Logica helps BA keep flights on time

British Airways will tomorrow announce a £2m deal for an aircraft management system.

The Logica system - called Cristal - will help BA operations managers to allocate flightpaths and time slots to its fleet. It assesses the location of each aircraft, its maintenance status, operational elements, capacity and flight capabilities.

A spokeswoman for Logica said: "The system means travellers won't suffer so many delays waiting for their plane to land, as it will already be in the right place. Also if there is bad weather, like fog, or airport closures which cause disruption, the allocation system will make life much easier for the operations manager."

BA's current Opera system will act as an umbrella, or architecture, for Cristal. The database of BA aircraft has already been completed and the first phase - dealing with all short-haul flights - is due to be finished by the end of July. Long-haul flights will be allocated through the system by mid-1999.

There are currently no plans to integrate BA's staff and cargo management system into Cristal.