Introduction: General Overview The world internet is making this world smaller virtually but the airlines industry is the word which is able to make the world smaller physically. Air travel remains a large and growing industry. It facilitates economic growth, world trade, international investment and tourism and is therefore central to the globalization taking place in many other industries. In the past decade, air travel has grown by 7% per year. Travel for both business and leisure purposes grew strongly worldwide. Scheduled airlines carried 1. billion passengers last year. In the leisure market, the availability of large aircraft such as the Boeing 747 made it convenient and affordable for people to travel further to new and exotic destinations. Governments in developing countries realized the benefits of tourism to their national economies and spurred the development of resorts and infrastructure to lure tourists from the prosperous countries in Western Europe and North America. As the economies of developing countries grow, their own citizens are already becoming the new international tourists of the future.
Business travel has also grown as companies become increasingly international in terms of their investments, their supply and production chains and their customers. The rapid growth of world trade in goods and services and international direct investment has also contributed to growth in business travel. Worldwide, IATA, International Air Transport Association, forecasts international air travel to grow by an average 6. 6% a year to the end of the decade and over 5% a year from 2000 to 2010. These rates are similar to those of the past ten years.
In Europe and North America, where the air travel market is already highly developed, slower growth of 4%-6% is expected. The most dynamic growth is centred on the Asia/Pacific region, where fast-growing trade and investment are coupled with rising domestic prosperity. Air travel for the region has been rising by up to 9% a year and is forecast to continue to grow rapidly, although the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and 1998 will put the brakes on growth for a year or two. In terms of total passenger trips, however, the main air travel markets of the future will continue to be in and between Europe, North America and Asia.
Leading airline companies display an obsession with customer satisfaction that must be balanced against keeping costs low, while always striving to improve efficiency. Accenture has a vast amount of expertise in systems development that allows it to integrate these obsessions and enable airlines to deliver customer-centric service and reach new heights of performance. Web technology Technology is a human innovation in action that involves the generation of knowledge and processes to develop systems that solve problems and extend human capabilities.
The innovation, changes, or modification of the natural environment to satisfy perceived human needs and wants. Web technology is a technology related to the web based technology. This is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. With a Web browser, one can view Web pages that may contain text, images, videos, and other multimedia and navigate between them using hyperlinks. Using concepts from earlier hypertext systems, the World Wide Web was started in 1989. The World Wide Web enabled the spread of information over the Internet through an easy-to-use and flexible format.
It thus played an important role in popularizing use of the Internet. Although the two terms are sometimes conflated in popular use, World Wide Web is not synonymous with Internet. The Web is an application built on top of the Internet. Nowadays airlines industry is a leader to use the web technology. The web technology used by airlines industry are checking flights, booking flights, information about the flight in web, vacancy announcement etc. The airlines industry is using widely these technology or we could say that without web technology airlines industry can not run successfully.
Wireless Technology Wireless is a term used to describe telecommunications in which electromagnetic waves (rather than some form of wire) carry the signal over part or the entire communication path. Some monitoring devices, such as intrusion alarms, employ acoustic waves at frequencies above the range of human hearing; these are also sometimes classified as wireless. The first wireless transmitters went on the air in the early 20th century using radiotelegraphy (Morse code). Later, as modulation made it possible to transmit voices and music via wireless, the medium came to be called “radio. With the advent of television, fax, data communication, and the effective use of a larger portion of the spectrum, the term “wireless” has-been resurrected. The airlines industry is not possible to run without this wireless technology, airlines industry is using lots of wireless technology such as Global Positioning System (GPS), Two-way radios, satellite televisions, wireless local area networks (LAN) etc. The airlines use these technologies for different purpose GPS for traffic and position of the aircrafts, two way radios sets are for communication, satellite television for the passenger and the LAN for the use in the office system.
So the level of the use in this technology is very high in the airlines industries. Mobile Technology “Mobile technology” is that part of technology that involves mobility. You can take it the broad sense and say that it’s the technology that’s concerned with all things that can be mobile, or you can take it the smaller way and say that it’s limited to technology. I guess that just like we’re all interested in PDA/phone/PPC (PE) devices, Web technology and wireless technology can be combining in this technology because of accessibility of internet in mobile.
