British Airways turns to AI to improve flight operations

British Airways is turning to greater use of artificial intelligence to improve its flight operations that have suffered a series of meltdowns in recent years. The UK airline has deployed AI to automate parts of its business, including in the maintenance of its more than 250 aircraft, according to people familiar with the matter.  Among new technologies is an AI tool that predicts when a plane is likely to develop a fault, allowing BA to pre-emptively carry out fixes rather than wait for failures to be spotted close to take off with passengers aboard. This has already led to some operational improvements, one of the people said. Although disruption can be outside an airline’s control, such as this year’s air traffic problems, BA has suffered some of the industry’s most high-profile meltdowns. This includes a damaging IT failure that hobbled the airline in 2017 and inflicted lasting damage on its brand after thousands of passengers were stranded on a busy holiday weekend. Senior executives accept BA is reliant on antiquated technologies, from a creaking IT network to using paper based records to log defects on flights. The airline is not the first aviation company to try to digitise its operations or employ machine learning to cut costs and boost efficiencies. US aerospace manufacturer Boeing has touted diagnostic tools to improve maintenance efficiencies, while airlines including easyJet have used AI for tasks ranging from customer service to optimising flight routes. BA has turned to older AI technologies before, including trying to speed up aircraft turnaround times on the ground by spotting potential problems on cameras fitted across the airfield at Heathrow airport. <br/>