British Airways puts iPad to work in the cabin

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 24 August 2011 12:06

Business IT - Technology

British Airways is trialling the use of Apple's popular tablet on its airliners to replace the traditional printed passenger roster.

If you keep your eyes open between boarding a plane and its departure from the terminal, you've probably seen one of the cabin crew clutching an old fashioned (as in continuous paper) printout. It's a list of all the passengers on board the flight.

British Airways (BA) is trialling an iPad-based electronic replacement with 100 of its cabin crew as a precursor to expanding tablet use to all of its senior crew members.

Instead of having to be handed the printout, the iPad will fetch the final list via 3G once the doors have closed.

The BA iPad app identifies passengers, where they are seated, their Executive Club (frequent flyer program) status, and special meal requests. It also provides cabin crew with relatively static information such as timetables, safety manuals and customer service updates.

"The iPad is already allowing us to offer a more personalised onboard service, but the possibilities for future development are endless," said Bill Francis, the airline's head of inflight customer experience.

"We're receiving great feedback from cabin crew and customers already.  It allows the crew to offer the thoughtful service they want to deliver and customers are treated as valued guests," he added.