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Principles of nformation Systems

WMES1105





Group Assignment Topic: AirIine Reservation Systems



Member Name: Matric No.:
Naveed F. Ahmad WEK100730
Bintang Pamungkas WEK100733
Lee Chin Yang WEK100086
Mohammed Fauzal Rizki WEK100732
Rizky Malano WEK110712




2

%abIe of Contents:

ntroduction...............................3


Airline Reservation System Usage.....................4


System Modules............................8


System Advantages and Disadvantages..................11


Summary..............................13


References................................14

























3

ntroduction:

How it began:

Before the 1950s, airline reservations were done manually by major airlines. t
was a painstakingly slow process which went together with errors that users made.
Flight agencies did not even exist then. What was required was an automated
system that can do the reservation process fast and accurately. t was not until the
late part of the 1950s where we could start seeing some signs of a system.

The first airline company that called out for a system to be made was
American Airlines. There requirements for the system were:

O To have customers access all their flight information from all their offices in
real-time
O To integrate and automate their booking and ticketing processes.

Before this, manual reservation systems required a central reservation center. t
would actually consist of groups of people with cards, which represented seats on a
plane.

n 1964 the first system, called the Semi-Automated Business Research
Environment (Sabre), was developed and launched. ts major breakthrough was its
ability to allow flight agents around the world to flourish because it was able to
update its inventory in real-time.




AirIine reservation systems (ARS) are a part of Passenger Service
Systems (PSS). n time, the airline reservation system was developed to form the
Computer Reservations System (CRS). These were designed and developed to
be operated by a particular airline. But the CRS was further developed to
accommodate flight agents. They created what is called a GIobaI Distribution
Systems (GDS). They are basically CRS that allow the booking and ticketing of
multiple airlines in one system, which is also connected to worldwide agencies.

n present times, all GDSs can be accessed by agencies, airlines as well as
regular users who want to book tickets by themselves. All of this is usually done
through the internet, although several systems have implemented remote kiosks in
selected areas.

As of 2009, there are currently three major GDSs. They are Amadeus,
Travelport and Sabre. There is also a regional GDS, known as Abacus, which tailors
to Asian airlines. Malaysia Airlines uses Abacus for their reservations.



4

AirIines Reservation System Usage

Airlines Reservation System is designed to assist airline management tasks and
services. ARS should be able to operate certain tasks related to airline management
tasks and services. With the usage of ARS, users will be able to do at least these
main certain tasks:
1. Registration
2. Flight Search and Booking
3. Confirmation
Airline Reservation System basically is used by the flight agencies, the airlines
and also regular users through internet. Having a wide range of users, it is extremely
important for this system to be reliable. This part will explain about the usage of
Airlines Reservation System. To explain the usage of ARS step by step, this paper
will take MaIaysia AirIine Reservation System as the example.
To give you a better illustration of the usage of ARS, a UML (Unified Model
Language) Use-Case Diagram is shown below.



























useCase ulagram of Alrllne 8eservaLlon SysLem
8eglsLraLlon
lllghL Search
8ooklng
ConflrmaLlon
user
AdmlnlsLraLor


. Registration

n this part of the ARS, users are asked to create a login and a
password. This is done by filling some data fields such as full name, passport
number, etc. All of the data then will be treated as an input to the system
which in the future will allow the user to proceed to the next steps. The
example of registration part of the ARS is shown below.











































. FIight Search and Booking

After the system recognizes the user by its login and password created
in the registration phase, the next step is to provide a flight search and
booking service.

This part of the system will enable the users to search for a flight based
on their date of journey and destinations. After the users find a suitable flight
for them, they can shortly make a booking for the flight.
n this part, the system should provide information regarding flight
number, fare tariffs, schedule, etc.









I||ght Search 8ook|ng from MAS 1


. Confirmation

This is basically the final step which is required to be inside the ARS. n
this part, the users will be asked to confirm the booking which then will require
the users to check and make a payment for the flight.

Some of the Airlines also provide Hotel Search service inside their
ARS, this more or less is similar to the airline management tasks and
services, but this one the object is hotel in the destination place.











onf|rmat|on age from MAS 1


ARS ModuIes


An airline reservation system usually has the following modules, which are the
system's basics.
1) Administrator module
Perform all administrative functions for the airline administrator. The system
should provide the administrators a secured login area which is accessible from
anywhere or within a LAN, with an internet connection.
Customer Administration: maintains system website, manages and allows
creation of user accounts and grant access to user based on their level of
knowledge, i.e. reservation agents, travel agents, and passenger/customer,
views user profiles and ticket cancellation.

