UK trade deal, it has ordered 32 Boeing aircraft for BA, as well as 21 Airbus neos, for other airlines.