The mobile technology is using by airlines industry for the purpose of communication with the passengers just like an information about the booking, flight condition, cancelation of the flight etc. The use level of mobile technology is increasing day by day. E-Commerce The definition of e-commerce includes business activities that are business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C), extended enterprise computing (also known as “newly emerging value chains”), d-commerce, and m-commerce. E-commerce is a major factor in the U. S. conomy because it assists companies with many levels of current business transactions, as well as creating new online business opportunities that are global in nature. Airlines industry is adopting this technology for selling ticket online, for eCRM etc. The level of adoption of the technology is higher compare to other industries. Conducting business online, Selling goods, in the traditional sense, is possible to do electronically because of certain software programs that run the main functions of an e-commerce Web site, including product display, online ordering, and inventory management.
The software resides on a commerce server and works in conjunction with online payment systems to process payments. Since these servers and data lines make up the backbone of the Internet, in a broad sense, e-commerce means doing business over interconnected networks. Qantas Airways Ltd. is Australia’s number one domestic airline and a leader in the Asia-Pacific region. It is one of the ten largest airlines in the world and is considered to be the second oldest (after KLM of the Netherlands). Qantas connects Australia to 81 destinations in 40 other countries worldwide and operates extensive domestic services in both Australia and New Zealand.
In addition to its flagship Qantas line, the company also operates several regional airlines in Australia and is a partner in a budget start-up based in Singapore. Qantas and its regional subsidiaries carry more than 30 million passengers a year. Qantas maintains a number of alliances and code share arrangements; it is a member of the one world global airline alliance led by American Airlines and British Airways plc, which is Qantas’s largest shareholder with an 18 percent interest. As every airline the Qantas is also using all the technology which has described above and getting benefit from this technology.
Recently Qantas officially launched a new domestic telecommunications network, believed to be worth $300 million. That prove that the airlines are taking benefit from the technology they have been using. Like every airlines industries the Qantas is also getting benefit of using these technology in different sector and division of organization. Though the company is not adopting the all technology fully like mobile technology, the company is trying to adopt the all technology to make the airlines most successful in this world.
In this report we focuses at a senior executive level, examining the key forces affecting the airline business and their potential in terms of short and long-term strategies. The author discusses the role of emerging technology on the airline industry, defined very broadly and including computers, information, databases, aircraft, telecommunications, Internet, wireless, speech recognition, face recognition, etc. His argument is that technology should not only be an enabler of business strategy but crucially the driver of business strategy.
Business justification for the use of the technology; In the rapidly evolving airline industry, new technologies play an increasingly critical role in the delivery of real and perceived value in reducing costs, enhancing revenue, and improving customer service and customer safety/security. Mobile commerce is the use of various information and communication technologies that allow the mobile exchange of information. It includes a variety of products, including mobile communication devices, wireless Internet, personal digital assistants, global positioning system (GPS), and so on.
Certainly, every forecasting endeavour has its perils. However, it seems likely that rapid advances in technology and the amazing growth of knowledge-based institutions will continue. Although many emerging technologies have yet to be tested, many of them have already shown their usefulness and, given impressive declines in cost, these technologies might soon be commonplace. Economic Contribution of Inbound Tourism Travel and transportation accounted for $27. 7 billion – or 74 percent – of Australia’s record $37. 2 billion services exports in 2005.
Of this, inbound tourism accounted for some $18. 5 billion. This is forecast to increase to $19. 1 billion in 2006. The Tourism Forecasting Committee (TFC) predicts that the real economic value of inbound tourism (TIEV) will grow strongly over the medium term – at an average annual rate of 7. 1 percent to reach $35. 6 billion by 2015. In 2005, the Qantas Group’s gross value added as a proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 0. 7 percent, or approximately $871 million, up from 0. 6 percent a decade earlier.
Qantas Group expenditure on locally provided goods and services exceeded $2. 3 billion, while wage and salary payments to Qantas’ approximately 35,000 Australian-based staff amounted to almost $2. 9 billion. Growth in International Markets Qantas is the world’s eleventh largest airline in terms of revenue passenger Kilometres (RPKs), with a fleet consisting of 213 aircraft. In 2004/05, the Qantas Group offered more than 700 international flights each way each week to 80 destinations (including code share services) and carried almost two million visitors to Australia.