Flight Schedules, Airfare Administration: to create and cancels flights, flight
schedules, defines fares and routes. n combination with the fares and
booking conditions stored in the Fare Quote System the price for each sold
seat is determined.

Real-time inventory and real-time confirmation of available seats: An airline
inventory contains all flights with their available seats, and is usually divided
into different service classes (e.g. First, Business or Economy class) with
different price. nventory data is imported and maintained through a Schedule
Distribution System over standardized interfaces. One of the core functions of
the inventory management is the inventory control. nventory control
determines how many seats are available in the different booking classes and
show the numbers on the airline website.

Alrllne 8eservaLlon SysLem
AdmlnlsLraLor
CusLomer
AdmlnlsLraLlon
lllghL
Schedules
Alrfare
AdmlnlsLraLlon
lnvenLory
ManagemenL
Lmall
AdmlnlsLraLlon
Lmergency
ConLacLs
Lmployee LlsL
8eporLlng
assenger
name 8ecord
lllghLs 8ecord
Sales 8eporL
8eservaLlon
8eservaLlon
1ravel AgenL
8eservaLlon
assenger
name 8ecord
lllghLs 8ecord
assenger
8eservaLlon
aymenL


Email Administration: Receive flight confirmation and automatically generate
the confirmation email to the customer

Emergency Contacts and Employee List

2) Reporting module

Allows an admin and agent to view all flights for a given day including
passenger names (Passenger Name Record), flights, and the aircraft in use.

Sales Report: daily sales, daily passengers, daily sales by payment type, daily
sales by user, total daily sales, daily sales by item, and item sales by day.

3) Reservation Module helps in modifying reservations for which the reservation
agents could be present at any airline office.


4) Travel Agent Module

Helps them with reservation capabilities on the internet. Thus, associated
travel agent can help customers book hotels, air tickets in one go. Also, the
travel agents can in turn offer fares at a discount to the passengers. They may
be granted access to view Passenger Name Record, flights, and the aircraft in
use.


5) Passenger module

Passengers can view their bookings online, make reservations and also make
special requests on service and choose their options on the web. The
complete automation of the passenger boarding system is managed by the
Departure Control System (DCS).

Make payment online

Usually, the airlines include more modules other than the above ones.
Customizations of modules are also usually done to improve the system, based on
the system needs and the goals that the organization desires to achieve. System
upgrade and feature addition continues over time. Here are 2 examples of additional
features that have been implemented by some companies:





6) Departure Control System Module

- Some airlines reservation systems provider like Travii separated out
Departure Control System as a module. A Departure Control System
automates processing an Airlines Airport management operation. This
includes managing the information required for Airport Check-in and
printing Boarding card, cargo load control and aircraft checks. DCS
systems interface directly or indirectly with Global Distribution System
(GDS), Load Control systems and an airlines inventory management. GDS
is a worldwide computerized reservation network used as a single point of
access for reserving airline seats, hotel rooms, rental cars, and other travel
related items by travel agents, online reservation sites, and large
corporations.

- a DCS may also be connected with immigration control for visa,
immigration and passenger no-fly watch lists.

7) Marketing module

Airlines often want to integrate smart tools and strategies into their system used
to promote services and flies. Promotions can be done through displaying
advertisements based on studied user preferences, rewarding loyal customers,
etc. Finding relevant promotions, for example, can be accomplished by using
these tools. n CarmenRez's airline reservation system, a reservation search
engine can used to view a customer's history of travels and services used and
subsequently make the right offer to the customer, such as discounted fare to the
destination the customer often travels to.

"The CarmenRez reservation search engine allows users to search for existing
reservations using a number of different criteria. CarmenRez reservations are
saved throughout the life of the software, meaning you will always be able to
access your customer's entire booking history with your airline, a great tool for
rewarding frequent flyers."















ARS Advantages and Disadvantages

ARS Advantages:

Security
Tickets acquired from Airline Reservation System are hard to steal. Passengers
typically print out copies of their e-ticket, including confirmation e-mails, itineraries
and other documents. All those documents can be replaced by printing them out of
the computer again, and only a person with the proper authentication can actually
use the e-ticket.

FIexibiIity
A passenger also may find it easier to make changes to their travel itinerary using an
e-ticket, as the travel agency or airline need only update their database with the
requested changes rather than incur the expense of physically issuing a new ticket.

Easy changes
A passenger also may find it easier to make changes to their travel itinerary using
ARS, as the travel agency or airline need only update their database with the
requested changes rather than incur the expense of physically issuing a new ticket.

