EasyJet is hoping to exploit social networking and mobile technologies, but the airline has admitted running into problems with Facebook at its Luton headquarters. The firm ran low on bandwidth also because of heavy video and music downloading.

“We used the traditional old man IT strategy and just blocked it. Everyone was grumpy, but they shouldn’t be doing that during working hours,” said EasyJet’s IT director Tim Newing.

“But if we have around 30-40 per cent of staff using Facebook, wouldn’t it be better to find a way to communicate to employees instead of blocking it? We are aware that we have to change our attitude in relation to consumer IT including software and mobile devices and pay more attention in the way people communicate," said Newing.

Although Newing hasn’t yet figured out how to balance innovation with the airline’s cost efficiency model, he hopes that changes such as the low-cost laptop revolution will give him a helping hand.

“It would be great if we came to a point where I don’t have to provide technology to people, because devices because it is so cheap that people will already have their own,” he said.

Even in that case, integration with personal computing will present another big challenge.

“People will increasingly expect to turn up with their own devices and expect them to work with the company’s systems”

“We need to make it happen. If we don’t support that, it will make people unproductive and less inclined to want to work for us because it is harder,” said Newing.

“But we need to control that process: we are worried about security, as well as losing the control, so will need to lock this down. But certainly, we can use consumer technology to our own advantage.”