Another opportunity lies in the automated check-in machines some airlines now operate. Instead of checking in with airport staff, travelers swipe a credit card through the machine as identification, and print out their tickets. Currently, each carrier manages its own machines, and travelers of ether airlines may not use them. However, just as one bank allows customers of other banks to use its ATMs–for a fee–the industry could profit from letting all travelers check in through a common automated interface.
Qantas to test new arrival technology Qantas has signaled the end for paper boarding passes and will offer customers the ability to board using a mobile phone or other handheld device from early next year. And for the first time, Qantas international customers will be able to check in to their flights over the internet, a feature previously offered only to those travelling on domestic flights. Flyers could also select their seats online either at the point of booking or later via the Qantas. com website.
Qantas said mobile boarding passes would be sent to the device as a 2D barcode a day before the flight, but the option was only offered to those who selected their seats online before departure. But while the move towards barcode boarding passes will lead to a faster, smoother boarding experience for passengers, it is also designed to cut Qantas’ personnel costs, such as at check-in counters. Qantas has used Aero Mobile’s technology, which has developed a base station that allows mobile phones and portable devices to be used safely in-flight without interference to aircraft systems or the ground communication network. Customers wanting to send or receive an SMS will require only a GSM phone and a global roaming account, while customers wanting to send or receive emails will need a GPRS enabled device like a Blackberry or an appropriately equipped laptop. Qantas will test a new aircraft arrival system which is set to save fuel and reduce noise and pollution. The six-month trial involves sending instructions to the cockpit of approaching planes into Sydney and Melbourne via data link. The trial will be conducted in conjunction with Boeing and Air services
Australia. The new technology differs in that it allows the pilot access to a limitless range of flight path options, ensuring the most efficient landing. This will eliminate the need for the usual multiple voice communications from the air control tower and give pilots more options than the few set paths previously stored in the aircraft’s computer. “This concept can work for the whole industry by increasing safety, saving fuel, reducing emissions, further minimizing noise and potentially reducing flight crew and air-traffic control workloads.
The trial will initially involve about 100 flights with Boeing 747-400 and Airbus A330 aircraft with Qantas crew and air traffic controllers constantly evaluating each arrival. Future prospects for the technology In the rapidly evolving airline industry, new technologies play an increasingly critical role in the delivery of real and perceived value in reducing costs, enhancing revenue, and improving customer service and customer safety/security. This book focuses at a senior executive level, examining the key forces affecting the airline business and their potential in terms of short and long-term strategies.
The central theme is the vital interaction between technology and business strategy across a wide spectrum of functions – executives sharing their insights of what is needed in terms of revolutions in consumers, technologies, and productivities. What has held airlines back are not so much legacy systems but legacy mindsets, organizational structures and processes, as well as the intelligent selection, investments, and implementation of value-adding technologies?
The report is the outcome of our team experience while researching a number of airlines with practitioners in the airline and technology firms. Airlines industries want 80% of passengers to check in online or using one of 96 self-service kiosks at the entrance hall of the building. Passengers can check in quickly by leaving their bags in fast bag drops behind the kiosks. Their boarding passes contain a bar code holding information such as which flight the passenger is on, and whether they have enough time to get to the boarding gate.
Domestic and international passengers will share the same departure lounge, raising possible immigration concerns that international passengers could swap boarding cards with domestic passengers and enter the country without going through immigration. To avoid this, the industries are using a biometric system developed by Atkins Advantage Software called Pass at the departure gates. Domestic passengers will provide a fingerprint and photo at the security gate. The Pass system will compare the fingerprint at the boarding gate with a record held on the database to ensure it is the same person.
It will hold the biometric data for no more than 24 hours. Qantas hopes a system called Trip will improve the number of flights leaving the airport on time. It allows flight dispatchers to record information on a flight, such as its position and destination electronically, using a digital pen to write on plastic “paper”. The pen transmits data through the mobile network to a third-party application running on an airline’s server. The system makes the flight’s status available to airport staff, through a web browser interface in a airlines PCs.
