A bumpy ride on the way to reaping the benefits

Although much of the hype around how IT might reshape aviation is warranted, sometimes the technologies are not quite ready for prime time. From radio-frequency tags for baggage to next-generation aircraft described as being flying data centres, glitches and delays have shown that the road to the future is often bumpy. Edward Nicol, the director of information management at Cathay Pacific Airways, stared down executives from Airbus and Boeing last week at an IT conference and said the two companies' promises for web-connected aircraft had shown a "frustrating lack of progress".

"Despite the promises that it is going to be fantastic and it is going to make money and create operational efficiencies, years later we are still talking about how to make this a reality." Frederic Saugnac, the head of e-operations at Airbus, agreed that progress had been slow. "Between reality and what we are thinking, sometimes there can be a long time," he said. "We can talk fast, but when we have to act, it is not always so easy as talking."

Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, the president and chief executive of Air France KLM, acknowledged that the French and Dutch airlines, which merged in 2004 to form the group, had just achieved 95 per cent compatibility in their IT systems. Tony Tyler, the chief executive of Cathay Pacific, marvelled at how IT projects were "inexplicably expensive". In baggage handling, radio-frequency identification has been touted as the technology to end the days of lost luggage. But Michael Ibbitson, the vice president of information and communication services at Abu Dhabi Airports Company, said airports worldwide had not agreed on a universal standard, preventing the widespread use of the technology.

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