%ime Saving
The tickets also are booked and processed in a more timely way, saving labour
hours and cutting down on traveller frustration.

ScheduIe information
Using Airline Reservation System means that you have greater access to flight
schedules. Online reservation sites can show you a range of scheduling options that
would be difficult to obtain over the phone. You can see exactly when each flight
departs and arrives and its transits.
Competitive pricing
Because of the competition engendered by online booking sites, airlines and third-
party operators must offer competitive prices for flights. Online booking allows you to
see the exact costs of each leg of a flight and the costs of various options
associated with a particular flight.

Convenience
Making airline reservations online means that the passenger can book their flight
from anyplace with an nternet connection--- home, office, or on the go with a mobile
nternet device.

EarIy check-in
Another benefit of airline reservations system is passengers' ability to check in up to
24 hours before their flight, select their seat and print their boarding passes from
home. They can skip long lines at the airport. f they have carry-on luggage only,
they can even go straight to flight gate with their boarding pass. f they are checking
luggage, they can skip the ticketing and boarding pass lines by checking their bags
at a kiosk in the airport.

2


Cost benefits

Booking online can often save them money. While travel agents take a commission
and many airlines now charge service fees for telephone bookings, making
reservations online can be cheaper, especially now that third-party operators have
changed their policies and no longer charge any fees to make airline reservations.


ARS Disadvantages

PossibIe server crash
A computer crash could cause a passenger's reservation and other information to
simply vanish. Even though most networks have backup systems in place to prevent
such an occurrence, but it remains a possibility and has happened in the past.

%he need of technoIogy Iiterate
Unlike conventional reservation system where they just need to go to the counter
and talk to the clerk, for a customer to do flight reservation using the ARS, they need
to be able to use computers or mobile gadgets to connect to the ARS website and
do the reservation. This could cause some trouble for the technology illiterate.

PossibIe probIem with the immigration
Foreign travel also can be hindered using e-tickets, as some countries require
seeing a return ticket before allowing travellers into their countries in order to ensure
they are not flouting their immigration laws.

Live heIp
When passengers book online, they usually can't ask a live person questions about
hotel rooms, flight routes, visa requirements or anything else they're concerned
about.

Hidden Fees
Many online travel sites advertise low rates to attract your attention, and then add
fees and surcharges for a much less competitive deal.

SpeciaI Needs
Passengers usually can't confirm any special requests at the time of your online
reservation, such as requesting a wheelchair or adding an infant to passenger's
plane ticket.

Confusing
Some Airline websites are not very easy to use, for those who are not used to book
flights online, this can be very troublesome. Plus, different airlines have different
website design and different booking systems.





3




Summary

We have seen above, that it was not until 1964, that the first ARS was
created. They are quite complex systems with the aim to replace manual systems
by:
1) Being a faster System
2) Having more accuracy
3) Being reliable
4) nformative
5) With the ability to make reservations and cancellations from anywhere to
any place

ARS have been initially designed for use by different airlines. Over time, it was
introduced to agencies and regular people.

The use of ARS has been increasing ever since its inception. What with the
rapid growth of internet usage in the 1990s, more and more people have been given
the opportunity to book flights at the leisure of their homes. To meet rising customer
interest in booking online air travel reservations, computerized reservation systems
have evolved into convenient, user-friendly systems that are available via the
nternet twenty-four hours per day. Many online systems also allow for selection of
hotels, rental cars, and other travel necessitiesWhat more, travel agencies can also
now be seen in all major cities across the world. From the very first ARS developed
for American Airlines, there have been developments that have led to the creation of
CRS (Computerised Reservation Systems) and GDS (Global Distribution Systems).
BM is also developing what is the next generation of ARS, called flyRes, which
aims to push the capabilities of ARS even further. Although, there may be a few
downsides to using an ARS, their development is definitely a step forward.


















4

References




Copeland, D. G., & McKenney, J. L. (1988). Airline Reservations Systems. esson
From History, 12(3), 353-370.

Frankk, D. (2011). mplementing an "Airlines Reservation System" Software.
Retrieved 12-11-2011, 2011, from
http://www.articles411.com/article/Computers-And-Technology/11199-
implementing-an-airline-reservation-system-software.html

Law, R., & Leung, R. A Study of Airlines' Online Reservation Services on The
nternet. Journal of Travel Research, 39(2), 202-211.

Wardell, D. J. (1991). Airline Reservation Systems. Research Paper.

Zerotype Digital Media, . (2011). CarmenRez. Retrieved 12-11-2011, 2011, from
http://www.carmenrez.com/

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