The system is quicker because dispatchers can now do their paperwork on the airfield, instead of having to return to the office. Airlines industries have installed an e-mail system to connect airline staff using mobile phones. The system will be available to staff including cabin crews, flight crews and baggage handlers. In the past, these workers did not have access to company mobile e-mail and the company had to use a manual system of forwarding messages. As part of its Employee Self Service (ESS) project, the airline rolled out Communication Gate Pro to employees, equipping all British Airways employees.
Qantas hopes to keep all staff members up to date on the latest news and policy changes by sending e-mails every two hours to staff who would have been hard to reach in the past. Around 500 customers will trial ‘O2 wallet’ phones which will enable them to use their mobile handset to pay for travel and enter the transport system across Australia. The O2 wallet trial will determine how customers feel about having Oyster technology embedded in their phone. The wireless community has driven much of the recent interest in speech technology in recent years.
But early implementations of wireless, many built around the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), have failed to live up to expectations. Slow data rates and small screen sizes contribute to the shortcomings, but the main problem has to do with the wireless industry promising more than it can deliver in terms of features. In order to augment their products, wireless carriers are touting speech recognition as the next big thing. This, however, is not an either/or proposition: it’s the combination of speech technology and ireless data (often called multimodal access) that will provide the usability and flexibility mobile users are looking for the emergence of the Internet as a commerce tool has made it easier than ever for customers to move from one supplier to another. As a result, enterprises have to improve customer service to gain a competitive edge, if not to survive. A best-in-class call centre is a great way to deliver quality customer service, but call centre agents are expensive.
Call costs range from $1 to $10, depending on the call duration and the skill level of the agents. Many service organizations have augmented their live agents with automated menus, with touch-tone response to limit the number of calls handled by agents. This has been successful for many implementations, but it does have limitations: Airlines are one of the most interdependent organisations in the travel industry. Therefore they need to use technology strategically to integrate their operations and control and co-ordinate all their business and management functions.
The networked airlines of the future will take advantage of the Internet as well as Intranets and Extranets to communicate with all their stakeholders, to improve their internal efficiency and effectiveness and interact with all their stakeholders productively. Implementing enterprise resource planning can help airlines integrate all facets of their business and maximise their performance. Developing successful Extranets will also allow airlines to develop effective collaboration channels with all their partners. Conclusion: Technologies can improve the entire customer travelling experience.
Frequent travellers demand speedier check-in processes and a higher degree of flexibility and control over their own travel arrangements. eTicketing and paperless communications are expected to improve customer service by reducing the level of bureaucracy, by increasing flexibility, and by speeding up all processes. Self-service kiosk applications will increasingly support travellers make travel reservations, check-in, receive boarding passes, select seats, check frequent flier miles, request upgrades, purchase a ticket, print e-ticket receipts, or check bags – all without waiting in-line for an agent.
Providing self-services through kiosks and wireless technologies can provide benefits including: operational and productivity gains; reduction of check-in times; support of flights to depart and arrive on-time; minimisation of check-in unit costs; improved customer satisfaction; and reduced costs. In-flight entertainment, communications and constant interaction will also be critical in future. Therefore the airlines industries are used dynamically before, during and after the travel experience to serve passengers and to reinforce the airline brand.
The ability of travellers to connect from virtually anywhere with their wireless devices and adapt their itinerary is expected to be one of the most widely used services. Wireless solutions will empower airlines to communicate with their passengers virtually anywhere, anytime. Wireless and mobile devices, such as Mobile phones, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), and laptops, are already used for searching and booking flights, altering flight arrangements, retrieving updated arrival and departure information, checking-in, and selecting seats.
The Star Alliance allows members to download timetables and booking agents to their PDAs. Gradually, airlines will have to integrate their Internet presence with mobile portals whilst they will communicate flight alerts through a short message service or mobile email. Wireless networks are currently being implemented in several airports and airlines will need to work with ground operators to integrate their service. This report provides state-of-the-art thinking on issues faced by airlines that are touched by technology. It has distilled thoughts from leaders of airlines, aerospace manufacturers, technology firms.
The report tries to describe the briefly about the emerging technologies such as web, wireless, mobile and e-commerce with respect to the airline industries with focusing on Qantas air a leading airlines of the Australia. Further more this report describes Impact of the each technology in airlines industries in association with business justification and what the future prospects are in brief. This report helps the readers to answer the question, “should business strategy drive technology strategy or should technology drive business strategy?
