British Airways considering issue of 1,800 iPads to cabin crew

The iPad’s march toward enterprise dominance continues with news today that 100 senior British Airways cabin crew team are evaluating the tablets for use in the air. The intent, reports the Telegraph, is for crews to be able to replace the reams of paper (e.g. the passenger manifest) with a funky live (or almost live) database.

On the basis that trials are successful, all 1,800 senior cabin crew will be assigned a unit.

I suspect that provided the BA team have done their due diligence, the trial will be a stunning success.

The Telegraph’s David Millward explains:

The iPads will contain a wealth of information, from seating plans to passengers’ meal preferences, previous flights and whether or not they are members of BA’s frequent flyer programme.

Crucially they will also enable the crew to know which passengers have connecting flights, enabling them to make alternative arrangements should there be any delay.

I really like the concept of this. I like the idea of putting the customer record in the hands of the crew. They’ll be able to offer phenomenally customised service as a result — especially in First Class where just the tiniest touch rendered can keep a client loyal for years.

I hope the trial proves successful as I’d very much like to see what these devices can do for the customer and for the airline. Bring it on.

I’ll try and keep up with this one as it develops.

[Meanwhile, to demonstrate that BA’s IT team does indeed have game, here’s a screenshot from their consumer app featuring the ultra useful upgrade feature.]