British Airways bets on AI to shake off delays
British Airways has revealed that a major push into artificial intelligence has started to pay off. The UK flag carrier reports an improvement in punctuality after years of cancellations, IT meltdowns, and operational chaos.
Chief executive Sean Doyle described the new AI systems as ‘game changing’, claiming they have helped reduce delays and cancellations that have plagued the airline since the pandemic.
According to internal figures, the airline said 86 per cent of its flights from Heathrow departed on time during the first quarter of 2025—its best performance on record.
The Financial Times‘ separate analysis using data from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) revealed that the airline had fewer severely delayed flights from Heathrow over the past year than some rivals, though prolonged delays remain above pre-pandemic rates.
“This is about investing in the things we can control”, Doyle said. “The tech colleagues now have at their fingertips has been a real game changer for performance”.
Part of International Airlines Group (IAG), British Airways has long struggled with outdated tech systems, operational bottlenecks and outdated IT systems – particularly at Heathrow, its home hub, which operated at near full capacity.
Pandemic leads to spike in British Airways delays
The Covid-19 pandemic only worsened these hurdles, and by summer 2023, airport delays or cancellations had more than doubled compared to before the pandemic.
To stem the decline, BA has invested £100m into boosting its operational resilience, including upgrading its core IT infrastructure and hiring 600 additional staff at Heathrow.
The tech overhaul includes a suite of AI tools designed to make real-time decisions on flight operations – such as rerouting aircraft to avoid turbulent weather, determining whether it is more efficient to delay or cancel a flight, or minimising passenger disruption by directing aircraft to more convenient gates.
The carrier has suffered with digital challenges in the form of high profile IT failures in 2017, 2019, and again in 2022, leading to widespread disruption and dented consumer trust in the airline.
Aviant consultant John Strickland said BA had reached a tipping point: “They had to turn it around. All airlines had a hard time coming out of COVID but BA was really struggling”.
However, he warned that the first quarter, which is traditionally a quieter period, is not the ultimate test. “The real challenge will be the peak summer travel season, when operational pressures multiply”.
British Airways has pointed to several external factors for its troubles, including air traffic control issues across Europe and delays from suppliers like Rolls-Royce, which has struggled to deliver engines and parts for one of BA’s Boeing fleets.
The airlines’ parent group, IAG, is backing the turnaround with a £7bn investment into the airline, aimed at improving reliability and re-establishing BA as a global carrier after years of reputational damage.
Luis Gallego, IAG’s chief exec, was blunt in his assessment of the airline’s performance last year: “It can do much better”, he had said.
Analysts took the investment as an admission that BA had been allowed to fall behind.