Easyjet, eyeing record summer, boosts nerve centre with AI

LONDON

A cutting-edge facility featuring artificial intelligence (AI), Easyjet's new control center is tasked with handling about 2,000 mostly-European flights per day as the British airline eyes high summer demand.

The Integrated Control Centre (ICC), close to Luton airport north of London, is central to Easyjet operations, from urgent flight changes to monitoring a passenger aircraft's health mid-air.

As well as analysing engines in real time, technicians can also see if a toilet needs fixing.

As the aviation sector recovers following COVID lockdowns that grounded planes and caused huge job losses, Easyjet has been on a big recruitment drive.

The number of staff overseeing control centre operations has more than doubled in two years to 266 people working around the clock.

"It's going to be our busiest summer since COVID," Easyjet's director of network control, Gill Baudot, told journalists.

"Over the next few months we'll be flying... 300,000 passengers a day," she added.

Should a plane fail to fly, for reasons ranging from challenging weather to technical difficulties and strikes, the ICC steps in to amend logistics.

To aid such urgent changes, Easyjet is using an AI tool akin to ChatGPT.

It is helping staff to decide on situations including how best to re-route aircraft and reassign crew.

Easyjet manages more than 340 passenger planes.

"Right now we think the human being will still make the (final) decision,” said Baudot.

Baudot noted that staff "were out of practice" following COVID lockdowns, an issue experienced by the sector as a whole.

With passenger demand recovering strongly since the pandemic, Easyjet and its rivals, notably Ryanair, have had to get up to speed by recruiting massively across all roles.